The Comunalia-IAF-Mott partnership is among the finalists for the international P3 Impact Award

As part of the partnership between Comunalia, the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Mott), among the finalists for the prestigious P3 Impact Award

Monterrey, Nuevo León, August 6, 2020. The Comunalia-IAF-Mott partnership was selected as one of the five finalists for the P3 Impact Award, a prestigious award given by the U.S. Office of Global Partnerships, the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, and the nonprofit organization Concordia to partnerships that improve communities around the world.

Comunalia, the IAF, and the Mott Foundation presented the proposal “Localizing Development in Mexico,” a collaboration focused on strengthening and promoting the Mexican community foundation movement, which comprises 16 organizations with a presence in 15 states of the Republic; a network that involves more than 400 communities and benefits 30,000 people through local resources to create jobs, strengthen food security and disaster resilience, and support youth, women, and vulnerable groups, among other causes identified by the communities over time.

Upon announcing the five finalists, Concordia noted that the Alliance demonstrated a range of positive innovations in its design, structure, and implementation; as a result, they have been invited to share their lessons learned and experiences with the global audience that will gather at the 2020 Concordia Annual Summit from September 21 to 25, during a virtual event where the winner will be announced. 

The P3 Impact Award recognizes leading public-private partnerships (P3s), and in its seventh edition, it highlights leadership in practices and knowledge gained through cross-sector collaborations involving public, private, and nonprofit organizations and agencies to address social issues. Past winners include UNICEF, Accenture, Coca-Cola, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Microsoft, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and Hershey, among others. 

“We believe that civil society organizations play an important role in international development cooperation. And thanks to this collaboration with the IAF and the Mott Foundation, Comunalia has contributed to the effectiveness of all our interventions, especially when it comes to giving communities a voice.”

"This collaboration has taught us that if we give each stakeholder a voice and a role at the international, national, and local levels, we can build a new model of governance and carry out initiatives with greater impact. We are confident that we will continue to innovate in the area of citizen empowerment and strengthen the community foundation movement in Mexico," said Agustín Landa, president of Comunalia.  

Since its creation in August 2011, Comunalia has been aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 17, based on the principle that a successful sustainable development initiative requires partnerships among different levels of government, the private sector, and civil society organizations. 

With this vision, Comunalia—through its partnership with the IAF and the Mott Foundation—has strengthened the institutional development of its partner foundations, provided leadership training, established grant funds to support grassroots organizations, promoted research and knowledge-building on the community foundation movement in Mexico, and advocated for the movement in national and international forums.  

Comunalia is made up of Amigos de San Cristóbal, in Chiapas; Fundación Comunidad, in Morelos; Fundación Comunitaria de la Frontera Norte, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Fundación del Empresariado Yucateco (FEYAC), in Yucatán; Fundación Merced Coahuila, in Coahuila; Corporativa de Fundaciones, in Jalisco; Fundación Cozumel, in Quintana Roo; Fundación Merced Querétaro, in Querétaro; Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense (FECHAC), in Chihuahua; Fundación Comunitaria Malinalco, in the State of Mexico; Fundación Punta de Mita, in Bahía de Bandera, Nayarit; Oaxaca Community Foundation, in Oaxaca; Puebla Community Foundation, in Puebla; Comunidar Foundation, in Nuevo León; Sonoran Business Community Foundation (FESAC), in Sonora; and International Community Foundation, in Baja California. 

The Inter-American Foundation, an autonomous agency of the U.S. government, was established by Congress in 1969 to channel development assistance directly to organized, disadvantaged sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IAF is fulfilling its mandate by providing grants to support the most creative self-help initiatives submitted by grassroots groups and nongovernmental organizations in response to its annual call for proposals. It also promotes the formation of partnerships among community organizations, businesses, and local governments aimed at improving people’s quality of life and strengthening democratic practices. For more information, visit: https://www.iaf.gov/es/

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by a pioneering automotive company, is a private foundation committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, internationally, within a defined geographic area. Its philanthropy focuses on four programs: civil society, education, the environment, and Flint’s development. In addition to Flint, the foundation has offices in Detroit, Johannesburg, and London. With year-end assets of approximately $3.1 trillion USD in 2019, the foundation made 364 grants totaling more than $133 million USD. For more information, visit www.mott.org. 

Photo credit: Oaxaca Community Foundation.