Rockefeller Foundation to Open New Office in Latin America

Announced during event in Bogotá, Colombia, co-hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation, WWF Colombia, and Compaz Foundation. 

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, Aug. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Rockefeller Foundation announced that it will open a new Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for the first time in two decades. As part of its global commitment to invest more than USD 1 billion over five years to advance the global climate transition and help ensure everyone can participate in it, The Rockefeller Foundation will work with regional leaders and local stakeholders to help achieve measurable outcomes for people in the LAC region and the planet.  The philanthropy plans to base its regional presence in Colombia in 2025 and to appoint a new Vice President to build it. The announcement was made during the “People, Nature, and Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean” event in Bogotá, Colombia, which The Rockefeller Foundation co-hosted with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Colombia and the Compaz Foundation.

“We have a window of opportunity over the next several years to support the region and its leaders in catalyzing a period of green, inclusive growth, not only to improve our development, but to save the planet,” said Juan Manuel Santos, who served as President of Colombia from 2010-2018 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. He created Compaz Foundation to promote peacebuilding in Colombia and around the world, and is a current Trustee of The Rockefeller Foundation. “To do so effectively, and to support countries’ efforts to achieve their climate and development goals, I am pleased that The Rockefeller Foundation will establish an expanded, permanent presence in this dynamic region.”

With more than a century of investing in the region and convening some of its brightest minds, The Rockefeller Foundation set up its first LAC office during the late 1930s, focusing on improving health and agriculture sectors, developing rural communities, and establishing universities. Although its physical presence in the region ended in the early 2000s, the Foundation’s investments have continued, with ongoing projects across an initial ten countries in the region: Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Trinidad & Tobago.

For information about some of The Rockefeller Foundation’s recent work in the region, see the latest edition of Matter of Impact: From the Andes to the Amazon, Latin America’s Climate Frontlines.

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