The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) has kicked off the ninth Superheroes of Development contest in this World Cup year, tapping into the spirit of the world’s most popular sport to recognise the teams that, project after project, take to the field to fight for better lives in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This year, Superheroes of Development spotlights values shared by both soccer and projects to improve lives in the region: teamwork, continuous learning from new experiences and evidence to improve performance, resilience in the face of adversity, decision-making under pressure, adaptability, and a constant striving to be better— crucial qualities, on or off the field.

The contest honours IDB Group clients, local partners, and executing agencies that faced significant challenges while implementing projects and distilled their experience into specific lessons and solutions that maximise impact and can be replicated in other contexts in the region.

“Through Superheroes of Development, we aim to recognise the teams working to improve lives in the region that have an exceptional ability to adapt to challenging environments,” said Lorena Rodríguez Bu, chief of the IDB’s Knowledge and Learning Division. “These teams generate a positive impact for thousands of people and produce knowledge that’s applicable to other projects in the region. This continuous cycle of experience leading to evidence leading to more effective decisions in future IDB Group operations drives broader results,” she added.

The contest celebrates IDB Group local partners and clients in two categories:

• Category 1: IDB and IDB Lab projects that are currently being implemented (with at least an initial disbursement) or have ended since January 2016. IDB projects must have a Project Completion Report (PCR).
• Category 2: IDB Invest Projects with an Expanded Supervision Report (XSR) that is completed or currently being drafted. This report contains IDB Invest’s internal final evaluation of the project, which is validated by the IDB Office of Evaluation and Oversight.

Teams interested in participating must fill out the online form on the contest’s homepage, where the rules and regulations are also posted. The IDB Group will share the winning stories throughout the region, and the six finalist teams will be invited to defend their projects at an awards ceremony at the IDB headquarters in Washington, DC.

Since it was first launched, Superheroes of Development has received over 750 submissions from 26 countries in the region. In 2025, the winning teams were from Panama, Brazil, and Bolivia, showcasing development talent from across the region.