The Partners Foundation

The Foundation portfolio includes the following endowed and organizational support funds:

Just over 30 years ago, Partners of the Americas, Inc. established the Partners of the Americas Foundation, Inc. The Foundation was incorporated in 1984 as a separate legal charitable (IRC Section 501(c)(3)) entity to maintain and provide funds to promote the purposes and goals of Partners of the Americas, Inc. As a charitable support organization, the Foundation has a number of restricted endowment funds that support particular Partners of the Americas programs and unrestricted funds through which the Foundation supports Chapter and volunteer work. In addition to the Foundation being a charitable organization, in 2010, Partners of the Americas, Inc. approved revisions to the Foundation’s governance documents and structure which resulted in the Foundation also being characterized, for tax purposes, as a supporting organization to Partners of the Americas, Inc. pursuant to IRC Section 509 (a)(3).

These Foundation Grants are available only to dues paying members organizations, Chapters, and their members. Not a member? Join today!

Applications for Foundations Grants are now open until 29 February 2024.

Submit your proposal in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.

Grants available:

The Pixote Literacy Fund

  • The Pixote Literacy Fund is designed to help pixotes throughout the hemisphere gain the literacy and life skills to build a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Madelyn L. Laschober Endowment Fund

  • The Madelyn L. Laschober Endowment Fund provides funds for an annual grant of up to USD $1,000 for a project related to youth, education, and microenterprise development. This grant is made possible by the family of Mrs. Laschober in honor of her lifelong interest in Latin America, her career as an elementary and middle school teacher, and her history of giving to charitable organizations. The Laschobers are members of the Washington Chapter, which is partnered with the Chile Chapter. 

Grants not available in the next cycle:

Jerry Perpich Award

  • The Jerry Perpich Youth Leadership award will be made to a Partners of the Americas Chapter that has effectively attracted young volunteers to Partners of the Americas through innovative activities or programs.  These programs will have offered youth leadership opportunities either within the chapter, within the program itself, or ideally, both. The award in the amount of USD $750 is made possible by a bequest from the late Jerry Perpich, a longtime leader in the Iowa/Yucatan Partners of the Americas Chapter and former Chairman of the International Board of Directors of Partners of the Americas, Inc.       

Drs. Homer and Maurine Venters Fund

  • The Venters Health Endowment Fund provides seed money or a start-up fund for creative and innovative projects that could serve to advance health programs in a community. The Venters Fund provides an annual grant of up to USD $750 and is made possible by the family of the late Homer Venters, a former member of the International Board of Directors of Partners of the Americas, Inc. and a dedicated leader in the Minnesota Chapter of Partners of the Americas.

Organizational Development

  • These grants provide operational seed funds to strengthen the creative organizational development of Chapters and partnerships. Organizational development grants are for projects that advance one or more of the following functions: leadership development, communications, fundraising, and membership. These grants can support Board training in governance, membership recruitment and retention drives, improvement of communications within and between Chapters, creation of websites, and documenting the history of the Chapter in Partners of the Americas, among other things. The maximum amount of an award is USD $1,250.

Beginning in 2013, the Partners of the Americas Foundation began holding funds to be granted to institutions of higher education as a part of The 100,000 Strong in the Americas initiative. These funds are granted to colleges and universities committed to helping more of their students study abroad, as students that study abroad are often more prepared to meet the challenges of a global workforce.