THE FOUNDATION
WHAT WE DO
We open paths to build together a better world.
HOW WE WORK
We foster civic engagement for a better democracy.
Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo started its activities in August 2006, after the end of President Lagos’s term. From its origins, the Foundation has specialized in civic engagement projects that extensively utilize digital technologies. Roads that will allow our societies to move towards a sustainable economic growth with greater levels of social equality.
With the purpose of exploring alternatives for new roads for development, FDD has specialized in civic engagement projects that intensively use digital technologies. Today: El Quinto Poder (The Fifth Power); Bibliotecas para tu Acción Ciudadana (Public Libraries & Civic Engagement), Vecinos Conectados (Networked Neighbours) and, #TuConstitución (#YourConstitution) are its main action lines.
Likewise, Democracia y Desarrollo has partnered with a number of organizations that promote the same goals.
OUR STRATEGIC GOALS
-
To open platforms for information, opinion, and discussion that address topics of public interest.
-
To contribute to the debate about the Chile to come, by organizing seminars, book launches and publishing articles.
-
To promote reflection around democratic values with special emphasis on younger generations and under-represented groups.
-
To explore, learn, and disseminate the digital technologies available to contribute to the development of our democracy and civic engagement.
-
To preserve, manage and help to disseminate Ricardo Lagos’s personal archive, which is updated with his activities and developing projects.
Funding Sources
Fundación Democracia y Desarrollo is mainly funded by the fees received by the former president, for his conferences and talks, mainly abroad.
Some specific projects are externally funded by regular grant applications or in alliances with other organizations. This is the case of Civic Engagement & Public Libraries Program which is fully funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the project #TuConstitución that receives funds from Telefónica Spain. In years 2013 and 2014 the foundation received funds from the International Development Research Centre (Canada) to carry out community work and conduct research for the publication of three eBooks about digital activism in Chile.
For its daily operations, the foundation also manages the resources received by the former president from the Senate of the Republic for his office expenses.
OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS
