Solidarity Beyond Borders: Collaborating with Mixtec and Zapotec Communities for A More Resilient Future

Indigenous Mexican populations in both Oaxaca and California face numerous, but similar, social, economic and health barriers. However, there is often no opportunity for culturally similar but geographically separate organizations and communities to connect and learn from one another to accelerate the cross-pollination of ideas and solutions to achieve positive change both locally and globally.

To address these challenges, PHI’s Center for Wellness and Nutrition (PHI CWN) worked in partnership with Mixteca Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) and Puente a la Salud Comunitaria (Puente) – Solidaridad International Kanda (SiKanda) on the Solidarity Beyond Borders: Connecting for a Better Future project, a 15-month initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The partners worked collaboratively to:

• Link Indigenous populations and community-based organizations serving Indigenous populations in the U.S. and Mexico;
• Foster engagement and cross learning to catalyze discussion and generate place-based solutions to long-standing challenges;
• Co-design, pilot and document approaches to convening Indigenous communities and partners in the U.S. and Mexico; and
• Identify indicators of improved health, nutrition, and resiliency within the context of Mixtec and Zapotec communities in California and Oaxaca

This binational project supported community-driven solutions to enhance well-being and resilience among Mixtec and Zapotec communities in California, U.S., and Oaxaca, Mexico. Central to this effort were collaboratively designed Learning Exchanges—spaces for shared learning and relationship building rooted in local expertise and lived experience.

In response, communities began implementing practical, culturally grounded solutions, including seed banks, women’s savings groups, recipe exchanges, Mixtecospeaking doulas and health advocates, and a bi-national mentorship initiative to promote mental health, self-care and gender equity. Notably, our partners are already working to formalize a cross-border support program for women—a promising next phase in this work.

Strengthening food systems, health access and gender equity directly contributes to community resilience. Equally vital is the role of connection—these Learning Exchanges affirmed that when communities unite across geography, language and borders, they not only share strategies but also cultivate collective power. The project demonstrated that solidarity can indeed transcend borders, paving the way for sustained, community-led transformation.

Each Learning Exchange was thoughtfully co-designed over several months, drawing on the deep cultural and contextual knowledge of key partners — Puente-SiKanda in Oaxaca and Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) in California—as well as formative research findings. These exchanges created intentional spaces for reflection, dialogue and co-creation.

From these exchanges, several cross-cutting themes emerged, including food security, health access and women’s agency. Through community-led conversations, the group discussed existing challenges within these topic areas and explored context-sensitive responses. While some barriers were shared—such as rising food costs, limited access to health care, or the marginalization of women’s leadership—others reflected local dynamics. For instance, peri-urban communities in Oaxaca and those in California both faced high costs and limited access to healthy foods, while rural Oaxacan communities benefited from more access to fresh, local produce—thought they faced scarcity during lean seasons.

Despite differences in national health systems, participants in both countries identified common challenges: affordability, language barriers, and a lack of trust in healthcare providers. Women across both regions expressed that they shoulder numerous responsibilities while receiving little support or representation.

These discussions also surfaced critical issues such as mental health, stress, and domestic violence.

Project Outcomes and Proposed Solutions

Communities on both sides of the border communicated an eagerness to continue the conversations and share tools and learning for a holistic health cross-border exchange among Mixtec and Zapotec communities in Oaxaca and Oxnard, and beyond.

Key themes that emerged on both sides of the border included Food Security, Health Access, and Women’s Agency. Through community-led conversations, the group discussed existing challenges within these categories, along with potential solutions. In some cases, communities in Mexico and the U.S. shared similar barriers; while in other cases, practices effective in one community seemed to offer potential solutions for the other. The following solutions were generated:

Food Security

• Create demonstration gardens in Oxnard and Oaxaca – grow, teach, and share climate appropriate, nutritious and culturally significant foods. Exchange recipes, seeds,and learning across borders.
• Design participatory, dialogue-based education that highlights diet and behaviors from communities in the Mixteca (Oaxaca) and share with interested Indigenous peri-urban communities.
• Test and incorporate tools and resilience strategies to mitigate the lean season in Mixteca and sustainably support low-resource families in Valles and Oxnard. This includes approaches such as integrating savings groups, seed purchasing and other initiatives outlined below.

Health Access

Accessibility to culturally appropriate and quality health services emerged as a barrier both in Oaxaca and Oxnard. Through various discussions with community members and leaders, solutions that mitigate barriers related to trust and cost include:

• Co-designing linkages with local, trusted health providers. Negotiate benefits and develop an internal referral system. While the obstacles are similar, the health systems in the U.S. and Mexico are unique. Partnerships with both public and private health providers will be explored in Oaxaca, while in Oxnard, the focus will be on improving language access and expanding a doula program tailored for Indigenous migrant populations in California.
• Having cash on hand to pay for health expenses would improve timely access to health services. Earmarked health savings or use of savings from women’s solidarity groups would facilitate access to needed health products and services.
• In both locations, but California in particular, women expressed not knowing their rights and benefits as related to health and access to health products and services. Outreach and linguistically and culturally appropriate education designed with the Mixtec and Zapotec community would mitigate this challenge.

Women’s Agency

Although there are nuances between the challenges faced by women in Oaxaca and California, the topic itself was mentioned often on both sides of the border. Women’s Agency is connected to gender equity, but also empowerment and capacity.

• There is strong interest to replicate Puente-SiKanda’s Oaxacan women’s savings group methodology in Oxnard. This could increase autonomy and improve women’s ability to make spending decisions around health and nutrition for their families. Women in both Oaxaca and California found that life for women was particularly difficult and that solidarity savings groups could not only improve access to finances but serve as a network to connect with and support other women in the community.
• Mental health was an important theme that communities connected with women’s agency. There is interest in addressing and improving mental health and well-being by co-developing a bi-national mentorship program to improve Mixteca and Zapoteca women’s access to self-care, health services, Indigenous health as well as gender equity.
• There is interest in building upon MICOP’s Living with Love and Healing the Community program and potentially replicating it in Oaxaca. This program focuses on Indigenous migrant health, practices, and treatments.

A version of this impact story first appeared in a Center for Wellness and Nutrition newsletter.