The Population Council launched Abriendo Oportunidades (Opening Opportunities, or "AO") in 2004, an innovative educational and empowerment program designed for rural Indigenous Mayan girls. AO is a gender-transformative social initiative that engages young Indigenous women, known as mentors, to lead community-based girls' clubs: safe spaces where girls learn practical life skills, build confidence, and take on leadership roles to improve their social, educational, and sexual health outcomes. What began as a small research project in a handful of rural Guatemalan communities has, over the past two decades, expanded to reach more than 25,000 girls and 500 mentors in dozens of communities across Guatemala.