Recent Grants

Alternativas y Capacidades,  A.C.
Project: Social Investment Database in Mexico

The project is to design and implement a social investment database that compiles basic information about Mexican donors, the amount of their donations/grants, the issue areas they support, their programs and procedures, and the organizations they fund. The database benefits: Mexican civil society organizations (CSOs) seeking funds, Mexican and international individual, corporate and foundation donors, policy makers, government, academia and media, and the general public.

The project is central for the expansion of the Mexican non-profit sector as it builds capacity, develops infrastructure, increases transparency & accountability and makes the different actors (grantees and grant-makers) more efficient.

Toniic Mexico
Project: Development of a network of social impact Investors

In partnership with Fundación Avina and Banorte, the USMF supported the launch of Toniic Mexico, a social investor network in Mexico.  Toniic is a global network of action-committed investors, who consider as an impact investment the strategy oriented to provide capital to companies which purpose is generating financial return, as well as social and/or environmental benefits.

Access to financing and venture capital at early stages is rather difficult for companies in Mexico due to factors such as lack of properly established investor networks. This forces such companies to resort to other financing sources, which in the long term may prove unsustainable due to high interest rates.

Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense, A.C. (FECHAC)
Project: Launch of the program Youth:Work

On April 7 and 8, 2011 in Ciudad Juárez, the USMF co-sponsored the program: ”Creating Opportunities for Youth Program Launch and Learning Event” hosted by  the International Youth Foundation and Fundación del Empresariado Chihuahuense, A.C. and in partnership with The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  The conference panels included topics such as: Conflict Transformation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Employability and Entrepreneurship, Youth Social Entrepreneurs, Urban Peace – Youth Programs and Policies for the Prevention of Violence, Music and Art for Youth Development, Sports and Youth Leadership, and Effective Public Policies.

Partnership with Fundación del Empresariado en México, A.C. (Fundemex) and Fundación Wal-Mart, A.C.     
Project: Design of a Sustainable Commercialization Project to strengthen Small Producers and Social Enterprises in Mexico

This project serves to promote the commercialization skills of small producers by providing business training, assisting in community organization, and fostering local leadership. Commercialization is most often the bottleneck for economic development projects in Mexico. The USMF, Fundación Wal-Mart, and Fundemex identify small producers in marginalized communities and oversee their progress over the course of one to two years.

Appleseed México, A.C.    
Project: Comprehensive Protection of the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors

Appleseed Mexico, thru this grant, seeks to ensure that minors repatriated to Mexico from the United States are respected, treated fairly, and receive appropriate care through the detention and repatriation process. Appleseed advocates for the protection of not only Mexican children but  of all children during their transit or migration in Mexico. Thanks to the USMF grant, which covered forty percent of Appleseed’s  related costs, the organization recently presented a draft bill to the Mexican congress in order to implement the urgently needed changes in unaccompanied minor-related policies. To complement this project, Appleseed worked with a binational team to prepare a report called “Children at the Border”. The report was released in May 2011 and it basically makes many fine policy recommendations for both the U.S. and Mexican governments that could save many children’s lives and significantly reduce the number of children who are being exploited, raped or killed on the U.S.-Mexico border. Click here to read the report.

Bécalos
Project: Teacher training program

A teacher and a student education scholarship program, Bécalos is intended to increase the quality of the Mexican educational system by strengthening the competencies and skills of teachers and principals of elementary schools. Launched in 2006 in partnership with Fundación Televisa, the program has trained 31,000 teachers to-date. Of that amount, 964 teachers were sponsored through a USMF grant, leading to the completion of their instruction in August 2010.