Meet the 2025 Winners

We are proud to present the winners of the 2025 Luis von Ahn Visionary Award.

Meet Jayro

A visionary filmmaker redefining Guatemalan cinema for the world.

Field: Film
Birthplace: Guatemala City, Guatemala

Biography & Work

Jayro Bustamante is a renowned Guatemalan film director, producer, and writer. He studied social communication at the University of San Carlos and film in Paris and Rome. In 2009, he founded "La Casa de Producción" in Guatemala, boosting independent cinema in the region.

His first feature film, Ixcanul (2015), won a Silver Bear in Berlin and more than 60 international awards. In 2018, he founded the production company Les Films Du Volcan and received a Medal of Honor from the French Senate. He also created the Ixcanul Foundation to promote educational cinema in Guatemala.

He continued his career with Temblores (2019) and La Llorona (2019), which was nominated for a Golden Globe. In 2021, he established the region’s first writers’ workshop, and in 2022 he directed Cordillera de Fuego (pending release). He has worked with major studios such as Disney and Apple TV. His most recent film, Rita, premiered in 2024, marking a milestone as Guatemala’s first co-production with Hollywood. He is currently working on several films, series, and documentaries, and his next project, El Sombrerón, will begin shooting at the end of 2025.

Meet Alejandra

A mental health innovator empowering communities to heal.

Field: Medicine

Birthplace: Guatemala

Biography & Work

Alejandra is a Guatemalan physician and scientist dedicated to developing scientific and community strategies to address mental health in countries with limited mental health services. She is a physician with a master’s degree in public health and a Ph.D. in epidemiology. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in psychiatric epidemiology at Columbia University in New York.

Her research seeks to answer the question: How can we ensure that all people with mental health conditions, such as depression or schizophrenia, have the opportunity to recover? To do so, she collaborates with individuals with lived experience, members of Indigenous Maya communities, and scientists to develop mental health programs that strengthen existing resources and leadership within communities and institutions. She uses participatory, epidemiological, and implementation science research methods.

Alejandra is the co-founder and president of the Asociación para la Salud Mental en Guatemala, where she trains families, health providers, and institutions; promotes public policies; and develops programs that foster recovery for people and families with mental health conditions.

Meet Mayra (Young Leader)

A community leader fostering change and opportunity.

Field: Indigenous Rights and Environmentalism

Birthplace: Guatemala

Biography & Work

Mayra Pop, 23, works in the social and environmental areas. She supports girls, young people, and women in rural communities, teaching them about their rights and encouraging youth to believe they can build a different future.

As a teenager, Mayra faced the threat of an early forced marriage. With courage, she said no, filed a complaint, and acted according to the law, knowing her right was to study and pursue her dreams. This decision changed her life, allowing her to finish high school and continue her university studies.

As a Maya indigenous woman, she understands the challenges of hearing that women like her cannot go far or complete a degree. Today, she works to challenge that notion and show that it is possible.

Mayra is also passionate about environmental education, teaching children, youth, and adults about the importance of protecting and restoring the biodiversity of their communities, which she practices throught her work at FUNDAECO. Through her story and work, she inspires women to pursue their futures, defend their rights, and care for the land that sustains them.

Meet Edwin

A visionary driving educational innovation in Guatemala.

Field: Social Entrepreneurship
Birthplace: Punta Brava, Los Amates, Izabal

Biography & Work

Edwin Xol is a social entrepreneur of Maya Q’eqchi’ heritage. He is originally from the village of Punta Brava, Los Amates, Izabal, in northeastern Guatemala. At the age of 13, he left his community to pursue middle school. With the support of scholarships, he studied Business Administration at Universidad Francisco Marroquín (UFM) and later completed a postgraduate degree in Spain. In 2014, he returned to Punta Brava to promote Instituto Puente, an educational center that provides secondary education in Izabal and Alta Verapaz.

He is the co-founder of Instituto Puente and the Council of Indigenous Youth of Guatemala, and is a member of the Interinstitutional Roundtable on Educational Innovation, working alongside various educational organizations in Guatemala. He worked in the administrative area of the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN in New York and has served as an advisor to the Ministry of Education. He has also taught at UFM, at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, and in an online master’s program at the National University of Costa Rica.

Meet Mirna

A defender of women’s rights and reproductive health.

Field: Public Health and Human Rights

Birthplace: Guatemala

Biography & Work

Mirna Montenegro Rangel is a physician and holds a master’s degree in public health, with studies in sociology and business administration. She has worked for 30 years on issues of human rights, women’s rights, and sexual and reproductive health, particularly focusing on maternal mortality, prevention of sexual violence, and pregnancy in girls and adolescents.

Her contributions include shaping the legal framework in the Family Planning Law, the Healthy Maternity Law, and the Law Against Sexual Violence, Exploitation, and Trafficking, as well as monitoring the implementation of these laws to improve the lives of women, adolescents, and girls. She is the Director of the Reproductive Health Observatory, a mechanism for citizen participation and social auditing, which has made significant contributions in supporting girls who are victims of sexual violence and those who are pregnant.

Meet the 2025 Winners

Meet Jayro

A visionary filmmaker redefining Guatemalan cinema for the world.

Biography & Work

Explore the 2024 Winners