More than 30,000 people in 14 states will benefit from the Active Communities Fund

Monterrey, Nuevo León, August 14, 2020. In its first phase, the partnership between Comunalia and the Coca-Cola Foundation selected a total of 41 social projects that will receive support from the Active Communities Fund to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and thereby contribute to Mexico’s social and economic recovery.

The call for proposals, launched through the collaboration of 15 foundations that are part of the Alliance of Community Foundations of Mexico in 14 states across the country, was aimed at civil society organizations and grassroots groups working on issues related to access to water, humanitarian aid, support for small businesses, and the empowerment of youth and women.

Through the Active Communities Fund, Comunalia and the Coca-Cola Foundation will invest more than $32 million pesos in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Querétaro, Puebla, Morelos, Yucatán, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, and the State of Mexico.

Through the selected programs and initiatives—30 of which are run by civil society organizations and grassroots groups, and 8 by community foundations—the Active Communities Fund will directly benefit 33,051 people, of whom 55% are women and 45% are men, as well as a total of 122,821 indirect participants across the country.

This project is part of a strategy by Comunalia to promote, at the local level, increased funding and the strengthening of initiatives run by partner community foundations, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups that are helping to build resilience in Mexican communities.

The current epidemiological crisis has caused a sharp decline in local consumption, dealing a blow to the economy and particularly affecting people “living hand-to-mouth” in urban and rural areas. And although organized civil society has continued to support the most vulnerable populations, these efforts would eventually prove insufficient—hence the commitment by Comunalia and the Coca-Cola Foundation to strengthen their initiatives.

In Mexico, in April alone—the first month of the pandemic in the country—COVID-19 affected the income of 16.7 million households; according to estimates from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in three out of every 10 households, at least one family member lost their job or experienced a pay cut.

This call for proposals was made possible thanks to the collaboration of Fundación Comunidad; Fundación Comunitaria de la Frontera Norte; Fundación del Empresariado Yucateco (FEYAC); Fundación Merced Coahuila; Corporativa de Fundaciones; Fundación Cozumel; Fundación Merced Querétaro; Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense (FECHAC); Fundación Comunitaria Malinalco; Fundación Punta de Mita; Fundación Comunitaria Oaxaca; Fundación Comunitaria Puebla; Fundación Comunidar; Fundación del Empresariado Sonorense (FESAC); and Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad.

Over the next few months and through March 2021, the selected initiatives and projects will be implementing the Active Communities Fund and will subsequently share the results and impact of their work within their communities.

Learn about the initiatives that were selected for the Active Communities Fund:

About Comunalia:
Comunalia is the Alliance of Community Foundations of Mexico, with nine years of experience and a focus on local development and strategic social investment. It aims to strengthen the collective work of the country’s community foundations to achieve greater reach, impact, and significance in their programs. It seeks to empower citizens, influence public policy, develop leadership, and replicate and consolidate the Mexican model of community foundations.

About the Coca-Cola Foundation:
The Coca-Cola Foundation’s mission is to contribute to sustainable development—social, economic, and environmental—in communities across Mexico by building shared-value partnerships.

Photo credit: Corporativa de Fundaciones, Jalisco