Located in Guatemala City, the 18th Zone is one of the most dangerous and discriminated neighbourhoods in Latin America.

Many companies refuse to employ people from the 18th zone because they assume they have ties to the gangs that dominate that area.

Tortrix, Guatemala’s most popular snack brand, made it their mission to help the nearly one million Guatemalans who feel unwanted in their own country. So we created the only institution that can represent them all.

The Embassy of the 18th Zone.

We rented a house outside 18th Zone and equipped it like a real embassy. One of the most important Human Resources professionals in Guatemala, was named Ambassador.

To launch, we invited media and executives of the largest companies of the country to the embassy to start a diplomatic dialogue with 18th Zone.

We introduced embajadazona18.org, where companies enrol in the project and post job openings, and candidates upload resumes and apply for jobs, free of discrimination.

Every resume we received was reviewed by a human resources specialist and then circulated among the participating companies.

And 20 companies joined the Embassy committing not to discriminate the candidates of the 18th Zone.

In only the first month more than 15000 people subscribed,

3,500 candidates got job interviews,

800 were hired.

The program has earned over $ 2,000,000 in free press and free media. Exceeding eight times Tortrix`s annual media investment. We had over 20 million impressions on Internet.

We wanted to run a campaign of corporate responsibility for Tortrix. We discovered a problem that affects one of the most populated regions of Guatemala City, where a substantial share of loyal consumers of the brand live. These people deal day in and day out with insecurity, marginalization and a stigma of being residents at the only declared red zone by the government. This affects your chances of success and it leads to self-discrimination.

The results during our first month were more than 15,000 people who subscribed to the cause, over 3,500 interviews were held, out of which more than 800 people got hired.

Over 20 companies joined us against address discrimination. Since the embassy launched, these companies have been receiving 18th Zone residents’ paperwork for hiring.

The project has gotten over $2,000,000 in free press and media, which is more than eight times Tortrix’s annual media investment. Additionally, we had more than 20 million impressions on Internet.

The buzz was so high during the first month, that there was a demand to expand opening hours and duplicated the training courses. Moreover, we end with a social prejudice and help 800.000 people to get access to a better future.

We create a Embassy. The 18th Embassy. We rented a house outside 18th Zone and equipped it like a real embassy, with a flag, an emblem, offices supplies and administrative personnel. We also equipped a classroom to provide job training later on.

We lacked an ambassador, so we contacted Giovanni Villagran. He is one of the leading human resources specialists of the country.

We invited country’s leading companies, business chambers, HRs organizations, and media to the embassy’s launch, so they could start a diplomatic dialogue with 18th Zone.

Immediately after the event, administrative operations and embassy mechanisms were put into action. We also launched an embajadazona18.org – where companies enrol, post job openings, and furthermore, candidates upload resumes and apply for jobs, free of discrimination.

Tortrix is Guatemala’s most popular snack brand. It has a trajectory of over 50 years and many generations of Guatemalans have consider it an important part of their national identity. Tortrix is on popular recipes, at reunions with friends, and at everyday moments. Through time, there has been greater acceptance in the popular segment because they keep alive the country’s traditions.

Big part of this popular segment lives at 18th Zone in Guatemala City. They are discarded by many companies when seeking a job, because it is assumed that they have ties to gangs that dominate that area.

This is essentially a PR idea, because it does not generate a message of protest or complaint. But what does, is an institution invited to create diplomatic ties between a segregated area and the business world that initially created this segregation.