Camila Mendoza

A Peruvian entrepreneur who built Latin America's first female-owned textile empire in the 1940s, revolutionizing labor rights for indigenous workers.

Camila Mendoza (1912-1998) was a groundbreaking business leader who transformed Peru's textile industry. Born into a Quechua family in the Andes, she learned weaving from her grandmother and witnessed the exploitation of indigenous laborers in early 20th-century factories. In 1943, she founded Mendoza Textiles, the first company owned by a woman of Indigenous descent in Peru. Her innovative natural dye techniques revitalized traditional Andean weaving, creating global demand for authentic textiles.

Mendoza pioneered fair labor practices long before they became standard, including profit-sharing for employees and childcare facilities at her factories. Her 1948 worker co-op model became a blueprint for Peru's labor reforms. During the 1960s, she expanded operations into Bolivia and Ecuador, establishing the Andean Craft Network to connect Indigenous artisans with international markets.

Her memoir 《Threads of Resilience》 remains a key text in Latin American business history. Mendoza's legacy includes the UNESCO Quechua Heritage Project, which she funded to preserve Indigenous languages through textile patterns. Her story inspired the 2019 documentary 《Weaving Freedom》.