Bridge Builders Award

The Bridge Builders Award honors civic leaders who have formed partnerships across racial, social, economic, and geographic barriers for the betterment of their communities.

The Inter-American Foundation is being honored for more than 40 years of work helping to fund development projects undertaken by grassroots groups and non-governmental organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a focus on the inclusion of the society’s most marginalized communities. Since 1972, the IAF has awarded over $680 million in grants that have benefited hundreds of thousands of families. Robert N. Kaplan, president and CEO, will accept the award.

The Inter-American Foundation, created in 1972 by the Foreign Assistance Act, supports development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The IAF is unique in that it exclusively funds grassroots, nongovernmental organizations, thereby elevating the role of communities and their residents in development and aid initiatives. The IAF remains an integral component of American foreign policy, fostering good relations with our Latin American neighbors.

Robert N. Kaplan is the current president of the organization. Prior to joining the IAF, Kaplan was the head of the Inter-American Development Bank, where he was responsible for aid projects in Mexico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Central America. Kaplan has a distinguished career in international development and has manned the helm of one of the most important organizations bringing goodwill to the Western Hemisphere today, and we are pleased to present him with the Bridge Builders Award.