BRILLO DE SOL
brighter lives for children with disabilities
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The primary mission of Brillo de Sol, USA is to provide fundraising and educational support to our partner organization Asociación Brillo de Sol, educating children with disabilities in Guatemala. We face three main challenges. (a) developing sustainable funding: We are in continuous need to expand our donor base, explore funding through grant writing and find large donors for a new school building. (b) educational challenges: in our efforts to assist the school with developing educational programs that are evidence-based, show measurable outcomes, and fit well into a national school system that has traditionally disregarded children with disabilities, we encountered many cultural differences. (c) our students: the children attending our school face many challenges to their success at school. Their families are poor, their nutritional status is inappropriate, they are often in desperate need of medical/ pharmacological intervention, and they frequently have mental health needs.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Brillo de Sol
Provides education and therapy to impoverished children with disabilities in Guatemala
Where we work
External reviews

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Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The two long-term goals of Brillo de Sol, USA are (a) to assist the Asociación Brillo de Sol Guatemala to develop sustainable funding in the form of individual gifts and organizational grants to supplement the fundraising we do in the United States, and (b) to provide support for the educational programming for the children with disabilities who are attending the school. The fundraising goal includes a long-term capital fundraising project for building a school that allows us to meet the needs for schooling for local children with disabilities.
Our current short-term goals are (a) to increase the coordination and collaboration with the Guatemalan partner organization, setting common goals in the pursuit of the ultimate goal of improving the educational outcome for the children attending the school; (b) to pursue joint strategic planning; (c) to support the Guatemalan partner organization in hiring a technical directors to oversee educational programming and the operation of the school
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
(a) Board collaboration: Most recently, we have begun to formalize the relationship between the two board of directors, defining mutual expectations, making joint plans, and implementing annual performance evaluations of the status of the execution of these plans.
(b) Joint strategic planning: We have obtained the commitment of both boards to participate in a strategic planning retreat, planned for 2019 in Antigua, Guatemala.
(c) Hiring of a technical director: This is primarily the task of the Guatemalan board. However, we have provided technical information on the hiring process at this point.
(d) Salary increases: We have increased our marketing efforts with current and future donors in North-America (US and Canada), Europe, and Guatemala, by publishing a monthly donor/ volunteer newsletter for donor recruitment and retention.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Although welcoming new board members with professional level expertise and experience (particularly in fields such as education, special education, social work and counseling, occupational therapy, school administration, etc.), our small, all-volunteer board of directors is a highly engaged board. We are reaching out to educational institutions, to coordinate volunteer programs with them. We have formed partnerships with individuals and organizations and regularly involve them in our program implementation.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In the past 6 years of collaboration between the two organizations, Brillo de Sol, USA, has provided fundraising and accounting expertise that has resulted in a broad and sustainable donor base and fiscally sound management practices in both organizations. We have coordinated educational efforts in training teachers and administrative staff, provided such training ourselves, and participated in training by other individuals and agencies. The next steps or objectives in the implementation of our 4 short term goals are (a) continue the process of collaboration by assisting the Guatemalan organization in formalizing their conception of inclusive education, (b) setting time and place for a joint retreat and hiring a facilitator, (c) executing fundraising plans to find the funding for a technical director, (d) executing fundraising plans to find the funding for salary increases for the professional staff.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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BRILLO DE SOL
Board of directorsas of 07/25/2022
Michael Fraas
Letty Letty López Contreras
Asociación Brillo de Sol
Term: 2013 - 2023
Joseph Phebus
Joseph Phebus Consulting, LLC
Letty Lopez Contreras
Brillo de Sol
Steve Brazel
Ravi Srinivasan
GroupFio, Inc
Suja Srinivasan
GroupFio, Inc.
Steven Cooper
Sabrina Cooper
Michael Fraas
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/10/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.