IDB Announces Winners of the Improving Lives Grant

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) today announced the ten winners of the 2020 edition of its Improving Lives Grant, part of its Community Relations Program. 

The $25,000 grants are awarded after a rigorous evaluation process to organizations whose work benefits Latin American and Caribbean communities in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area. The awards also include access to IDB employees who volunteer their skills in areas including communications, accounting, management, legal aid and mentoring.

“We are honored to recognize the extraordinary work that these organizations do every day, particularly at a time when the pandemic has affected so many members of our community,” said IDB President Mauricio Claver-Carone. “These organizations and their services epitomize the spirit of solidarity that motivates all of us at the IDB Group.”

The winning organizations were selected through a two-stage process that gave priority to organizations whose proposals showed they have adapted their services to address the challenges imposed by the pandemic. The evaluation committee included experts in philanthropy, IDB senior managers and the U.S. Representative to the IDB Board of Executive Directors, Eliot Pedrosa.

The Community Relations Program was established in 1999 as a way to show appreciation to the city that hosts the IDB’s headquarters and to serve as a platform to support organizations that serve the Latino and Caribbean communities living in the DC area. The Program supports the work of these organizations through grants, volunteerism, in-kind donations, and fundraising campaigns.

The winners of the 2020 Community Relations Program Grant are:

• CentroNía
• La Clínica del Pueblo
• DC Central Kitchen
• Edu-Futuro
• GALA Inc.
• Identity
• La Cocina VA
• Latino Student Fund
• Nueva Vida
• TZEDEK DC