The Tinker Foundation has a long history of supporting Latin American organizations working to advance the rule of law as a foundational element of democratic governance. Today we seek to build on and deepen this commitment by prioritizing projects focused on justice and rule of law. We will consider other projects on an ad hoc basis but most resources will be focused on these core issues. Projects should have the objective of creating and consolidating systems of justice that are independent, effective, reliable, equitable, and transparent. They may be targeted to national or sub-national levels and may include comparative or regional components. They should strive to tackle the challenges and opportunities involved with implementing and operating within more recently adopted structures and frameworks. Initial areas of interest include: • Promoting transparency and accountability in the justice sector, both from within justice institutions and without (civil society monitoring, etc.) • The selection, training, and assessment of justice sector actors, as well as developing next-generation talent • Increasing access to justice, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups We will consider a range of project types and methodologies. These may include research and policy analysis, experimentation with new models and early scale-up of proven approaches, and exchange of knowledge across countries and contexts.

This program area aims to improve access to high-quality secondary or vocational public education. Proving and scaling successful interventions are key goals, where scale may be at the local, regional, or national level. Funds may be used to develop new programs, to conduct applied research and evaluations that will facilitate replication or adoption of successful programs by policy makers, or to generate public and policy debate on the topic.

The focus of this program is on efforts that support sustainable management of habitat and resources and incorporate social and economic dimensions affecting the well-being of local communities. Projects will address these challenges at multiple levels ranging from engaging with policy makers, to capacity building, standards development, and implementation. Funding is available for projects that address practices that promote sustainable management practices or projects that offer innovative ideas and policies that improve locally determined mechanisms for watershed management; develop water policies and management methodologies based on local hydrological assessments; or identify, implement and replicate workable models of freshwater management and protection.