Maria Cano

Colombian social entrepreneur who created Latin America's first women-led cooperative network in the 1950s.

Maria Cano (1922-2010) revolutionized rural economies in Colombia through her Las Mujeres de la Sierra cooperative network. Starting in 1953, she organized over 2,000 women in the Andes region to collectively market agricultural products, achieving a 300% income increase for participating families. Her <《Hands of the Andes》 (1968) documented her economic strategies, influencing later microfinance models. Despite facing death threats during La Violencia period (1948-1958), she expanded operations to include healthcare and education initiatives. The UN Women Cano Program now supports 500,000 women in 12 countries. Her 1970 testimony before the UN Commission on the Status of Women remains a landmark in global gender policy discussions.