We are charting Comunalia's course toward the future

Mexico City, August 5, 2022. As part of Comunalia’s 2023–2028 Strategic Planning process, the members of our Alliance of Community Foundations of Mexico met at Cemefi’s Casa de la Filantropía on August 1 and 2, where we reflected on our areas of opportunity and strengths to build a shared vision and take on the challenges of the future. 

Based on our theory of change and the Comunalia 2.0 strategic plan, this strategic planning process began in June with the operational team and the board of directors, and members of our network joined us at the workshop in Mexico City. 

The planning workshop was facilitated by Sara Zambrano, who used the literature as a starting point to help us discuss our shared visions of What is community philanthropy?; Community foundations as 21st-century organizations; the Community Foundations of Canada model; and the Use of the 4Cs: Evaluating Professional Support for Philanthropy. 

We define a community foundation as an organization that arises from the need to help solve local problems; it works within a specific territory, alongside the community and stakeholders, through partnerships, coordination, and the mobilization of resources, with the aim of enabling sustainable social transformation by building on the strengths of that territory. By “community,” we mean the various actors in the region—grassroots groups, CSOs, government, businesses, citizens, academia, and others. 

To continue the 2023–2028 strategic planning process, we, the members of Comunalia, have agreed to establish four working committees to collectively strengthen our vision of sustainability, credibility, capacity, and connections through virtual sessions over the coming months. Our Strategic Plan through 2028 will be presented in November during the Extraordinary Annual Assembly. 

“I want to thank you all for your willingness to help plan Comunalia’s future, honoring all the work we’ve already done together, and I didn’t want to say goodbye without reminding us that this space has been a collective effort by everyone, and a milestone in a process that will continue to be enriched by each of your contributions,” said Tatiana Fraga Diez, executive director of Comunalia.  

This process of defining goals and planning took place as part of the 11th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance of Community Foundations of Mexico (August 2, 2011). To celebrate together, Laura Sarvide, a member of Comunalia’s founding group, read aloud several excerpts from her most recent book, titled *Caleidoscopio Ciudadano*, in which she uses personal stories to explore her experiences and lessons learned from her work in organized civil society in Mexico.  

This moment also coincides with the interest shown by community foundation movements in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia in what is happening in Mexico.   

“We are educators and creators of other spaces that we sometimes think are disconnected from one another, and that can give our work a tremendous sense of purpose. What we’ve done today—planning for the next five years—will not only have an impact on Comunalia and the community foundations here, but it will also affect the other foundations that are being created because they’re watching us,” said Agustín Landa, president of Comunalia.

The session was attended by Ángela Serrano, Director of the International Community Foundation; Yesica Salas Duarte, Organizational Development Coordinator at the Northern Border Community Foundation; Brenda Molinar, Special Initiatives Coordinator at FECHAC; Denisse Rodríguez, Director of the Sonoran Business Foundation’s Obregón Chapter; Érika Laveaga, Director of the Comunidar Foundation; Marcela Castañeda, Fundraising Manager at the Comunidar Foundation; Renata Carvajal Bretón, Coordinator of Grant Management and Resource Development at the Puebla Community Foundation; Carlos García Miranda, President of the Merced Querétaro Foundation; Jalil Guadarrama, Director of the Malinalco Community Foundation; Carmen Ortega Albarrán, Administrative Director of the Malinalco Community Foundation; David Pérez Rulfo, Director of Corporate Foundations; Alejandra Rivera, Director of the Punta de Mita Foundation; Jonathan Velasco, Director of Programs and Funds at the Oaxaca Community Foundation; Corinne Pierre-Louis, Director of Amigos de San Cristóbal; Alejandro Sauma, Director of FEYAC; Erik Bruce, President of Comunidad; and Alejandro Martínez, Board Member of the Cozumel Foundation.