We make positive impacts in people’s lives through social investment for sustainability in three lines of action:

Our vision

Sustainable use and management of water

• The communities where we operate have access to safe water and improved sanitation.
• The regions where we operate achieve water security.

Early Childhood

• Children reach their full potential and transform our communities.

FEMSA Cultural Program

• We contribute to a greater knowledge and appreciation of modern and contemporary Latin American art through a program of exhibitions and various artistic initiatives.

FEMSA Foundation’s mission is to use social investments to make a positive impact in people’s lives and build stronger and more sustainable communities everywhere we operate. Working with more than 250 partners in 18 countries, we look to identify, replicate and scale innovative solutions and approaches that succeed.

We seek to address complex social challenges through a collaborative approach that allows us to bring together more resources to achieve greater impact. For every dollar that we invested last year, we leveraged approximately US$ 7.4 million dollars through our partnerships. As a result, our programs benefited 9.9 million people directly and indirectly in over 542 communities during 2018.

Providing Safe Water
Water is essential to human life and health, yet an estimated 222 million people across Latin America do not have access to safely managed water. In addition, 16 of the region’s 20 largest cities including Mexico City, São Paulo and Lima, are under water stress. Through a range of science-based programs and partnerships, we seek solutions to these challenges.

Water Funds
For the past seven years, we have helped launch and strengthen two dozen Water Funds programs that help communities sustainably manage watersheds and cities achieve water security by developing innovative financial and governance mechanisms that leverage public, private and civil society partnerships.

In 2018, we developed and released the Desired State of Water Funds, a methodology to systematize and structure knowledge based on the experience of professionals in the field. We also launched Agua Capital (Capital Water), the 24th Fund to support water security in the Valley of Mexico, in partnership with Coca‑Cola FEMSA, Citibanamex, Grupo Modelo, HSBC and Mexichem.

Water Links
FEMSA Foundation launched the second phase of Lazos de Agua (Water Links) in collaboration with the IDB, The Coca-Cola Foundation and One Drop to improve the health and living conditions of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Latin America. Through a focus on behavioral change, we aim to help people access safe water supply and sanitation.

In 2018, we launched operations in Colombia to bring safe water and sanitation to people in the port city of Tumaco. To achieve sustainable interventions through increased awareness and behavior change, we used social art to increase the adoption of healthier behaviors, such as safely treating and storing household drinking water and washing one’s hands more frequently. To date, the program has benefited 26,906 people in Latin America.

Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean
Our water strategy also focuses on the interconnection between water, energy and food as a comprehensive approach to solve future sustainability challenges.

During 2018, we started a shift in the Water Center’s work in this direction. We also partnered with Conservation International to deploy a Water Health Index in important watersheds in Brazil, Peru and Colombia.

One of our goals is to address water challenges in Latin America by utilizing technology-supported decision-making, increasing access to water and sanitation, and enhancing water security through watershed sustainability.

Using a tool called the Strategic Decisions Hub (NED by its acronym in Spanish), the index diagnoses the condition of, and pressure on, freshwater ecosystems using indicators such as vitality, ecosystem services, watershed governance and stakeholders.

Nurturing Early Childhood
We believe that when children have the means to harness their full potential, communities can be transformed. On this basis, we are committed to supporting projects that promote early childhood development across Latin America.

In 2017, we launched the regional Early Childhood Development Innovation Fund in partnership with IDB and Open Society Foundations as well as the Fundação María Cecilia Souto Vidigal in Brazil. Through this Fund, we foster innovative solutions that support children under five in vulnerable communities by improving their cognitive, linguistic, motor and socio-emotional abilities. Through 2018, we supported six projects in five countries: Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador and Uruguay. To support caregivers in understanding early childhood development, we have used multi-platform educational entertainment to reach over 9.2 million families in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil. Launched in 2016, and expanded to Brazil in 2018, the Ready to play! initiative is a collaboration with Sesame Workshop and other regional and local partners to promote lifelong healthy habits.

In 2018, we also launched an innovative pilot program called Comenzando Juntos – Crece con tu hijo (Starting Together – Grow with your child) to support working parents and their families in raising their children and to help companies increase employee satisfaction. The program provides parents with tools and content developed by specialists for children from pregnancy to 5 years of age. During the year, we successfully piloted the project at FEMSA’s headquarters, as well as at Solistica and several other FEMSA business units. We plan to update and expand the program to other parts of the organization and other companies in 2019.

To promote these efforts, we also seek to highlight the importance of early childhood development on the public policy agenda in Latin America. In 2018 we joined 300 other organizations in the Pact for Early Childhood, which advocates making comprehensive early childhood support a government priority in Mexico. We also organized the first Seminar on the Design of Innovative Public Policies to Transform the Future of Mexico in partnership with the School of Government and Public Transformation at Tecnológico de Monterrey, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, IDB, the LEGO Foundation and the Innovation Accelerator for Early Childhood. Over four days, 40 public sector leaders debated how to create the right policies to make Mexico one of the best places for a child to grow up.

Sharing Latin American Art
FEMSA Cultural Program contributes to a greater knowledge and appreciation of modern and contemporary Latin American art around the world through its support for diverse artistic initiatives, including the FEMSA Collection, which comprises more than 1,200 works of art from iconic artists that are representative of various art movements throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Since 2000, more than 12.2 million people in 18 countries have viewed the Collection through our exhibitions and loans program.

In 2018, we celebrated the FEMSA Collection’s 40th anniversary. Exhibitions in Chile and Colombia presented Latin American identity throughout the last two centuries. Drawing more than 300,000 people in total, these exhibitions and related programs included free workshops, film screenings, dialogues and other activities for local communities.

Our Cultural Program also leads the FEMSA Biennial. Established 27 years ago, this program encourages and promotes artistic creation in Mexico through collaborative events. In 2017-2019, the XIII edition took place in the state of Zacatecas using a new curatorial approach that brought together local and international artists and curators in collaboration with cultural institutions and museums.

The XIII FEMSA Biennial was based on five platforms: museological collaborations, interventions in public space, publishing program, educational program and public program.

FEMSA Cultural Program also manages Estancia FEMSA – Casa Luis Barragán, a cultural and artistic platform in Mexico City at the former residence of Luis Barragán, a leading 20th century architect. Since 2016, 43,795 people have visited this project’s innovative program. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, its 2018 exhibitions, performances and editorial content showed its 43,795 visitors not only the historical context of the house, but also offered a broader commentary of modern and contemporary art disciplines.