Founded by a group of experienced professionals in the fields of conservation, architecture, urban planning, business and finance, CHiFA aims to build a global marketplace and a supportive ecosystem of expertise and civic interests premised on opportunities for capital investment in historic places, while supporting a range of Sustainable Development Goals.
We engage with local actors (communities and public and private partners) to organize planning assistance and to provide low-cost, mission driven working capital, thereby enabling projects to better attract return-seeking private finance. CHiFA was incorporated in 2019 in the United States.
Project Preview
CHiFA joins Mexican partners to create a gateway and tourism route for visits to the sparsely inhabited mountainous area, managed by the local communities. The rock-art Cueva de las Manitas is a unique cultural asset in the Tenuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, designated World Heritage in 2018 for the richness of its natural ecology and archaeological resources as one of the longest inhabited places in the Americas. The project will bring new livelihood to the communities and anchor the stewardship of the area’s unique cultural landscape. Critical seed funding has been provided by the American Express Foundation. Project planning is underway.
Partners: Fundacion Riserva Biosfera Tenuán-Cuautitlán; Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH); American Express Foundation
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A Strategic Collaboration
FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds and the Cultural Heritage Finance Alliance (CHiFA) today collaborate to develop and manage private investment in the regeneration of historic cities, sites, and heritage-rich neighborhoods around the world. As CHiFA raises philanthropic loan capital to invest in sites globally, FJC manages the operations of aggregating and deploying these funds, including servicing for its international project loan fund. This arrangement allows CHiFA to remain lean and focused on mission, with FJC leveraging its scaled operational platform to deliver back office support and ancillary services including payments for most of CHiFA’s day to day expenses.
