Belia Meneses Pinto

In Guatemala there is no turning back. Belia Meneses, 2024, translated. Half of all children under five live with chronic malnutrition, the highest rate on the continent. Only 2% of children aged zero to three have access to early education. No sector solves this alone.

Six places, six chapters

  1. Legacy: Why she serves

    Los Izotes, Jalapa, 2019. In this village she wrote, as a mother and an engineer, about the families who explain why she does this work.

  2. Beyond United Way: Her voice in other rooms

    Universidad Rafael Landívar, Ciudad de Guatemala, 2023. Universities, forums and government: beyond leading United Way, she takes early childhood to the tables where decisions are made.

  3. Writing: What she sees, she writes

    Santa Apolonia, Chimaltenango, 2024. Seven in ten children here live with chronic malnutrition. Her column on early childhood begins here.

  4. Media: Bringing more people in

    Escuintla, Escuintla, 2018. More than 70 managers from 32 companies left the office for a day to work at a school. Telling these stories brings more people in.

  5. Impact: Results you can measure

    Olopa, Chiquimula, 2025. In a municipality with 67% chronic malnutrition, 70 families received food, gardens and safe water.

  6. Let’s talk: What comes next

    Magdalena Milpas Altas, Sacatepéquez, 2026. The model now repeats with another 70 families. What is left gets built with more partners.

Belia
Meneses Pinto

Engineer.
Chief Executive of United Way Guatemala.

Guatemala’s future is decided before age six. She measures it, writes it, and walks up to see it.

Travel Guatemala with her: six places, six chapters of her work.

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Engineer Belia Meneses.
Engineer Belia Meneses.

A legacy of service

Belia Meneses Pinto is the CEO of United Way Guatemala. She grew up between two ways of serving. Her father was a military civil engineer for the government. Her mother gave 60 years of journalism to a column whose mission was to serve. From him she took engineering; from her, the conviction that words build too.

She holds a Systems Engineering degree from Universidad Francisco Marroquín and an MBA from Florida International University, is an ISO 9001 lead auditor and a mediator certified by the Centro Internacional de Mediación. She began by improving productivity in companies. Nearly twelve years ago she joined United Way Guatemala, and she has now been a licensed engineer for 25 years.

Beyond United Way

Speaker, 1st International Early Childhood Congress2025 · Universidad Rafael LandívarSpeaker, 1st International Early Childhood Congress
Panelist, women leaders forum “Con ellas, por ellas”2025 · Habitat for HumanityPanelist, women leaders forum “Con ellas, por ellas”
Lead business-sector representative at INCOPAS, the food security consultation body2019 · SESANLead business-sector representative at INCOPAS, the food security consultation body
Lecture, “How to change lives: social development projects”2015 · Universidad Francisco MarroquínLecture, “How to change lives: social development projects”Speaker, 14th International Education CongressUniversidad del ValleSpeaker, 14th International Education CongressConsultant on projects in Colombia, Costa Rica and elsewhereIDB · World Bank · USAIDConsultant on projects in Colombia, Costa Rica and elsewhere

Writing

Columns, letters and papers, in her own voice. Mostly in Spanish.

See the full selection
Primera Infancia en Guatemala: abordando los retos colectivamente2024 · ColumnPrimera Infancia en Guatemala: abordando los retos colectivamenteMensaje a nuestros héroes2019 · LetterMensaje a nuestros héroesEl voluntariado estratégico: de la teoría a la práctica2019 · ColumnEl voluntariado estratégico: de la teoría a la prácticaLa extraordinaria satisfacción de servir2018 · EssayLa extraordinaria satisfacción de servirNacer Aprendiendo: aplicando el programa a docentes2018 · ColumnNacer Aprendiendo: aplicando el programa a docentes¿Por qué la Primera Infancia necesita un esfuerzo colectivo?2017 · Column¿Por qué la Primera Infancia necesita un esfuerzo colectivo?Una causa por la que todos podemos trabajar2017 · ColumnUna causa por la que todos podemos trabajar

Media

See all media
Belia Meneses conversa con Estela Ortiz sobre primera infanciaVideo · Por un comienzo con futuroBelia Meneses conversa con Estela Ortiz sobre primera infanciaLa educación determina la calidad de vida que vamos a llevarPodcast · Martes TonificadoLa educación determina la calidad de vida que vamos a llevarCómo cambiar vidas: proyectos de desarrollo socialVideo · New Media UFM · 2015Cómo cambiar vidas: proyectos de desarrollo socialUnited Way Guatemala celebra 25 añosQuinto Poder · 2026United Way Guatemala celebra 25 añosSegunda fase del proyecto enfocado en la Primera InfanciaPrensa Libre · 2026Segunda fase del proyecto enfocado en la Primera InfanciaApoyan el desarrollo infantil desde sus primeros pasosPrensa Libre · 2024Apoyan el desarrollo infantil desde sus primeros pasosBotón Comparte contra la desnutrición infantilPrensa Libre · 2023Botón Comparte contra la desnutrición infantilUnited Way Guatemala cumple 25 añosGuatemala Hoy · 2026United Way Guatemala cumple 25 añosNuevos representantes de INCOPAS 2019 a 2021SESAN TV · 2019Nuevos representantes de INCOPAS 2019 a 2021Candidatos a la vicepresidencia ofrecen continuar con programas socialesPrensa Libre · 2019Candidatos a la vicepresidencia ofrecen continuar con programas sociales

25 years of United Way Guatemala

Collective results of the organization, 2001 to 2026.

11.3 Mpeople reached
+42Kvolunteers
Q217 Min social investment
+1,300partner companies
1.1 Mgirls, boys, adolescents and mothers

“Behind these figures are people, families and communities…”

Belia Meneses, 2026, translated

Let’s talk

Keynotes, panels, interviews and partnerships for early childhood.

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