After a comprehensive strategic review, our board determined that concentrating resources on Democratic Governance and Education will enable Tinker to be a stronger partner to Latin American civil society organizations. Focused programming will allow us to respond more effectively to dramatically increasing demand for our support, while also maintaining our distinctive region-wide footprint.

This decision was the result of a year-long strategic review. One important consideration during the process was the surge of demand for funding that Tinker has experienced, with Letters of Inquiry more than tripling in recent years.

We recognize that this decision comes at a difficult time for civil society organizations in the region, a reality across all of Tinker’s program areas. Our hope is that greater focus will enable Tinker to better accompany its partners, connect organizations and generate new opportunities, and support novel approaches that deepen the resilience of civil society.

Our decision emerged from a year-long strategic review focused on maximizing our impact as a partner to Latin American civil society organizations. Our board and leadership evaluated where Tinker can be most effective, considering long-term trends in the region, broader funding shifts, and Tinker’s own grantmaking experience. This decision was not driven by external political dynamics.

In recent years, Tinker increased its grantmaking to respond to moments of particular urgency and will continue to do so when merited. At the same time, we believe that narrowing our strategic focus will enable us to have the greatest possible impact.

We will honor existing grant agreements, including multi-year grants. No current commitments will be affected by this transition, and grantees will continue to receive administrative support from Tinker staff.

Our staff remains available to past and present grantees for ongoing support, including connections to other funding opportunities where appropriate.

These areas represent urgent regional needs and draw on Tinker expertise. Our decades of support for justice and rule of law-related initiatives and our response to educational challenges in the post-COVID period position us to accelerate significant impact through grantmaking to civil society organizations working on these issues. Our strategic focus recognizes that strong governance and education systems provide the basis for addressing all regional challenges.

Tinker has longstanding work and relationships in both areas, and we look forward to expanded investments in the coming grant cycles.

In Democratic Governance, we work to strengthen justice systems and access to justice, the building blocks of inclusive development. Drawing on our legacy of work on justice and rule of law, we fund organizations consolidating independent, reliable, equitable, and transparent justice systems through which all people can defend their rights. This includes institutional improvements, capacity-building, digital innovation, and legal empowerment for vulnerable groups.

In Education, we support foundational learning improvements by investing in organizations that partner with school systems, educational leaders, and families to close attainment gaps for vulnerable students and integrate evidence-based approaches. Amidst persistent regional educational inequities, we invest in leaders and organizations demonstrating what works and moving systems toward better outcomes for all children.

It will enable deeper partnerships, stronger expertise development, and more strategic collaboration with peer funders. We will fund larger cohorts of organizations in these two areas while maintaining our distinctive reach across Latin America.

This shift reinforces our commitment to the region and to funding Latin American civil society organizations. Concentrating grantmaking in Democratic Governance and Education will allow us to develop deeper expertise and partnerships across Latin America.

Tinker will continue to use open calls to identify new partners and projects, which help ensure that our grantmaking responds to the priorities of civil society organizations in the region. We will launch our next call for Letters of Inquiry in January 2026 for the Democratic Governance and Education program areas.

Moving forward, our focus is on maximizing impact in the Democratic Governance and Education program areas through partnership with Latin American civil society organizations. While the Sustainable Resource Management program is ending, we are open to projects in our two priority areas that incorporate an environmental component, such as work to address environmental crime and strengthen the rule of law in ecological hotspots.

Enhanced partnership capacity in our program areas, continued commitment to organizations based in the region, and strengthened ability to respond to critical priorities in governance and education throughout Latin America.