About the Project
LINC initiated its partnership with national NGO, Fondo Unido Mexico (FUM) in 2014 to support efforts to increase the management capacity of the local organizations that partner with FUM throughout Mexico. This partnership was scaled-up in 2015, with the support of USAID/Mexico, into a four- year mission-funded activity.
The USAID Local Capacity Development Activity (LCDA) in Mexico (October 2015-September 2019) was designed to strengthen the local capacity of Mexican Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and increase their effectiveness in serving and advocating for their constituents.
In 2015, LINC partnered with FUM to 1) deliver a comprehensive national training course (the Diplomado) aimed at building the capacity of Mexican CSOs, and 2) to provide FUM with targeted technical assistance, mentoring, and capacity support so they can take over the sustainability and ownership of the Diplomado.
In 2017, LCDA’s contractual period and program activities were expanded. In an effort to introduce a “Capacity 2.0” approach to CSO institutional strengthening in Mexico that stresses the need for more holistic systemic strategies to address complex development issues, LCDA updated the Diplomado course to include a module on complex social systems.
Additionally, in partnership with USAID/Mexico, LCDA identified four target localities and local stakeholders with which it could share and apply a practical knowledge of the systems approach. To that end, LCDA facilitated four multi-stakeholder “systemic analysis” dialogues with a total of 75 stakeholder organizations and institutions in Mexico City, Tijuana and La Paz.
Over the course of the project, the Diplomado course was delivered by LCDA eight times in Mexico City and in the northern priority border cities of Tijuana, Monterrey and La Paz; 179 Mexican CSOs and 285 CSO executives completed the Diplomado.
Graduates from the first Diplomado cohort
The course was well-received and evaluated by participants, earning an overall 96% satisfaction rating. The Diplomado has also showed meaningful results in organizational capacity and performance, with 89% of organizations assessed increasing their organizational capacity.
The Diplomado was officially transferred to FUM in 2018, who successfully leveraged their unique business model and partnered with United Way South Korea, Nacional Monte de Piedad, and Fundación Merced to independently deliver the Diplomado. Since then, the course has been delivered four times by FUM with non-USAID funding and they have received funds to deliver two more cohorts in 2020.
For information in Spanish, please click here.
