The COVID-19 pandemic continues to afflict countries across Latin America, provoking tragic loss of life and serious economic and social consequences. Our grantees and partners in the region have demonstrated commitment and creativity in adjusting their work to meet this situation. However, the challenges and uncertainties remain significant.

As a foundation focused on development in Latin America, we want to ensure our resources meet the greatest needs of this moment while also prioritizing critical work in our existing program areas.

Education program

In 2020, we created a special initiative, Ensuring Educational Equity during the COVID-19 Pandemic, which temporarily replaced our education program strategy. This special initiative will continue to be the focus of our Education grants made in 2021.

We will not be accepting unsolicited letters of inquiry in January 2021 in our Education program. We will invite a limited number of organizations to apply for funding; organizations will be contacted directly by Tinker. This one-time approach will allow us to respond more quickly to pressing needs in the region.

We will accept unsolicited letters of inquiry during our next application cycle that opens in July 2021. Organizations interested in receiving funding from Tinker’s Education program this year should plan to participate in the July LOI process.

Democratic Governance and Sustainable Resource Management programs

For our Democratic Governance and Sustainable Resource Management programs, we will consider projects aligned with our program priorities as usual. Applicants should briefly address in the letter of inquiry executive summary the project’s viability in the context of the pandemic.