How did the Hewlett Foundation contribute to IMCO?
The Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad (IMCO) has been receiving continual funding from the Hewlett Foundation from 2005 to the present day. They received a total of 14 grants from Hewlett for a total of USD 12,815,000. The foundation initiated the relationship with program support grants and then transitioned to general operating support once the relationship was established and there was clear alignment with the foundation’s strategy.
The initial grant in 2005 was for the Regional Competitiveness Index, which presented an opportunity to test the methodology the institute had developed to measure Mexico’s international competitiveness at a state level. The index analyzed 10 economic variables for all 32 states. The purpose was to suggest policy recommendations to improve competitiveness conditions as well as prospects for economic growth.
After this initial grant, IMCO received general operating support from Hewlett for its competitiveness indices (which include measurements of education, health, transparency, and justice, among others) at the federal, state, and city levels. These indices serve as tools and incentives for policymakers and the private and non-profit sectors to measure and press for improvements in public policies and programs.
The Hewlett Foundation made immense contributions to several social change outcomes. These two were the most impactful:
- Having an intentional approach to coalition building and creating bipartisan communities of practice among Mexican civil society organizations
- Bringing together organizations from the left, centre, and right to engage in dialogue and to share and co-design influence strategies
While many of the people and organizations that formed part of the original transparency community are no longer Hewlett Foundation grantees, the network of relationships remains strong. Over the years, this community has expanded to connect with others working on the TPA agenda globally, and has evolved into a global community of practice.
Hewlett Foundation support enabled IMCO and the transparency community to take transparency to a new level by engaging citizens and creating TPA tools to help hold the government accountable.
