Illustration by David Gramal for Rising Voices.

Global Voices, through its Rising Voices initiative, is pleased to announce that the Indigenous Language Digital Activism Summit will take place in Mexico City on March 11–15, 2025.

The summit will be a space to facilitate peer learning and exchange between Indigenous language digital activists, who are working to promote, preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages of Mexico in digital spaces and with their communities. Although this third edition of the summit will have a national focus, it will also have a special emphasis on the participation of digital activists working with Mayan languages.

Last year the summit took place in the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas. In 2023, the summit was held in the city of Mérida in the state of Yucatán.

Many of the activities are invite-only or only accessible through a public open call for participation. However, the final day of the summit will be a celebration open to the general public interested in learning about the important work by Indigenous language digital activists across Mexico.

Illustration by Vics Laga for Rising Voices.

Summit activities

Fellows Gathering (March 11 & 12): For the past eight months, Rising Voices has been supporting the third cohort of 10 fellows from the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas. The group has been engaged in a peer learning process comprising virtual meetings and workshops. The fellows also have been running a community-based project promoting their languages in a variety of digital spaces. This gathering will offer the group an opportunity to meet and get to know each other in person, to reflect on the impact of their projects, and to look ahead to future activities.

Gathering of the Network of Mayan Languages Digital Activists (March 11 & 12): Fellows who have completed their participation in the Program in 2022 and 2023 chose to continue working together. Through the creation of the ADLM Network, the alumni of the Fellowship Program has been implementing joint and collaborative projects, such as the Regional Digital Activism Summit that took place in January 2025 in the city of Valladolid, Yucatán. They will once again gather to continue sharing their experiences and to strengthen the network.

Digital Activism Workshop (March 11 & 12): In collaboration with the Center for Digital Culture, speakers of Indigenous language speakers based in and around Mexico City have been invited to take part in a two-day workshop called “Strengthening your language on the Internet,” in which they will learn to develop a personal strategic plan to begin or continue their digital activism activities. Led by two experienced digital activist facilitators from Mexico, the workshop and will incorporate tactics developed as part of a toolkit project in collaboration with UNESCO.

Artificial Intelligence + Languages Forum (March 13 & 14): This two-day forum will bring together speakers of Indigenous languages to explore how the use of Artificial Intelligence is being applied in Indigenous language revitalization. The participants will share their aspirations and concerns with one another, especially in regards to data sovereignty, environmental concerns, and inclusive participation, as well as to propose guiding principles based on Indigenous perspectives, which will allow them to assess whether these technologies are appropriate and beneficial for their communities.

Indigenous Digital Languages Fair (March 15): The summit opens its doors to the general public with a participatory program featuring stands where Indigenous language digital activists can showcase their projects and campaigns using digital tools for language promotion. The fair will be held in the Spanish Cultural Center of Mexico. See here for the draft program. The final list of stands will be available later in February.

The summit is made possible with the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Spanish Cultural Center in Mexico, the Center of Digital Culture, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. Rising Voices is also collaborating with First Languages AI Reality and Bishop's University, as well as an event taking place within the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032).

Follow along on social media with the hashtag #ADLI25.