Help us buy Elysium Social House!

• What is the mission of your company or project?

Mission: Womxnist Liberation Cooperative (WLC) is a Black-owned nationwide, multi-stakeholder co-op providing a multitude of services while building a sustainable infrastructure for our members that encourages autonomy, agency and access to resources needed to support themselves and their families.

Vision: 
We envision a world where Black womxn of the diaspora have thriving wages, all the resources that we need, and the ability to live our desired lifestyle without compromising our values and politics. 
We see a world where black womxn livelihoods flourish in the long term.
We hope to live in a world without oppression, a society that is restorative, regenerative, and abundant.

• Describe the problem you are solving.

Elysium Social House is a lovely, event space, tea room, cafe & cocktail bar based in Puerto Vallarta, MX. In summer 2025, the owner Erica Smith is moving away, but WLC wan’t to preserve it. So, a few dedicated community members plan to purchase and convert it into a member-managed social house & cooperatively-owned bar (co-op). 

• What is the market size/opportunity?

This business is located in the Marina area of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, MX and along the heart of the resort strip. The business is already thriving and we would simply be improving upon what exists. 

• What is your company/product about and how does it solve the problem? 

Womxnist Liberation Cooperative offers cooperative development support, community-rooted solutions, and the necessary scaffolding to sustain this business. We just lack the immediate capital to buy out the current owner and keep it financially stable throughout this conversion.  

• Why are you seeking funding and how will you spend the funding?

We are seeking funding because we need it to make this project a reality. Funds will be spent on buying the owner out of her contract, rent, bartender's salary, taxes, drink inventory, updated to the space to make it more accessible, lawyers, cooperative business consultants, co-owners labor and other expenses.

• Who is on your team?

LaTierra Piphus (pronouns: sib, kin & she) is a Womxnist-Marxist, Resource Mobilizer, and Cultural Organizer using sib's talents and skills to invest in the liberation of QTBIPOC folx, Black women and femmes. A Midwest-native, kin graduated from the University of Wisconsin with her B.A. in Communication, minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and acquired certificates in Community Based-Learning and Media Literacy. Sib currently carries out her Soul Work through the Womxnist Liberation Cooperative, The Womanist Working Collective, and Flourish: A Wealth Redistribution Agency.

Adriana Batista  (they/them) is a Mexican author and community organizer living in Puerto Vallarta. 

Cooperative Developer/Consultant - We will be receiving technical assistance from the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Puerto Vallarta Community Members are supporting in various ways with marketing and fundraising support.

Womxnist Liberation Cooperative is extending as many available resources and services to supporting this project as possible.

Thank you so much for your support and if you're event in the PV area, please stop by Elysium Social House!