We’ve been advocates of supporting community events and goodwill initiatives since the beginning. Whether it be on behalf of the arts, education, or the environment, we’re committed to giving back to those making positive contributions to the world around us.
Casa Hererra, Photo Courtesy of The Mesoamerica Center
Our Partners
The Mesoamerica Center
Our partnership with The Mesoamerica Center, housed in the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin, promotes scholarship, learning, and sustainability in the Mesoamerica region. Ruta Maya is a proud partial underwriter of the Mesoamerica Meetings, an annual symposium that brings together Mayan scholars and interested individuals from all corners of the globe to explore the richness of Mesoamerican art, archaeology, writing, and other aspects of cultural heritage.
We also support programs at Casa Herrera, an academic research facility located in the heart of Antigua, Guatemala. Now in its fourth running year, The University of Texas’ Ruta Maya Coffee Scholarship gives college students the opportunity to study abroad with the Bridging Cultures in Latin America Program led by the Mesoamerica Center in Guatemala and Belize.
Ruta Maya Shark Tagging Trip, 2018. ©Josh Liberman, SharkTagging.com
The Shark Research & Conservation Program
Directed by Dr. Neil Hammerschlag, the Shark Research & Conservation Program (SRC) at the University of Miami conducts cutting-edge science to save the ocean’s apex predators and subsequently restore ecosystem function in a human-altered world. SRC research and outreach is focused on understanding and creating solutions for human threats such as climate change, exploitation and habitat loss on sharks and their ecosystems.
Ruta Maya is supporting SRC in furthering mutual goals of environmental research and education. We adopted our own shark in Summer of 2018, continuing SRC’s satellite tracking study of this deeply misunderstood oceanic species- many populations of which are in great decline and need immediate scientific and conservation attention. Our contributions will also help advance SRC’s efforts in educating the next generation of environmentally conscious leaders, providing more than 1,000 school children each year with hands-on scientific field experience in shark research.
Community Engagement
We're proud to have worked with the following: Austin Pets Alive, CASA of Travis County, Pancreatic Cancer Awareness, The National Wildlife Federation, Austin Earth Day Festival, East Austin Studio Tours, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin Film Festival, The Mesoamerica Meetings, Utopia Fest, Yellow Bike Project, Latinitas Austin Art Walk, Austin Food and Wine Society, Kerrville Folk Festival, San Antonio Zoo, Voltage Control, and more.
Special Recognition
Ruta Maya’s former Austin-based brick and mortar, Ruta Maya Coffee House, was included in the list of top ten coffee bars in the United States by premier national publication Food & Wine Magazine in March of 2006. Food & Wine editors spent 410 man-hours tasting 157 gourmet coffees to find the best of the best. Ruta Maya was only one of two coffee bars in all of the southern states to be chosen.