Ford Foundation Awards Second Grant to Americas Society

Americas Society is honored to announce the Ford Foundation’s generous award of a one-year grant of $132,700 for Americas Society’s social inclusion program. The project will conduct research and promote policy debate and policy change for creating more inclusive societies in the region.  

With support from the Ford Foundation, Americas Society’s Social Inclusion Program was initiated in 2010 and aims to strengthen the economic and political representation of previously marginalized groups, coordinate new research on expanding access to markets and social services, and highlight how government and business can address the systemic problem of social exclusion throughout the Western Hemisphere.

The research conducted during the first year of the program resulted in three white papers on social inclusion in health care, education and youth and market access. For each topic, AS convened roundtables with high level public and private sector officials to discuss the results and initiatives in these areas.  The second year of research will focus on how to promote labor market access for youth and the policy outcomes of increased political representation of indigenous populations and Afro-Latinos across several countries.

“This year we will continue to broaden the policy discussions we started with our first Ford Foundation grant to help bring new actors—both representing marginalized sectors and the private sector—together to discuss policy initiatives to reduce social, economic and political exclusion throughout the Americas,” says Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy for Americas Society and Editor-in-Chief of Americas Quarterly.

Through Americas Society’s policy journal, Americas Quarterly, and the Americas Society website (www.as-coa.org), the program will also highlight Ford Foundation initiatives that advance social inclusion in the region and will aggregate research to provide a comparative regional perspective on topics such as land rights, access to public services, crime and insecurity, human rights, market access, and political representation.

“We are deeply grateful to the Ford Foundation for its continued and generous support and look forward to continuing to leverage our platform to promote social inclusion in the Americas,” says Americas Society President and CEO Susan Segal.

For further information about the Americas Society’s work on social inclusion, please contact Americas Society Communications Manager Alex Andrews at aandrews@as-coa.org or (212) 277-8384.