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Exploring Human Rights and Poverty Reduction in Mexico
Ford Foundation President Luis Ubiñas and board Chair Kathryn Fuller, center, talk to staff members of the Center for Microenterprise Support (CAME) at the Chalco branch office in the outskirts of Mexico City.
Luis Ubiñas, the Ford Foundation's new president, accompanied by Board of Trustees Chair Kathryn Fuller and Pablo Farías, a foundation vice president, visited Ford's regional office in Mexico City in December 2007. The office serves Mexico and Central America.
A group of borrowers discusses how they use microcredit loans.
Mario Bronfman, the Ford Foundation Representative in Mexico City, sent this dispatch:
"Our staff was honored to be among the first to host Luis. The visit provided the opportunity to acquaint him not only with the substance of our work but with the systems and functioning of a regional office with programming in multiple countries. We introduced Luis to the strategic grant making that is done in collaboration with Ford's two other offices in Latin America, creating synergies and opportunities for greater impact across the region.
A CAME staffer holds up hand-written loan records.
"The most engaging aspect of the trip to Mexico was the opportunity to introduce Luis to a diverse group of Ford grantees ranging from CAME, a microfinance bank which provides loans to low-income populations, to the College of Mexico, which hosts a number of projects supported by the foundation on sexual and reproductive health.
"He also visited with Semillas, a group that defends women's rights; Rostros y Voces, a social justice foundation that takes part in Ford's International Initiative to Strengthen Philanthropy; and Sin Fronteras, the leading migrants rights and policy organization in Mexico."