Inter-American Foundation

**Who We Are** The IAF is a nimble and transformative U.S. government agency that invests in **locally-led development** across **Latin America and the Caribbean**. We directly engage community leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs working to make our region and their communities more **prosperous, peaceful, and democratic.** Due to our direct, cost-efficient investments in the development ideas and efforts of local communities and the trust we’ve earned at the community level, we can respond to rising community challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean that impact the United States, including economic instability and increased food insecurity, poverty, violence, and civil society restrictions. For every $1 the IAF invests in projects, local stakeholders invest $1.36, increasing community ownership, self-reliance, and project sustainability over time. **Through our work, U.S. taxpayers benefit from:** - region-wide reductions in migration as a result of fostering rootedness directly in communities facing pressures to migrate, - improved stability and governance in fragile contexts that allows for stronger cooperation with the United States, and - increased trade with Latin American and Caribbean partners that strengthens U.S. markets.