Orgánico. Justo. Bueno.
Indigenous communities and the inclusive creative economy are the inspiration this week for Latin American capital providers gathering in Oaxaca to rethink the role of finance in the region.
In the Indigenous Zapotec town of San Martín Tilcajete, Palo que Habla Fund is replanting copal trees for the next generation of carvers of alebrijes, the finely colored wood sculptures that line the shops of downtown Oaxaca. In nearby Teotitlán del Valle, another Zapotec town, women- and family-led cooperatives are forging economic independence as suppliers of hand-woven, wool rugs dyed with natural pigments for high-end retailers around the world.
CEPCO, a state-level coordinator for organic and just coffee producers in Oaxaca, has spun off La Organización, a private, branded roaster that is moving up the commercialization value chain to keep more wealth in the regional economy. The tagline: Orgánico. Justo. Bueno – organic, fair and good.
“Everything that we do has to be done with awareness, has to be done with consciousness,” said Rafael Bucios of Los Amantes, an artisanal Mezcal distillery 30 kilometers southwest of Oaxaca. Members of Latimpacto, the upstart venture philanthropy network, gathered at the distillery’s Rancho Cebú to kick off “Impact Minds,” this week’s confab of more than 600 capital providers in Latin America.
Community of impact
“When we drink Mezcal, we are drinking something that is a tradition, something that allows people to bring sustenance to their homes,” says Bucios. “We have to be really aware that there is an impact to everything that we do.”
Latimpacto’s Carolina Suarez signaled impact investors’ commitment to a more inclusive and sustainable Latin American economy. “We believe in a world beyond frontiers, beyond differences of our needs, cultures and businesses,” she said. “We share the same purpose, building a community of impact.”
Catalytic green solutions
Working with Latimpacto, IDB Lab, the venture capital arm of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, is launching the Green Catalytic Fund to reduce carbon emissions by supporting hundreds of businesses and community initiatives in the sustainable use of natural capital. Latimpacto on Wednesday will launch a call for proposals for projects.
Coca-Cola and Bayer Foundation have each invested $500,000 in the fund, which will provide a mix of debt and grants. IDB Lab invested $1 million. The Inter-American Development Bank’s Amazon Unit added another $2 million.
Fund-o-rama
Following a similar model, Latimpacto and partners this week will stand up Fund STEM for education and skill-building, Latimpacto’s Juan David Ferreira confirmed to ImpactAlpha. Bogotá-based Fundación Arturo Sesana, in partnership with IDB Lab and other partners, will announce Region Plateada, or Silver Region, a multilateral fund to support elderly care services and workers in Latin America.
In June, Medellín-based Fundación SURA, with Latimpacto, awarded $1.5 million to 15 cultural projects in Panama, Peru, Colombia and other countries in the region.
