Founded in 2017, Co-Impact is a global organization focused on building just and equitable systems. We bring together philanthropists, foundations, and private sector partners from around the world to pool funding that supports efforts to drive systems change in the sectors of health, education and economic opportunity, in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Together with locally-rooted program partners and advisors, we form a global collaborative that advances inclusive systems change, gender equality, and women’s leadership through grantmaking and influencing philanthropy.
We believe that power is at the heart of all systems. Power defines the way that systems function, who sets agendas and makes decisions, who benefits from the system, and how these benefits are shared. In most health, education, and economic systems, this power is inequitably distributed to benefit a few.
Our program partners understand the context and approaches required to shiftlevers of power so that systems benefit all people equally. Our diverse team is spread across 8 countries on 4 continents, where they support powerful coalitions of actors – from grassroots organizations to governments – to collaboratively effect substantive and sustainable systems change.
- Through a range of grants, we support powerful coalitions of actors, from grassroots organizations to government, so that a proven approach or idea can be adopted at scale. Our role is to support the strategic vision of our partners within the contexts in which they live and operate.
- Through our model for collaborative philanthropy, we bring together funders from around the world to pool funding so that we are able to provide the larger, longer-term and more flexible support needed to transform systems in a lasting way, while we promote a values-aligned approach to funding that is supportive, rather than directive.
Our Funds
Currently, Co-Impact has two funds dedicated to equitable systems change at scale. At their core, both funds focus on transforming systems to improve outcomes for millions of people. Both funds seek to achieve significant and enduring improvements in education, health and/or economic opportunity. The Gender Fund more explicitly focuses on supporting initiatives that are dedicated to advancing women’s and girls’ power, agency, and leadership at all levels and shifting harmful gender norms that prevent progress.
Our Foundational Fund is Co-Impact’s first fund, which was established to advance a model of collaborative philanthropy, bringing together funders to support systems change in the foundational sectors of health, education, and economic opportunity.
Through this fund we provide a small set of large, long-term, flexible grants (typically US $5-20 million over a period of 5 to 6 years) and non-financial support to organizations and coalitions across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Our Gender Fund is focused on transformative systems change, with an emphasis on elevating women’s power, agency, and leadership at all levels.
The Gender Fund aims to raise and grant US $1 billion over the next decade toprovide predominantly women-led locally-rooted organizations, in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with large, unrestricted, long-term, and flexible funding. This method of funding is integral to creating more just and inclusive systems and shifting harmful gender norms that prevent progress.
