Latin America and the Caribbean Grant Program

The Latin America and the Caribbean Grant Program by Open Society Foundations focuses on transforming public concern into initiatives for democratic change in the region. It supports advocacy and collaboration to address issues like inequality, corruption, and climate crisis. The program prioritizes Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, and accepts ongoing inquiries in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. It emphasizes media independence, reducing violence, and climate justice while promoting engagement from marginalized communities.

NOTE: Please note that the program rarely funds unsolicited proposals. The vast majority of our grants are awarded to organizations that we approach directly.
The Open Society Foundations give grants to a diverse array of groups and who work in different ways to promote democratic practice, human rights, equity, and justice.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the Open Society Foundations seek to bolster democratic change by transforming growing public concern about inequality, corruption, violence, and the climate crisis into powerful initiatives and alliances to build an open and safe society.
We work to advance Open Society’s values in Latin America and the Caribbean through grant making, advocacy, network building, and collaboration with partners and stakeholders. Our strategy includes a focus on three priority countries: Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
The Latin America Program accepts letters of inquiry in English, Spanish or Portuguese. There is no established deadline to submit them, and we review these requests on an ongoing basis.
Supporting Democratic Governance
Countries across Central and South America face enormous political pressure from deep-rooted financial, economic, and social challenges that have fueled the rise of authoritarian leaders willing to subvert democratic freedoms and rights to maintain power. Open Society is working with a range of local partners to develop policies and strategies that help democracies overcome these often-overlapping issues, which now include the intensifying impact of the climate crisis. This work seeks to connect democracies to people’s everyday needs. Our work includes funding groups that support political engagement by women, by communities of African descent, and by indigenous people that have been often left out of the democratic process.
Media Independence and Disinformation
In Latin America, the Open Society Foundations support efforts to protect journalists from threats and violence that they can face while doing their job. We also seek to sustain independent investigative reporting on issues that may be overlooked by the mainstream media for political or business reasons.
Reducing Violence
Latin America’s cities have some of the world’s highest rates of violent crime, much of it linked to gang violence. We support groups that seek to improve public safety through a community-based approach that involves local youth groups and businesses, and goes beyond a reliance on punitive policing.
Climate Justice
From drought in Central America to the extreme weather threats in the Caribbean, the climate crisis is wreaking havoc in the region and intensifying displacement of people who do not have resources to adapt to, prepare for, and recover from climate change.
Open Society is working to achieve transformational climate and economic policies centering the social dimensions of the transition and adapting to climate impacts that help bolster trust in democratic institutions and reduce inequality.
Drug Reform Policy
In Colombia, we have funded efforts to develop beneficial commercial uses for coca leaf that can benefit small-scale growers, as an alternative to crop eradication campaigns. The model has reduced coca cultivation, decreased violence, and helped stabilize rural economies.

Eligibility

The vast majority of the grants made by Open Society are to organizations. Every year, Open Society awards grants for a wide range of activities, everything from discrete project grants to general operating support.In some circumstances, we give organizations flexibility in how they use our funding, while in others we make grants for specific projects. Ultimately the kind of grants an Open Society program makes depends on its strategy and vision of how best to allocate its budget to allow for greatest impact.Open Society also awards a limited number of grants to individuals, primarily through fellowships offered across a number of different programs.Additionally, Open Society is able to make recommendations to the Open Society Policy Center for 501(c)(4) grants in support of policy advocacy (lobbying).We are able to provide funding directly to formally established organizations around the world as well as to informal organizations or networks through intermediaries (fiscal sponsors, fiscal agents).Open Society is able to provide both project and general support. When appropriate, we at the Open Society Foundations seek to provide grantees with flexibility on how to use the funds where appropriate, including but not limited to general support.