Social challenges know no borders. An organization in Colombia may be seeking answers to questions very similar to those faced by foundations and social investors in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, or any other country in the region. Coming together, sharing what we have learned, and discovering how others have addressed these same challenges allows us to broaden our perspective and find new ways to create impact. With this purpose in mind, Fundación Fraternidad Medellín participated in Impact Minds 2026, Latimpacto’s annual conference, held this year in Manaus, Brazil. 

Impact Minds brought together organizations, foundations, impact funds, companies, academia, and other stakeholders committed to social and environmental transformation across Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference was designed to foster connections, learning, and the co-creation of solutions that enable human, intellectual, and financial resources to be mobilized more strategically toward impact. Latimpacto currently brings together more than 240 members investing across more than 16 countries in the region.  

For Fundación Fraternidad Medellín, gatherings like this are extremely valuable. They allow us to learn how other organizations are addressing challenges similar to our own, how they have built partnerships to tackle them, and, especially, how they are directing their resources to achieve more effective results. At the same time, they give us an opportunity to share our own experience in Antioquia and contribute to a regional conversation in which we all have something to teach and much to learn. 

One of the highlights of our participation was the “Education with Data” session, where we participated as speakers and shared one of the key approaches guiding our education strategy: using evaluation not only to understand results, but also to make better decisions. 

We returned from Manaus with new knowledge, experiences, questions, and insights, but also with something equally important: new connections with organizations and people with whom we can continue sharing experiences, seeking answers, and creating opportunities. 

Participating in Impact Minds reminds us that working locally does not mean working alone. We remain deeply connected to Antioquia and its realities while keeping our perspective open to the world: learning from others, sharing what we have built, and bringing together partners who can help us continuously strengthen the work we do at Fraternidad Medellín.