Transparency and accountability are important tools necessary to achieve personal and collective objectives in social development. But how do we judiciously use these tools to aid project delivery? “It starts with getting the information out there in accurate and accessible ways,” says Ford Foundation Senior Program Officer for Mexico and Central America, Ivana Fertziger.
We spoke with Ivana on the principles around ensuring transparency and accountability in grantmaking process and project delivery. In sum, she says: “There is a lot of work to be done in this space.”
If she were to change anything from current grantmaking practice, it would be to ensure grantmaking is done from an anti-colonial, anti-patriarchal perspective. Too often, “solutions from the global north are…deployed to the local communities and the global south,” by default.
“We have to move away from thinking we have the answers and really understand that local communities know what they need and what they are grappling with – they know where they come from and where they want to go, and it’s our job to support them in this process.”