Deadline: 26-Jan-22
The Tinker Foundation’s 2022 Institutional Grants Program is now open to provide project funding to organizations working to improve the lives of Latin Americans, with an emphasis on support for organizations in the region.
The Foundation funds research and advocacy, experimentation, scaling up of promising interventions, and exchange of knowledge and models – with the overarching goal of contributing to large-scale change in policy and practice. They award grants through three program areas that they have prioritized during the last decade because of their importance to the region.
Priorities
- Democratic Governance: The Foundation invites projects that work toward creating and consolidating systems of justice that are independent, effective, reliable, equitable, and transparent. They will consider proposals focused at the national or sub-national level, including those with comparative or regional components. Projects may relate to what could be called the “unfinished work of judicial reform,” i.e., the challenges and opportunities involved with implementing and operating within more recently adopted structures and frameworks. Initial areas of interest include:
- Promoting transparency and accountability in the justice sector, both from within justice institutions and without (civil society monitoring, etc.)
- The selection, training, and assessment of justice sector actors, as well as developing next-generation talent
- Increasing access to justice, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups
- Education: The Foundation recognizes the importance of continued action to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable students and address gaps in learning as schools begin to reopen. While the pandemic has had devastating effects on education that must be faced, they recognize that the recovery process may present opportunities for improving teaching, learning, and educational access in the region. In this context, the Foundation’s current education program priority is to provide grants to civil society organizations in Latin America that are focused on the most significant near- and medium-term effects of the pandemic on education and to enhance teaching and learning in the pandemic recovery period. They have prioritized projects that seek active engagement and participation of the most vulnerable students and communities, and to the extent possible, complement priorities and initiatives of the public education system.
- Sustainable Resource Management: The Tinker Foundation’s work on the environment is focused on efforts that support sustainable management of habitat and resources and incorporate social and economic dimensions affecting the well-being of local communities. Projects will address these challenges at multiple levels ranging from engaging with policy makers, to capacity building, and standards development and implementation. Funding is available for projects that address one of the following key themes:
- Promoting Sustainable Management Practices: Projects should address the crucial links between effective resource management and communities that use them and seek to ensure that economic returns resulting from improved management policies benefit local populations.
- Water: Water scarcity and quality issues have emerged as critical concerns worldwide. In Latin America, as elsewhere, the shortage of water and the resulting social, economic, and health costs disproportionately impact the poor. For that reason, the Foundation has a particular interest in projects that promote equitable access to a clean and secure water supply.
Funded activities may include, but are not restricted to, community engagement and capacity-building, applied research, measurement and evaluation activities, and workshops and conferences related to the Foundation’s areas of interest. They welcome collaboration among organizations in Latin America and prefer to fund institutions that are actively engaged with a broad array of stakeholders impacted by the identified challenge.
Funding Information
Grant amounts vary by program area and project. However, grants typically range between $50,000 to $150,000 per year, for up to three years. They also welcome requests for smaller grants in support of more bounded projects or to complement other resources.
Geographic Focus
The project must be focused on the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America, including: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Tinker Foundation provides grants only to organizations that are charitable in nature, i.e., with a United States 501(c)(3) tax status or its equivalent if the organization is located outside the U.S.
- Organizations from Latin America do not need to have United States 501(c)(3) status.
For more information, visit https://tinker.org/institutional-grants-apply-page/