Felipe Groba, Project Manager at IDIS – Institute for the Development of Social Investment and a specialist in community philanthropy, visited Argentina at the invitation of the Laboratorio Público Privado, an initiative of Grupo de Fundaciones y Empresas (GDFE) and RIL Argentina – Red de Innovación Local. Over three days, Felipe contributed to a program designed to foster and accelerate Community Foundations (CFs) in Argentina, sharing lessons learned by IDIS through the Transforming Territories Program.
Created by IDIS in partnership with the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Transforming Territories aims to foster the creation and strengthening of CFs in Brazil by engaging donors, civil society organizations, and local leaders, while also providing knowledge and technical support. The program currently brings together community philanthropy organizations from different regions of Brazil and has helped expand the national debate on community philanthropy.
“It was an honor to share the Brazilian experience with Argentine leaders interested in creating and strengthening their own community foundations. Over nearly six years, Transformando Territórios has accumulated important lessons on local mobilization, governance, listening to territories, and strengthening community organizations. Seeing this journey inspire initiatives in other Latin American countries is a source of great joy for IDIS,” says Felipe Groba.
The agenda began with a strategic alignment meeting with the teams of Laboratorio Público Privado and GDFE, focused on exchanging experiences about the development and maturity of the Transforming Territories Program in Brazil. Felipe then joined a welcome dinner with leaders from five Argentine regions interested in developing their own CFs.
On the second day, the IDIS Project Manager led a full-day workshop with these leaders, bringing together representatives from provinces, cities, and neighborhoods. The session addressed challenges and opportunities of the community foundation model in Brazil, as well as practical examples of organizations already acting as mobilizers, coordinators, and supporters of local initiatives in their territories.
To conclude the agenda, Felipe delivered a presentation to more than 30 GDFE members and guests at the office of Cervecería y Maltería Quilmes. In his remarks, he reinforced the role of CFs as essential infrastructure to advance local philanthropy and strengthen civil society organizations.
“What we saw in Argentina reinforces that Brazil and Argentina share challenges and opportunities. Community philanthropy can be a solid bridge for the sustainable development of territories in Latin America, because it brings together resources, leaders, and communities around locally built agendas,” he says.
IDIS’ participation in the agenda strengthens regional knowledge exchange and highlights the potential of Latin American cooperation to advance more participatory, sustainable development models that are deeply connected to local realities.
