Press releases

2020/03/18 As a way to encourage learning in programming and artificial intelligence for all ages, The Trust for the Americas, organization affiliated with the OAS – Organization of American States, in alliance with Microsoft, held on March 11, the Hour of Code Minecraft 2020 event. The global online event that has certified more than 130 million people in 180 countries since 2015 also held a face-to-face version in São Paulo for people with and without disabilities. Celebrated in the Education Room at the Microsoft facility, participants were able to access content using the free version of “Minecraft: Education Edition”. Hour of Code is a global trend that wants to show children, youth, adults, parents, and teachers that the logic of programming can be available to everyone. In its sixth consecutive year, the Hour of Code aims to demystify computer science by promoting learning in basic programming and machine learning concepts, based on activities of up to one hour in duration. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Argentina – Brasil – Estados Unidos

2020/03/18 By Rodrigo Iriani, Project Manager In 2016 we began a journey in support for the government and Costa Rican society on the Open Government agenda. Today, we have valuable lessons learned, best practices, and a projection towards sub-national governments. In 2018 we undertook the challenge of transferring the successful national processes to fifteen Municipalities outside the Greater Metropolitan Area. In July 2019 we signed an agreement of understanding with the Ministry of Communication of the Costa Rica to work together in bringing these experiences and best practices to all the Costa Rican cantons, under an Open Munis Route. During 2020, we will implement pilot projects for the use of civic technology in two municipalities, which simplify government services for greater efficiency in the management and issuance of municipal certificates, licenses or patents, generating confidence in their validity and traceability. Following the project, six municipalities have an Open Data policy, and another seven are for approval by the Municipal Council. To contribute to the debate on the importance of opening public data and enhancing the capacity of governments we present this paper where The Trust for the Americas, the Organization of American States and various instances of the Government of Costa Rica explain how collaboration to promote social innovation at the service of citizens. Furthermore, this article will showcase how this alliance positioned Costa Rica as a leading country in open government. This technical note covers our journey that started in 2016 and culminates with the summary of activities and achievements met in the last three years. The goal is to bring our readers and especially the Municipal leaders, closer to an experience that will allow them to build new services and position themselves among the few projects of this style in Latin America. Want to learn more about what it means for a country to want to be an Open State? Download our publication in the orange link below. (Available only in Spanish) Costa Rica

On March 10, 2020, The Trust for the Americas’ Director of Communications, Lara Bersano and the ambassador of Paraguay to the Organization of American States Mrs. Elisa Ruiz Diaz, visited the office of the First Lady of Paraguay Mrs. Silvana Abdó. The purpose of the visit was to present the programs that the Trust for the Americas develops in twenty-one countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Also, during the meeting, the First Lady talked about the work of her office to empower women and to support the networks that collaborate, developing entrepreneurship initiatives in Paraguay. The Trust for the Americas is very honored to have had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Abdó and is preparing a proposal to put in place a POETA center in the country. This will be the first program that the Trust for the Americas will develop in Paraguay, becoming the twenty-second country in which the Trust operates. The first lady was also interested in the results of the VIVE project that we developed in Mexico and in which we trained more than 56,000 women in three years. As a follow up to this meeting, both parties agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in the coming weeks. The Director of Communications of the Trust for the Americas also met with officials from the University of Columbia in Asunción to explore a potential partnership to develop joint programs in the region. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Estados Unidos

Twenty-three women entrepreneurs presented homemade foodstuffs and tailored clothes at Merida, Yucatan. This product showcase marks the completion of their training under the program “Women discovering their potential ”implemented by The Trust for the Americas through the VIVE project and CREA Community of social entrepreneurs AC. During the awards ceremony, Maria Alejandra Barrios, Communications Officer of the VIVE Project, reiterated the commitment of The Trust for the Americas to boost the economy of women in Mexico. Also, she recalled that “VIVE” started in 2016 with the support of Walmart Foundation, and as of 2020, more than 60,000 people including 52,000 women have been benefited, which 52 thousand are women. With this training, women “currently have the tools to encourage businesses and strengthen their economic empowerment. This will benefit not only them but also their families and communities,” Maria Barrios stated.   Antonio Gonzalez Blanco, General Director of Yucatecan Entrepreneurship Institute, highlighted the partnership with CREA and VIVE project as an active force motivating the development of women in the state. Likewise, Gonzalez Blanco recalled that the IYEM (Yucatecan Entrepreneur Institute) offers more services which the graduates may use, such as trademark registration and design of nutritional information charts, among others. Let’s talk investment with gender perspective Pro Mujer, the implementing partner of the VIVE project, organized the first edition of Gender Lens Investing Forum Latin America (GLI Forum Latam), in which The Trust for the America was a media partner. The event gathered around 100 people (majority women) to analyze the challenges, good practices and generate solutions to boost investment with a gender perspective, also known as the gender lens. Klaudia Gonzalez, the National Coordinator of project VIVE, moderated the roundtable “How gender violence affects company investments,” and concluded it is necessary to develop mechanisms to measure violence in companies and encourage training about prevention of violence against women among employers, directors, and funders. “Investment decision-makers in these companies must be trained and conscious about the situation that women face in the labor force. In this way, there will be a cumulative effect on the solutions.” Klaudia Gonzalez explained. Maria Fernanda Sierra, The Trust for the Americas Project Manager of VIVE, participated in the roundtable “Landscape of investment with a gender perspective: where are the gaps and what can we do to close them?”, and “talked about the importance of breaking down the steps investors perceive to find barriers and solutions in every phase. Also, about the value of addressing gender in a diverse way beyond women” explained. Furthermore, she said that “one of the best ways of finding solutions is to analyze if our companies or organizations having gender perspective or not, from there we can generate progress. Another relevant topic during the GLI Forum Latam was sexual and reproductive health with entrepreneur and gender perspective, for this roundtable Ursula Sanchez, Consultant of Economic Opportunities of VIVE, participated. Ursula shared the thought that “we need to be capable of measure the intangible benefits that investment with gender perspective may bring in terms of sexual and reproductive rights. It is necessary to create an investment fund network with a gender perspective in Mexico and provide technical assistance to investors to avoid unconscious biases”. GLI Forum Latam was held in the framework of the Latin American Impact Investment Forum (FLII Spanish acronym) in its tenth edition. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Mexico

The Trust for the Americas, in collaboration with OAS, launched its cycle of webinars on Open Government last week in Belize City to strengthen the capacity of the Belize Ecosystem towards the development of a National Open Government Action Plan. Over 58 participants attended the webinar, online and onsite at BTEC (Belice Training and Employment Centre), which generously provided access to their training room facilities. The webinars were delivered by international experts in a videoconference format, overseen by the OAS and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), and accompanied by the project’s coordinating team in Belize.  Belize has made significant strides towards reducing corruption and advancing public participation, including the acceding to UNCAC (United Nations Convention against corruption) – December 2016, as well as active participation and development of government and non-government actors in the first phase of Trust for the Americas Open Government Project. This new phase “Transformation to an Open Public Administration in Belize” is not only timely in the face of the many issues of accountability and transparency currently in the forefront but seeks to build on the first phase through the development of a National Action Plan for Open Government and the establishment of a national monitoring mechanism.  About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Belize

Washington, D.C. (February 10th 2020) — The Trust for the Americas together with the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (ANTAI) and the National Authority for Government Innovation (AIG), invite to the first workshop on transparency, government, open data, and citizen participation in the province of Veraguas, Panama. This workshop is part of the implementation of the first phase of the project “Public Innovation through Open Data in Panama” initiative sponsored by the United States Embassy in Panama. The objective of the workshop is to sensitize the public officials, civil society, academia, media and the private sector of the central provinces of The Republic of Panama on the use of data to improve problems that overwhelm communities. As result of the workshops, it is expected to identify some of the needs of the population of central provinces, what are the demands for data at the local government level to propose solutions through citizen participation mechanisms finally. The activity will be facilitated by Ana Gabriel Zúñiga Aponte, who currently serves as manager of the open contracting program for HIVOS Latam in Costa Rica. Zúñiga during the presidency of Luis Solís, she held the position of Vice-Minister in political affairs and citizen dialogue of the Republic of Costa Rica between 2014 and 2018, where she was responsible for establishing the Open State Plan for Costa Rica. The workshop will be held in Santiago de Veraguas at the Compa Mida facilities on February 12 and 13, 2020. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Panamá Agenda (only spanish)

Washington, D.C. (January 16, 2020)  The Trust for the Americas in partnership with the Collaborative Public Innovation Laboratory InnovaAP Laboratorio Colaborativo de Innovación Pública InnovaAP and the University Agency for Entrepreneurship Management of the University of Costa Rica launch the project Gente Emprende. Proyecto Gente Emprende. Gente Emprende’s objective is to promote high social value impact projects, that have the capacity of becoming sustainable entrepreneurships. Its structure is composed of 1 introduction session, 5 public innovation workshops using the “sprint” methodology, and 2 follow-up sessions for five municipalities outside of Costa Rica’s Great Metropolitan Area. AUGE will guide the development of the entrepreneurs. AUGE focuses in understanding the issue being resolved and the solution created. The selected projects within each municipality will receive a maximum of $US5,000 for financial support. Jorge Umaña, local coordinator of The Trust for the Americas in Costa Rica “We seek to improve citizen participation in five municipalities of Costa Rica, through a strategy of developing co-creation processes with social actors and proposing solutions to local needs that result in viable, sustainable and high value projects for the population of these locations. During the month of January, informational workshops will be held for NGO’s, philanthropies, media outlets, PYMES, cooperatives, and interested community groups within the selected municipalities, with the following itinerary:  Applications will begin February 2020. We expect participation of more than 750 people throughout the process. For more information follow or social media or contact our local coordinator, Jorge Umaña at jumana@trust-oea.org. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org  Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter:   @Trust4Americas Costa Rica

Dominican Republic (13-12-2019) – The AES Dominicana Foundation and The Trust for the Americas, an affiliate of the Organization of American States (OAS), completed the “Strengthening Innovative Entrepreneurship” project strengthening local entrepreneurship in the municipalities of Boca Chica, Guayacanes, Quisqueya, Bancos de Arena and la Malena. More than 150 entrepreneurs in those municipalities completed the training in the Canvas Business Model. Participants also acquired tools to strengthen their business concepts.  By increasing entrepreneurial skills the project will contribute to the socio-economic development of communities of Boca Chica, Guayacanes, and Quisqueya, sustainably. The project sponsored an entrepreneurial fair on December 9 – 11. Participants competed for an investment funds  by  explaining their business plan for the development or expansion of their business. The winners were recognized by AES’ Fondos Concursables. Judges from AES Dominicana, The Trust for the Americas, and other experts in business development selected the winning projects. Participants were evaluated on various criteria such as financial viability, sustainability, creativity, innovation, and coherence of their business model, among other criteria. The participants spent two months in training and the development of their business model under the leadership of Luz Marina Correa, Project Manager of The Trust for the Americas. The winning ventures will continue to receive personalized mentoring and advice until March 2020 by Trust for the Americas’ strategic allies IOTIC and Social Cube. AES and The Trust have successfully implemented Fondos Concursables for entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs. The alliance between AES and The Trust created technology centers for people to acquire skills in digital literacy as well as preparing participants for the job world and entrepreneurship. This fund has impacted citizens in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Panama, countries where AES has a presence and where the company has developed social responsibility programs aimed at communities. The project concluded with events in: About the Dominican AES Foundation The AES Dominicana Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility entity for the AES Dominicana group. Since its creation in 2007, it sponsored essential projects in the areas of education and health, including sponsoring more than 10,000 students of elementary schools in Haina, Boca Chica, and Los Mina and partnering with the Dominican Rehabilitation Association (ADR). The result of this alliance has benefited more than one million people. AES also maintains a recycling program for communities near AES operations to create a lifestyle for youth and adults to support a 3Rs culture (Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling) to improve the environment over the long term. About AES Corporation: It is a Fortune 200 global energy company. It provides affordable and sustainable energy to 15 countries through a diverse portfolio of distribution businesses, as well as thermal and renewable generation facilities. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter: @Trust4Americas      República Dominicana

Sao Paulo, Brazil. (23-09-2019) – Brazilian youth will be given an opportunity to acquire critical, logical, and problem-solving skills to navigate information and communications technologies in the next decade through Microsoft’s Minecraft Hour of Code: Education Edition.  The Trust for the Americas and Microsoft Corporation will soon teach basic coding concepts in a one hour set of activities at POETA centers in four Brazilian cities. The event will consist of one-hour sessions, teaching basic coding concepts, and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  A game interface will guide students to help an “agent” detect and prevent outbreaks of forest fires using Artificial Intelligence techniques using Microsoft MakeCode language.  At the end of the hour, participants will receive a certificate. As part of this campaign, The Trust for the Americas and Microsoft Brazil will host a programming week on December 13th, at the POETA Centers in São Paulo, SP, Maracanaú, CE, Brasilia, and Curitiba, PR.  More than 80 youth, including persons with disabilities will be given an opportunity to participate. Several professionals from Trust for The Americas’ local partners will also participate. Linda Eddleman, Executive Director of The Trust for the Americas, explained, “Jobs now and in the future will demand new abilities and skills.  The Trust for the Americas is dedicated to facilitating these skills for youth in the Americas.  We will bridge the skills gap among young people, with the support of private companies and governments.” Minecraft Hour of Code: Education Edition is part of the digital transformation that Microsoft is implementing regionally and globally. Computer science is an essential basis for the skills young people require.  Microsoft is committed to assuring students from less privileged communities will have access to education and computer skills through partnerships with educators, schools and other local partners. Pierina Nepote, Project Manager of The Trust for the Americas, added, “It is vital to work closely with educators. We support them with initiatives such as the Minecraft Hour of Code to promote logical thinking and computer skills in youth.  Educators inspire us with their commitment by supporting their students’ efforts to obtain and strengthen skills needed to compete for better lives. ” The Minecraft Hour of Code is an unparalleled opportunity for children, young people, adults, and educators to acquire critical, logical, and problem-solving thinking skills. About Microsoft Microsoft allows digital transformation in the era of the smart cloud and the intelligent frontier. Its mission is to empower every person and organization to achieve more. Microsoft Brazil has been in Brazil for 30 years and is one of the 110 subsidiaries of Microsoft Corporation, founded in 1975.  Since 2003, the company has invested more than R$451 million to bring free technology to 5,757 NGOs in Brazil, benefiting several social projects.  Since 2011, Microsoft has supported more than 7,000 new companies in Brazil, providing more than $ 202 million in cloud credits. About The Trust for the Americas: The Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., Colombia, and Canada. More information: www.trustfortheamericas.org Facebook: The Trust for the Americas  Twitter: @Trust4Americas      Brasil

The Governance Lab at NYU Tandon Announces the Launch of the Multi-City Challenge Program http://thegovlab.org/the-governance-lab-at-nyu-tandon-announces-the-launch-of-the-multi-city-challenge-program/ BROOKLYN, New York, December 10, 2019 — The Governance Lab (The GovLab) at New York University Tandon School of Engineering announced the re-launch of the Multi-City Challenge program, an effort to help cities and their residents collaboratively design solutions to urgent public problems. The initiative, supported by the Tinker Foundation, and in collaboration with Consejo Nuevo León, The Trust for the Americas, and the Municipality of San Pedro Garza García, seeks to build on the success of The GovLab’s City Challenges program, by expanding the program to run in five Mexican cities simultaneously in order to take advantage of the collective intelligence of a broader network of citizens to solve urban challenges. City Challenges, which originally launched in 2016, is a social impact program that uses an open call to the public to define problems and identify solutions to pressing public challenges. Uniquely, following this “open innovation” competition and the selection of promising proposals, the winning community teams are provided with expert coaching alongside the responsible civil servants in order to facilitate the rapid and successful implementation of their proposals and support mutual learning between city government and residents. Upon completion of the first pilot in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico in 2016, the City implemented five out of ten projects. For example, the school mobility program that encourages people to use alternatives to private transportation has grown from 11 to 26 schools, and the plan is to scale it to a program that also incorporates public servants and businesses. For the Multi-City Challenge, The GovLab will partner with five local governments and their residents in northern Mexico to define concrete and important public problems, design and implement open innovation challenges to solve them, and coach and mentor challenge winners so that solutions can be rapidly implemented. “Running a City Challenge simultaneously across multiple cities will generate pooled resources, including expertise that make up for the absence of effective policymaking resources in medium and small cities,” said Professor Beth Simone Noveck, Director of The GovLab. “Most of these cities are facing very similar challenges such as poor air quality or increased traffic. The combination of competition and coaching within and across communities promises cost savings, more effective and, above all, more implementable solutions.” The Multi-City Challenge program will run for nine months. The Multi-City Challenge expands the number of concurrently participating cities, allowing the municipalities to pool expertise from their respective residents to discover and implement innovative solutions to urban challenges.  “In many cases, city governments need not look far to find the expertise needed to address the challenges they face,” said Victoria Alsina, Professor and Senior Fellow at The GovLab. “Often it is their own civil servants and communities who are best positioned to identify where public services fall short, and who also possess the specialized knowledge needed to solve complex public challenges. Multi-City Challenge is about tapping into that knowledge and expertise, and mobilizing it.” “In Mexico we need more public policies that are results-oriented, evidence-based and inclusive,” said Alejandra Mendoza, Project Coordinator. “The Multi-City Challenge is a great mechanism to achieve this by empowering the community and public servants to work together in making their cities more sustainable.” The Municipality of San Pedro Garza García, which participated in GovLab’s initial City Challenge program, will co-sponsor this Multi-City Challenge and serve as one of the five participating cities. The remaining four cities shall be chosen by an international and Mexico-based Board of Advisors, following a competitive process.  For more information about City Challenges, click here or contact info@thegovlab.org. If you are a municipality from Northern Mexico interested in participating in the Multi-City Challenge open call for cities, please complete this short form. The open call will be published at the end of January 2020. About The Governance Lab at the NYU Tandon School of EngineeringThe Governance Lab’s mission is to improve people’s lives by changing the way we govern. Our goal at The GovLab is to strengthen the ability of institutions — including but not limited to governments — and people to work more openly, collaboratively, effectively, and legitimately to make better decisions and solve public problems. We believe that increased availability and use of data, new ways to leverage the capacity, intelligence, and expertise of people in the problem-solving process, combined with new advances in technology and science, can transform governance. We approach each challenge and opportunity in an interdisciplinary, collaborative way, irrespective of the problem, sector, geography, and level of government. For more information, visit thegovlab.org. About the Tinker FoundationThe Tinker Foundation was established in 1959 by Edward Larocque Tinker, who believed that the wellbeing of the peoples of the Americas depended upon their mutual trust, friendship, and cooperation. Tinker’s current mission is to promote the development of an equitable, sustainable, and productive society in Latin America, with a commitment to funding organizations based in the region. Through its grantmaking, Tinker supports work in the areas of democratic governance, education, and sustainable resource management.  About the Trust for the AmericasThe Trust for the Americas is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). It was established in 1997 to promote public and private sector participation in social and economic development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our initiatives, implemented through local partner organizations, seek to improve access to economic opportunities as well as to foster innovation in vulnerable communities in the hemisphere. To this end, The Trust also promotes social inclusion and good governance. The Trust has offices in Washington, D.C., and a local presence in Colombia and Canada. For more information, visit www.trustfortheamericas.org About the New York University Tandon School of EngineeringThe NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship