Macarena Cea: “Social investment must have real impact and be measurable”.

The general manager of the Luksic Foundation spoke on the Mercado Central program about the entity’s approach to social investment, its emphasis on the quality of implementation, impact measurement and collaboration with the State to improve well-being in Chile.

In the interview, Macarena Cea, general manager of the Luksic Foundation, spoke about the role of the institution in the Chilean social ecosystem, its social investment model, the impact evaluation mechanisms and the way in which it works in areas such as education, childhood, entrepreneurship, sports and conservation, always with the aim of increasing people’s wellbeing, emphasizing that there is “an ethical imperative” to demonstrate that the initiatives really solve the problems they address.

Measuring impact and ensuring quality

One of the central themes of the conversation was impact measurement. The foundation has an evaluation unit that reviews the design, implementation and results of each program. “Accountability is not only financial, it is about results,” said Cea, and stressed that monitoring does not end with the announcement of an initiative. In this sense, he stressed that many gaps appear in the execution: “Many times the problem is not in the design, but in what happens in the field”.

As a concrete example, he mentioned a program to accompany high school students from vulnerable backgrounds (Aspiraciones) so that they can make informed decisions about their educational future. Through impact evaluations, the foundation has found that those who participate in the program have greater access to higher education, which translates into better career paths and greater long-term wellbeing.

Trust, welfare and public-private partnership

The foundation’s cross-cutting focus is trust in people. “Our focus is to trust in people,” said Cea, explaining that in different areas what is often lacking is an opportunity to deploy capabilities. This work is evaluated in terms of well-being, considering economic, socioemotional, labor and environmental dimensions.

Finally, the general manager highlighted the role of foundations as spaces for social innovation. With greater flexibility than the state, they can test solutions, learn from mistakes and scale up what works.

“Our role is to try, innovate and make mistakes,” he said, and emphasized permanent collaboration with the public sector so that good practices can be transformed into more far-reaching public policies.