Translations: French, Hindi, Spanish and Tagalog.

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• The Gender Fund aims to transform systems to be more just and inclusive ensuring at least 100 million people have better healthcare, quality education, and the opportunity to thrive – regardless of their gender, class, ethnicity, or race. This will be achieved through supporting organizations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to advance their vision for change.
• The distinct potential of the Gender Fund comes from the diversity, leadership, and collaboration between supporters, including Cartier Philanthropy, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, Melinda French Gates, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Thankyou Charitable Trust, Target Foundation, Tsitsi Masiyiwa and Delta Philanthropies, and others.
• The Fund, run by Co-Impact, will benefit from a world-class Advisory Group -experts in women’s rights, finance, social change, and advocacy including Anita Zaidi, Crystal Simeoni, Elizabeth Yee, Lakshmi Sundaram, Mabel van Oranje, Rebeca Gyumi, Tara Abrahams, Theo Sowa, Vidya Shah, and Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg.

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Nairobi, March 17, 2022 — Today, Co-Impact is proud to officially launch its second fund, the Gender Fund, and share the growing pool of partners, funders, and advisors coming together to advance the organization’s model of collaborative giving for systems change.

The Gender Fund, aiming to raise US $1bn to advance gender equality and women’s leadership, unites philanthropists, foundations, locally-rooted program partners, advisors, and the private sector from around the world.

While funding for gender equality has been rising over the last decade, only 1% of that funding has reached women’s organizations. The Gender Fund will bring significant resources into a grossly underfunded space and address “gendered systems” –the underlying norms, laws, practices, sanctions, and decision-making processes that lead to systematic barriers and persistent discrimination against women and girls.

The Gender Fund will unblock pathways for women and girls to exercise their power, agency and leadership at all levels -from household and community to institutions and government. It will fund locally-rooted partners to ensure that health, education, and economic systems work and are accountable to those they are intended to serve.

The urgency for this Fund is more significant than ever as the Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the deep realities of gender inequality and discrimination in our systems, institutions, and societies. Women continue to face entrenched barriers such as violence, restricted reproductive rights, workforce discrimination, and unequal representation in leadership.

Commenting on the launch of the Fund, Olivia Leland, Founder, and CEO of Co-Impact, said:

“To make progress on gender equality, we need systemic change in the structures, laws, and policies and processes of government, in how markets function, and how social norms are shaped and enforced.

“The mission of the Gender Fund is to deliver on the ambition of a world where systems and societies are just and inclusive, and where all women have the opportunity to exercise power, agency, and leadership at all levels.”

The Gender Fund aims to raise and grant US $1 billion over the next decade to provide predominantly women-led, locally-rooted organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America with large, long-term, and flexible funding.To date, financial contributions to the Fund have totalled over US $320 million, and grantmaking across the three regions is already underway.

Melinda French Gates, global advocate for women and girls and the Co-Founder of the Bill & MelindaGates Foundation, said:

“By partnering with Co-Impact, we’re able to identify programs that address the barriers blocking women from reaching their full potential as leaders.

“We need change to happen at every level of society. And it starts with opening more doors for women to step into their power and craft policies that lift others up like them. This is our once in a generation chance to rebuild our systems to finally work for women and girls.”

Co-Impact is committed to increasing the overall funding being directed to advancing gender equality. Working collaboratively with women’s rights and grassroots organizations, feminist networks and funders is key to breaking down power dynamics and advancing gender equality. Co-Impact will provide at least 10% of the funds raised to feminist and women’s rights groups and movements.

Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder of Delta Philanthropies and Higherlife Foundation, said:

“There is no ‘one’ intervention, organization, or solution that can address every single barrier that is preventing women from living equitable and fulfilling lives.

“Gender inequality exists and manifests differently in every country, sector, and society around the world. The idea is that each component of the wider ecosystem has its part to play and is therefore eligible for Gender Fund support.”

A range of grants are available for a broad ecosystem of actors working to advance gender equality and women’s leadership through tangible actions. Co-Impact will also support organizations to generate, curate, and disseminate research and learning on how to advance gender equality.

The Fund began sourcing and awarding an initial set of 15 grants for initiatives addressing major barriers to gender equality. These include gender-based violence, maternal health, gender-inclusive education, and women’s leadership across the three regions.

Over the next decade, Co-Impact aims to grow the Gender Fund and support initiatives in 13 focus countries including India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Brazil, Peru, and Mexico.

-ENDS-

Notes to the Editors

Full list of initial initiatives being supported:

• ARMMAN
• Asia Justice Coalition
• Breakthrough Trust
• Clooney Foundation for Justice
• Equis Justicia para las Mujeres AC
• GQUAL/CEJIL
• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
• Institute for African Women in Law
• International Association of Women Judges
• International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
• National Council of Applied Economic Research
• Nossas
• Partnership For Economic Policy Inc
• Professional Assistance for Development Action
• Red ALAS/ Universidad Torcuato di Tella

Link to Press Pack including Gender Fund advisory board biographies, more information on initial grantees, and statements from program partners.

About Co-Impact

Founded in 2017, Co-Impact is a global organization focused on building just and equitable systems. Bringing 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, Co-Impact has form a global collaborative that advances inclusive systems change, gender equality, and women’s leadership through grantmaking and influencing philanthropy.

Co-Impact believes 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.Co-Impact’s program partners understand the context and approaches required to shift levers of power so that systems benefit all people equally. The organizations 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.

About The Gender Fund

Launched on 17 March 2022, The Gender Fund aims to raise and disburse $1 billion over the next 10 years to:

• Transform systems to be more just and inclusive so that 100 million people will have better healthcare, quality education, and opportunity to thrive –regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race.
• Advance women’s power, agency, and leadership at all levels so there will be more women leading at all levels from the household and community to institutions and government, influencing decisions that affect their communities and society.
• Shift harmful gender norms that prevent progress.

The concept for the new Fund has been informed by learning over the past three years, working with program partners, practitioners, funders, governments, civil society organizations, researchers, gender experts, and others, as well an extensive consultation process including women’s groups, gender-equality focused funds, and feminist activists and scholars, particularly from the Global South. The initial group of philanthropists and foundations who are coming together to make this possible are listed below.

Full list of Funders who have so far agreed to be acknowledged

• Cartier Philanthropy
• Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
• Trevor and Mayda Mapondera/Catalyst Foundation -SHE Project Zimbabwe
• Estee Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation
• Melinda French Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Vijay and Marie Goradia Foundation
• Instituto Beja
• Kate James and Hans Bishop
• La Alataya Foundation
• Neverl and Beryl Kambasha/ BeeNev Kambasha Foundation
• Roshni Nadar Malhotra/ HCL Corporation
• Tsitsi Masiyiwa and Delta Philanthropies
• Muirfield Foundation
• Elizabeth Sheehan
• MacKenzie Scott & Dan Jewett
• Target Foundation
• Thankyou Charitable Trust
• The Rockefeller Foundation

Co-Impact is delighted to be working with Tsitsi Masiyiwa and the African Philanthropy Forum to bring together a group of philanthropists from across Africa, and with Vidya Shah and EdelGive Foundation on a similar model to support this work in India. Co-Impact is in the early stages of building a similar model in Latin America

Media contacts

For media enquiries please contact:

Renee Olende
[email protected]

BB-Partners
[email protected]

Co-Impact today announced further funding for three initiatives to help vital systems change initiatives to continue to grow the scale of their impact.

Systems Change Grants typically give between US $10-25 million over 5 years, accompanied by non-financial supports customized to provide program partners with the operational flexibility needed to achieve impact. These grants are proceeded by Design Grants which help organizations to sharpen and refine their strategy and to be better understand how they can scale their systems change initiatives.

More information on the initiatives being funded:

• One Acre Fund and Landesa, which is set to receive US $18 million, has set up an Agricultural Systems Change initiative to reduce extreme poverty, protect the environment and shape a more gender-equitable future in rural Africa.
• Harambee, receiving US $18 million, is pioneering a Youth Employment Accelerator to build African solutions to tackle systems issues that allow for high youth unemployment.
• Lend-A-Hand India, which is receiving US $6 million, works to integrate practical-based multi-skills training into classrooms to equip young people with employability skills, helping to improve young people’s future perspectives.

Co-Impact is excited to continue supporting these vital initiatives. These are three innovative initiatives that are putting into practice systems change work; whether it is transforming education pathways or changing agricultural systems that are sustainable for the future.

By Olivia Leland, Rakesh Rajani and Varja Lipovsek

In 2021, Co-Impact engaged the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to ask our program partners^[1] and applicants to provide candid and confidential feedback on our work, approach and relationships. We take these findings seriously, and use them to improve our approach and practice to be more clear, respectful and effective.

In this blogpost we report on key features of the exercise, what we heard and learned, and the actions that we commit to take to do better. We share these here to be transparent about our thinking, to invite readers to hold us to account, and to contribute to shared learning in the philanthropic community.

Approach

Co-Impact makes relatively few (until now less than 10 per year), large-sized (US $2 to $25 million), and long-term grants (up to 6 years) focused on deep systems change. We seek to learn from program partners and other funders on how to improve grantmaking, and how to be maximally supportive to program partners.

Accordingly, between February and March 2021, CEP wrote to 494 current Co-Impact partners and declined applicants and received a total of 224 responses^[2]. It was important to include applicants who did not receive a grant from us, as they provide valuable different perspectives on our application process. In addition to the quantitative survey, CEP conducted a total of 45 in-depth interviews with our current program partners. The complementing insights of the quantitative assessment with the qualitative interviews have been very useful in helping us to unpack and more deeply understand the feedback.

This is Co-Impact’s second CEP survey; the first one was conducted in 2019. At that time, Co-Impact was less than two years old, had just a handful of partners, and was in the early stages of defining its approach. The insights from the first CEP survey were incredibly helpful in clarifying our values, theory of change and approach, which we codified in our Handbook (we used the second CEP survey to update our Handbook too).

In the section below we summarize key findings from the second CEP survey, followed by a section on concrete actions we pledge to take in response to the findings.

Key findings

The clear sense from partners about Co-Impact is one of enthusiasm, with nearly three-quarters indicating a largely positive experience and the remaining partners indicating a mix of positive and negative experiences. Even for partners with mixed experiences, their criticisms were underscored by optimism that nothing was “unfixable,”and they provided valuable suggestions on what would help us fine-tune the way in which we work. The full narrative report produced by CEP can be accessed here. We highlight five major findings below:

• Co-Impact’s vision for systems change resonates with our program partners. They see communication on the topic as increasingly clear. Moreover, partners particularly appreciate Co-Impact’s expanded focus on gender, which centers on advancing gender equality through systems change. That said, partners shared mixed perceptions of how well Co-Impact’s approach allows them to incorporate challenges and circumstances particular to their local contexts. They also suggested ways in which to make theoretical approaches on systems change more concrete, hands-on, and practical.
• Partners view the design grant as a unique and valuable experience and as a strong benefit to their organizations. Still, partners describe the process as intense and complex; many suggest reducing the number of check-ins and theoretical exercises required throughout the process.
• Many partners praise the expertise of and thought partnership with Co-Impact staff. Survey measures indicate that funded partners’ perceptions of staff’s approachability and responsiveness have meaningfully improved. Opportunities remain to address some challenging partnership dynamics and to clarify with partners the priorities and expectations of Co-Impact’s donors.
• Co-Impact’s application and reporting processes are seen as both challenging and a helpful opportunity for partners to hone their ideas and reflect on their work. To strengthen the process and reduce the burden on their organizations, partners shared requests to provide more specific examples and guidelines, and to adjust expectations for time and resources required by partners.
• Partners note that, in addition to its funding, Co-Impact’s partnership has strengthened their organizations by helping them bolster their strategic thinking and approach. Staff’s expertise and advice and Co-Impact’s webinars and workshops are valued resources. Partners asked for continued support to link with other funding sources for their work.

Actions to do better

We are grateful for the recognition of what we do well, and we are keen to do better. In the CEP feedback we heard loud and clear that we need to: 1) trust partners who understand their contexts to make decisions; 2) reduce the intensity of our processes and demands on partner time; 3) be more transparent about budget envelopes and decision-making timelines; 4) provide practical examples of what good looks like; and 5) help partners strengthen their capacities and networks to raise funds.

Accordingly, we are making the following changes to be better funders:

• Instead of bringing a complex menu of expectations to our program partners, we will now focus on three core elements: 1) systems change/impact at scale; 2) intersectional gender equality; and 3) organizational strengthening. For each, we will seek to learn how partners construct their approaches, rather than impose our own templates. We will continue to offer our candid point of view and practical examples of components we consider helpful, such as political economy analysis and constituency feedback. But we will do so as optional offers rather than requirements. In short, the core of our approach will be to understand and engage with the partner’s own thinking.
• Our 8-10 month “design grants” that precede major systems change grants were considered to be super helpful, but too intensive. Accordingly, we have reduced the design grant focus to cover 4 core modules, and reduced our check-in moments with program partners. We are improving clarity and predictability by providing details about what is expected in proposals, organizational due diligence, decision-making timelines and budget envelopes earlier in the design phase process.
• We are helping program partners to procure contextually relevant, proximate expertise and thought partners, rather than relying too much on our team or on our funding partners. This avoids awkward donor power dynamics and better supports tailored organizational growth and learning. We will also further support our program partners to strengthen their fundraising muscles and networks to raise sufficient, long-term, flexible capital.
• We will develop and publish a simple and accessible Wiki with practical tools, stories and examples to help illustrate the many ways in which systems change and gender equality initiatives are designed, implemented, and evaluated. The Wiki will build on our own experience, as well as that of our program partners, other funders, and researchers. It will also feature what we and our partners are learning from and with each other.
• Once a grant is made, we will put even more emphasis on learning and adaptation because life is complex and smartly managing a changing context is a far better marker of success than adherence to a proposal. We already encourage partners to learn from successes and failures, and we will further adapt our processes to trust our partners to make the necessary adjustments for better results. This will include additional levels of budget flexibility.
• For our major grants, we are reducing check-ins with program partners from about 7-10 to about 3-4 times per year. During check-ins, we will strive to listen more than we talk, and ensure that the agenda focuses on topics the partner wishes to discuss. Between check-ins, we will keep any additional requests from our side to a minimum.
• To reduce reporting burdens, we will reduce the frequency of formal reports from twice to once a year. Moreover, we will work with partners and their other funders to align and accept common reports to the extent possible. When we comment on reports and drafts we commit to limit our feedback to a handful of key elements.
• We will streamline our grantmaking workflow, to make the process work better for program partners. We will also review our grants sourcing processes, with the goal of reducing time and burden of applying, and increasing clarity and simplicity.

At core, our approach is about trusting program partners. Through the CEP Survey, our partners have helped us better understand what it takes to live out these values in practice. Our hope is that the concrete actions we are taking and commitments we have made in response will help us become better funders. This includes decentering ourselves and our power as funders, and instead focus on ways that work best for partners and enable them to thrive.

^[1] These surveys are typically known as grantee perception reports. We prefer to use “program partners” instead of “grantees” because we do not believe that social change organizations should be defined by the fact that they seek funds from donors.

^[2] Response rates exceeded 70% for partners; response rate of declined applicants was 39%. All response rates exceeded CEP’s targets.

Through the Gender Fund, Co-Impact is committed to raising and deploying US $1 billion and they are now looking for applicants for systems and institutional change initiatives to advance gender equality and promote women’s leadership across the Global South.

 

London, September 30, 2020 – Co-Impact is pleased to announce the Gender Fund’s first open call for country-level grants. Gender Fund will support initiatives that are working to make systems just and inclusive and advance women’s leadership at all levels.

Grants made will aim to support and nurture initiatives that:

• Focus on systems change with the aim to improve gender-equitable outcomes and women’s leadership in the health, education, and economic opportunity sectors. And institutional change to advance women’s ability to enter, rise to, and thrive in leadership positions in the academic and professional domains of law and/or economics.

• Are deeply rooted in the Global South. 100% of the grants will go to Global South and locally-rooted organizations and at least 75% of the grants will be to women-led organizations. Co-Impact invites initiatives that focus on countries listed below:

• • Africa: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.
  • Asia: India, Indonesia, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
  • Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, and Peru.

Co-Impact recognizes that there are multiple ways to advance gender equality. Through the open call, Co-Impact invites applications from Global South and locally-rooted organizations – civil society groups, think-tanks and academic institutions, professional associations and networks, women’s rights groups, and feminist and allied movements, among others. To enable this, three grant types will be awarded ranging from US $1 million to US $20 million, allocated over a 3-to-6-year period, depending on the grant type.

Olivia Leland, Founder and CEO of Co-Impact, said: “We are really excited about this open call and recognize the critical role that women’s rights organizations and feminist movements play in advancing gender equality. I believe that together, we can move towards the common goal of making systems just and inclusive for women and girls to rise to and thrive in leadership positions at all levels.”

Full details of the criteria and process can be found in English here (also available in six additional languages). Concept notes submission will be accepted until 20 December 2021.

About Co-Impact

Co-Impact is a global philanthropic collaborative for just and inclusive systems change. We support partners to transform health, education, and economic systems for impact at scale across the Global South. Our second Fund – the Gender Fund, launching in early 2022, will focus on transformative systems change for gender equality, with an emphasis on elevating women’s power, agency, and leadership at all levels. This open call is to source for the first round of grants for the Gender Fund.

Co-Impact’s first Fund convened over 40 funders from more than 16 countries and pooled hundreds of millions of dollars. Core Partners include Richard Chandler, The ELMA Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates, IKEA Foundation, Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, The Rockefeller Foundation, MacKenzie Scott, and Jeff Skoll.

Philanthropists and foundations coming together ahead of the launch of Co-Impact’s second Fund include: the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, Melinda French Gates, The Rockefeller Foundation, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, and Thankyou Charitable Trust. We’re also delighted to partner with Tsitsi Masiyiwa and the African Philanthropy Forum to bring together a group of philanthropists from across Africa and Vidya Shah and EdelGive Foundation on a similar model to support this work in India. Co-Impact continues to invite and welcome other funders to join us as we make our way towards the official launch later in the year.

Further Information

For full guidelines, process, planned webinars, and frequently asked questions (FAQs), please visit Co-Impact’s website: www.co-impact.org/gender-fund-how-to-apply

Specific media-related inquiries should be directed to:

Devon Jaffe-Urell

[email protected]

Introduction

There are many ways to fight for gender equality. At Co-Impact, we think about pathways to change systems so that they are more just and equitable, to deliver better outcomes for all people, at scale. We have just announced our new Gender Fund, which will bring together Global South rooted, women-led organizations and values aligned philanthropists to advance systems change and women’s leadership for gender equality.

In preparation for this Fund, we consulted with more than 50 gender experts, researchers and activists who have been championing this work for years to understand the strategies, experiences, victories, and setbacks over the decades (see report here). We have also been reading up on the evidence to understand what we already know works and doesn’t work, and where the evidence is just too thin to say. For this purpose, we commissioned a series of papers on key areas of interest in the Gender Fund: what works to achieve gender-equitable outcomes at scale, in the Global South, in health, education, and economic opportunity; as well as what works to promote women’s leadership in law and economics.

Given our focus on systems and institutions, we felt these papers are a relevant starting point. At the same time, we know that this compilation of evidence reflects only a slice of knowledge and experiences on gender equality. We are complementing these reviews with a wider scope of readings and evidence, and we look forward to continuous learning from a range of disciplines and approaches.

The primary aim of these reviews is to enhance our understanding and we hope you will find them of interest. We hope they will be useful also to our program partners advancing gender equality. We think they might be of interest to other funders, who care to better understand “what works”. In this blog, we offer a few observations that stand out to us and shape our thinking.

1. What do we know about how women and girls benefit from the basic sectors of education, health, and economic opportunity?

Most of the persuasive evidence on how to improve education outcomes in the Global South comes from initiatives that reach all students, though many studies disaggregate effects for girls and boys. From this evidence, we know that school feeding programs, abolition of fees, improving access and transport, and improving the quality of teaching have all shown to be very effective in improving education outcomes overall, and have resulted in significant gains specifically for girls. However, girls often face very different barriers to attending school and learning compared to boys, and this nuanced understanding is critical in selecting the most relevant intervention. Moreover, social and cultural norms regarding adolescent behavior – especially that of adolescent girls – significantly shape the girls’ access to and experience of education systems. Initiatives such as life skills training, safe spaces for girls, and safe transport for girls are important complements to education-focused initiatives. While there is considerably less (scaled) research connecting initiatives which address gender-specific barriers to learning achievement, the evidence that exists is generally positive.

The vast literature on health indicates gender biases in biomedical and public health research, lack of routine sex-disaggregated data, and lack of attention to gender issues in most areas of health. As a result, much of the relevant evidence on scaled initiatives with gender outcomes draw from the field of sexual and reproductive health. Our literature review examined selected scaled initiatives to improve maternal mortality, family planning, and safe abortion. Evidence is clear that certain scaled initiatives have contributed to significantly better outcomes: for instance, conditional cash transfers and vouchers have improved maternal mortality at scale; community and mobile outreach-based services have significantly increased the uptake of modern family planning methods. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that most health initiatives have focused on demand-side efforts, and have largely been directed at changing women, families and communities, rather than attempting fundamental reforms toward more gender equitable health care delivery systems. As we advance, initiatives need to address accessibility, affordability and especially quality through both health systems and community-based efforts, recognizing the interconnectedness of these drivers.

When it comes to achieving gender-equitable economic outcomes at scale, microfinance and entrepreneurship training get considerable research attention, but the reality is that the majority of poor women in the Global South work in agriculture, the informal sector, or through public works programs. On the positive side, there is now strong evidence on a set of characteristics that make these initiatives effective across a range of contexts. For instance, paramount among them is ensuring women have access to assets and direct control over finances. Another condition, particularly relevant to public works programs, is the provision of affordable childcare. There is also persuasive evidence that multi-component initiatives which seek to empower women and girls are more effective than singular ones across a range of outcomes; for example, the Graduation approach for ultra-poor households or multiple-skilling initiatives for adolescent girls.

Critically, our collective thinking about gender-equitable outcomes has evolved from looking only at discrete outcomes in income, health, education, etc., to a more inclusive notion of women’s agency. Agency, defined as the ability to make decisions for oneself and to carry out those decisions, is a critical condition for women to make use of and benefit from economic opportunities (e.g., work outside of the home, and have control over the income earned), health initiatives (e.g., decisions over fertility), and even civic rights (e.g., ability to participate fully in community and local government).

2. What drives women’s leadership in law and economics?

The Gender Fund will focus on increasing women’s representation and substantive leadership specifically in law and economics, because these two domains have an inordinate amount of influence over high-level decision making, including the setting of policy priorities and budgets. Women are severely under-represented at high leadership levels in these domains. Evidence tells us that when decision-making bodies are more representative, the results tend to benefit everyone. So we know it matters whether women enter and succeed in the fields of law and economics, but how do we support them in doing so? It’s helpful to think of law and economics as “pipelines” with blockages and leakages that prevent women from entering, and once in, from reaching high levels. We know something about the shape of the problems, but there is a real dearth of research on what initiatives are effective, particularly in the global south. The evidence we do have suggests that it’s critical to look at policies, institutional norms, and practices, as well as effective mechanisms to support women leaders. For example, gender parity policies and institutionalized gender-equitable workplace practices (such as childcare provisions) effectively ensure women have access to high-level decision-making positions. Once in these positions, initiatives like training, mentoring and supportive networks are important in enabling women’s professional success and enabling them to become role models for other women.

3. The role of women’s movements

While looking at evidence across key sectors and domains, the critical role women’s activism and women’s movements have played in achieving institutional and systemic outcomes for gender equality becomes clear. For example, the research demonstrates that globally, organized and active women’s movements were the most important driving factor in whether a country adopted progressive policies and laws that protected women against gender-based violence and provided for related response and care. We also learned that organized and effective women’s movements tend to arise in contexts that place less restriction on women’s mobility and in which women can work outside of the home. These two are critical factors in women’s ability to come together and form associations and movements, which can then advocate – and agitate – for common causes. Nonetheless, despite this evidence, data shows that women’s movements are chronically under-funded.

4. Looking across and forward

A striking observation is that despite significant investment in research, disadvantaged women and girls are routinely not visible in the data. Put simply, it is still not common for studies or influential datasets to report outcomes disaggregated by gender and other markers of inequality. For instance, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.3 on “AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and neglected tropical and other communicable diseases” specifies sex disaggregation measuring only the prevention of new HIV infections. Global targets like these send powerful signals as to what is important to measure. On the other hand, there is also good news. For example, the economic inclusion field is shifting from measuring income at the aggregated household level, which in the past obscured intra-household dynamics and experiences of women, to also looking at intra-household dynamics, and specifically whether women have agency to decide how to use income and assets.

Gender related barriers exist across different contexts and influence a range of outcomes. For example, restrictive norms on the mobility of girls and women, or lack of safety for girls and women in public places, have a detrimental effect on everything from going to school, accessing health clinics, and the ability to be employed outside the household. Another barrier felt the world over is the unequal burden of care that falls on girls’ and women’s shoulders. The similarity of barriers and experiences allows us to think, connect and learn across contexts. At the same time, all the reviews emphasized that the question of “what works” cannot be separated from addressing “for whom” and “in which context”. In other words, effective solutions will always depend on how a particular problem manifests and interacts with a given social, political, institutional and economic context.

It is somewhat ironic, then, that there is comparatively little high-quality evidence on implementation and practice, especially scaled initiatives. Instead, research has tended to focus on describing the problems or evaluating relatively small, contained initiatives. We heard from our evidence reviewers and consultations that what is sorely needed is high quality practice-oriented research designed to help evolve and improve gender-equitable programs and policies, particularly at scale.

The evidence reviewed so far helps us see patterns across contexts and connect across experts, activists, practitioners, and researchers. It also reminds us that effective action is deeply grounded and contextual, and that it is locally rooted practitioners who are the most important audiences for this research, because they have significant experience working on these issues, understand the context and political economy, and have the necessary relationships and legitimacy to take on deep systemic change. We are excited to work with a range of program and research partners through our new Gender Fund, to support their practice and learning, and through this lens, contribute also to global evidence of what works to achieve gender equality at scale.

By: Varja Lipovsek, Director – Learning, Measurement and Evaluation

^[1] We call out these three references because we found them particularly relevant as complementary readings to our evidence reviews; we continue to engage with a range of additional evidence and experiences to further enhance our learning. 

Co-Impact is excited to announce the development of our second fund – the Gender Fund – to accelerate progress towards gender equality and women’s leadership.

Our new Fund aims to raise and deploy US $1 billion over the next decade to support predominantly women-led Global South organizations with the large, unrestricted, long-term, and flexible funding needed to transform systems to be more just and inclusive, advance women’s power, agency and leadership at all levels and shift harmful gender norms that prevent progress.

Our ambition is that in 10 years:

• More than 100 million people will have better healthcare, quality education, and opportunity to work and thrive – regardless of gender, ethnicity, caste, or race.
• There will be more women leading at all levels from the household and community to institutions and government, influencing decisions that affect their communities and society.
• Perceptions and norms about women’s roles will be challenged and shifted.

The initial group of philanthropists and foundations who are coming together to make this possible include: the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation, MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, Melinda French Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, and Thankyou Charitable Trust. We’re also delighted to be working with Tsitsi Masiyiwa and the African Philanthropy Forum to bring together a group of philanthropists from across Africa, and with Vidya Shah and EdelGive Foundation on a similar model to support this work in India. In addition, we are partnering with The Philanthropy Workshop to bring additional learning and engagement opportunities to our community of funders.

We continue to invite and welcome other funders to join us as we make our way towards the official launch later in the year.

Increasing collaborative funding for large-scale impact has always been an important objective for Co-Impact, and the core of our grant-making is in support of systems change initiatives that have the potential to scale and transform the lives of millions. This fund will continue this work, bringing significant resources to a historically underfunded space and paving the way towards more equitable, longer-term, flexible funding led by the needs of the individuals and organizations driving progress across the Global South.

Our grants will support a wide range of organizations working to advance gender equality in 6-8 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Sourcing for the first round of grants will open later in the year; 100% of country-level grants will be awarded to organizations based in the Global South, of which at least 75% will be led by women. Our focus areas include health, education, and economic opportunity, and the professional domains of law and economics.

This work would not be possible without feminist movements and organizations that continue to play a significant role in achieving catalytic change for gender equality and in holding institutions and governments accountable. Over the next 2-3 years, the Fund will provide US $10 million to feminist groups and movements across the Global South who are critically positioned to deliver this vision. Over the next 10 years, this amount will grow to at least US $100 million (10% of the fund) as we reach our funding goals.

This fund builds on the extensive work of our existing program partners who continue to demonstrate how integral gender is to achieving sustainable systems change, as well as the guidance of the many leaders who have informed our thinking over the last year. These include representatives of predominantly Global South women’s rights organizations and women’s funds, feminist activists and scholars, and cross-sector experts, donors and practitioners working at all levels. Their wisdom and guidance have been fundamental to the fund’s development and continues to inform and strengthen our programmatic approach. A report on the findings from our year-long consultation process with the gender community can be found here.

We are delighted that Laura Garcia, Theo Sowa, Rebeca Gyumi, Mabel van Oranje, Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, Crystal Simeoni, and Lakshmi Sundaram will be joining an advisory group to guide the continued development of the Fund in the lead up to launch.

We thank all our partners, funders, advisors, and all those who have helped us get to this point. We look forward to moving forward in collaboration and community with you all as we make our way towards the official launch later in the year.

Introducing the Gender Fund, watch our video here.

Contact [email protected] for more information

This blog is Part 1 of a series on our reflections from our Round 3 Open Call. Part 2 discusses lessons from our scoring and review process on what makes a strong systems change initiative.

 

What would happen if we focused on supporting organizations deeply rooted in the Global South and substantively led by women?

This was the question that was top of mind for our team as we worked on designing the parameters for our third round of grantmaking.  In discussing the many fantastic systems change proposals we’d received during our first and second round of grants, two themes emerged as common among the strongest: they were deeply embedded in their target contexts, and they had carefully considered gender equity and inclusion in their approach. Building on these reflections, we resolved that Round 3 would prioritize sourcing applications from initiatives that are rooted in the Global South, focused on equity, and led by women.

 

While we certainly aren’t the first to take this approach, it is not yet a common funding practice. Typically, large grants for progress in the Global South go to entities based in the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. According to some reports, 2.1% of humanitarian aid goes to local and national actors in the Global South and only 1% of gender equality funding globally goes to women’s organizations. The reasons cited are familiar–the organizations that have the capacity, sophistication, systems, mechanisms, and leadership needed to manage complex projects are thought to be based in the Global North. The subtext is that local organizations are perceived to be less capable of managing large sums of money and delivering results. Women-led organizations are often bypassed for funding due to lack of Global North connections and/or entrenched patriarchal norms. The fact that the majority of the Global North initiatives receiving funding are led and governed by people without the lived experience of the communities who are meant to benefit or any direct accountability to them is not seen as relevant to achieving success.

 

At Co-Impact, we have been grappling with these questions for some time, listening to our program partners, reading the research, drawing on our experience, and reflecting on both ethics and effectiveness. We have come to see two problems clearly: a) health, education, and economic systems often fail to work because discrimination is built into the design and contributes to poor and inequitable outcomes, and b) systems change often fails because it is overly technocratic in nature when the thorniest problems require a keen understanding of political economy, governance, and institutions.

 

So, in determining the eligibility criteria for our Round 3 grantmaking, we focused on three critical factors:

• Deep-rootedness in the context in which the initiative seeks to have an enduring impact: Organizations rooted in the Global South bring a deep understanding of local contexts and governance, political savvy, trusted relationships, and a long-term commitment to the contexts in which they work, all of which are critical to achieving – and sustaining – successful systems change. For Round 3, we required all applicant organizations to be anchored in the Global South, with decision-making and implementing power being centered in the country(ies) they are targeting.
• A commitment to shift systems to be more equitable and inclusive: A major driver of underdevelopment is discrimination against and exclusion of women, which is further compounded when these women are also marginalized along the lines of gender, class, race, ethnicity, disability, and/or caste. Systemic change that can improve people’s lives at scale requires a strategic and intersectional approach to transforming dynamics of discrimination. We required all Round 3 applicants to demonstrate a proactive approach to addressing gender inequality and other forms of systemic discrimination in terms of analysis of the problem, programmatic design, and leadership at all levels of the organization.
• A commitment to women in leadership: We know that representation matters and that the systematic exclusion of women in senior leadership and boards is not only wrong, it negatively affects the design of programs. We therefore expressed particular interest in receiving applications from organizations led by women and committed to ensuring every stage of our selection process included at least 50% substantively women-led initiatives. Internally, we set a high bar for what we would consider a “substantively women-led” initiative: The initiative’s leader and at least 50% of the initiative’s senior leadership are women. And we paid attention to the gender representation on boards.

Our leadership and advisory board fully supported these choices and the reasoning behind them, and we were excited by what the choices represented. At the same time, we and some of our friends in philanthropy wondered: Were we painting ourselves in a corner? How would groups respond to the emphasis on global south rootedness, inclusion and women in leadership? Would we find sufficient qualified initiatives that met these criteria?

 

We also made some important tweaks to our process to promote broader outreach, transparency and inclusion: we translated our Open Call document into four languages, held four Question and Answer webinars with applicants across time zones, disclosed our scoring criteria publicly, extended the Open Call period from one to three months (including a one-month extension in response to COVID), and invested time and resources in reaching out to new networks in Global South regions. While we required all applications to be in the English language, we made it clear that fluency was not required and trained our reviewers not to conflate fluency in English with quality of concept. To make our results-orientation clear, we specified the set of outcomes that we seek to advance in health, education, and economic opportunity, and asked applicants to explain how they would advance one or more of these outcomes. Our hope was that these measures would clearly signal to applicants what we saw as crucial to systems change and how we would assess their ideas.

 

So, what happened?

When Co-Impact closed its Round 3 Open Call for proposals on 30 April 2020, we found that:

• We had received 601 applications, far more than what we had expected.
• Of these, 570 applications (95%) met our bar for being Global South-rooted and, after an administrative review, 439 (73%) met our full criteria and qualified for further review.
• Of the 439 initiatives that met our criteria for review, 281 (64%) have a female CEO/leader, 250 (57%) have a majority female board, and 249 (57%) met our high bar for designation as “substantively women-led,” with the initiative’s leader and at least 50% of the initiative’s senior leadership being women.
• The applications were from all over the world and represented a broad geographical range, as can be seen in the charts below

These graphs represent the pool of 439 applications that met our full qualifications for review.

 

These numbers and the specific qualities of each initiative tell a powerful story. For us, a major takeaway is that when a funder consciously signals that Global South-rootedness, gender-inclusive design, and women in leadership matter, organizations respond. And that the huge disparity in where funding goes, cited at the top of this post, almost certainly reflects bias in our own philanthropic defaults and practice rather than a lack of capability and potential.

 

We continue to dig deeper into the data. To improve our approach further, we invited all Round 3 applicants to give us feedback on the application process. The primary takeaway from the 28% who responded to the survey is that applicants desire more support in designing and proposing systems change initiatives. Many respondents requested examples of successful systems change efforts, better guidance on how to show evidence of impact, and the ability to submit applications in local languages. We are actively reflecting on this feedback, and considering providing earlier stage support to applicants in future rounds. As a specific measure, we will soon hold a webinar on the factors that helped applications to stand out and influenced our decision-making.

 

For our Round 3 grantmaking process, the next four months involve doing deeper diligence on the 26 initiatives that we have shortlisted, where we hope to better understand their organizations, partnerships, and system change models. We are excited to learn from their thinking and use it to strengthen ours. Many of the applicants who did not make our shortlist are doing powerful work and represent important constituencies, and we hope to share their applications with other philanthropic peers for whom these initiatives may be a better fit. Throughout, we hope to be challenged, deepen our learning and accountability, and grow to be better funders of outcomes-focused systems change that is truly inclusive.

 

By Kappie Farrington

 

This blog is Part 2 of a series on our Round 3 Open Call. Part 1 discusses lessons learned from our Open Call process on sourcing Global South-rooted and women-led initiatives.

 

The world has changed significantly since we launched the Open Call for our third round of grants on January 29, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and the movements for racial justice in the US and around the world have revealed how systems are marked by deep inequities and the pervasive legacy of systemic racism. This makes the need to advance systems change — in a manner that is truly inclusive and just — even more important.

In reviewing the proposals for our Round 3 Open Call, our core question was: When our societies are marked by deep discrimination and disparity, what does it take to achieve true systemic change?

This question was central to the difficult task of selecting a shortlist of 26 initiatives for the next round of diligence from among the 601 applications we received. The Round 3 applicant pool was full of exceptional, high-potential systems change initiatives. Hailing from 74 countries, applicants were majority women-led, rooted in the Global South, and represented a wide diversity of issue areas and sectors. Selecting a shortlist from among them was very challenging and required us to exercise careful judgment. This process involved two rounds of review from our internal team and external experts. Multiple considerations needed to be taken into account, including the 11 criteria we had laid out in the application materials. How were we to sort and weigh across different critical factors?

Throughout the rigorous selection process, and in reviewing the final set, six strengths stood out as common among the 26 initiatives that we have selected for further diligence:

1. Significant people and systems-level outcomes: The strongest applications articulated a compelling vision for more just and equitable systems. Beyond programmatic outputs and activities, these initiatives described the system they aim to change, how they would contribute to clear improvements in that system, and how those improvements would translate into meaningful and long-term impact in the lives of women, men, and children.

2. Strong systems change mindset: Our shortlisted initiatives demonstrated a deep understanding of the conditions responsible for the problems they seek to solve, and outlined a strategy with the potential to transform — not just respond to — these root causes. They focused on adoption of a proven model at scale by a government or market system, rather than the linear scale up of one organization or project. And they made it clear how improvements would be institutionalized in the target system to ensure the changes and impact would endure.

3. Transformative approach to gender and intersectionality: The strongest initiatives brought a gender and intersectional lens to all parts of their proposal (not just in the application’s section related to gender and inclusion), from problem analysis, to outcomes and results, to measurement and learning, to organisational capabilities and leadership, across the gender continuum. Their systems change strategies seek to transform the root causes of inequality, rather than merely accommodate them. And these organizations demonstrated a commitment to addressing discrimination — in terms of gender, class, race, ethnicity and/or caste — as an integral part of their full systems change strategy and foundational to their organization’s values.

4. Deep-rootedness in the target context: The most convincing systems change proposals came from organizations anchored in the country(ies) where they work. These organizations’ track record, reputation, leadership, and legitimacy within their contexts, including the strength of their relationships and credibility with key actors in the system, gave us confidence that they understand the complexities of the system and are well positioned to enable deep change over the long term.

5. Savvy approach to political economy: The strongest applications articulated how power and incentives work among key actors in the targeted system and how the proposed initiative would build a “winning coalition” to navigate and overcome barriers. They had a convincing plan to build a concerted set of actors aligned, motivated, and powerful enough to make change happen. These initiatives also made a compelling case that they had the right relationships, leverage, history, and position to achieve systemic impact within the proposed context.

6. Organizational strength and strategic partnerships: Organizational strength was challenging to assess from a concept note alone, but the strongest applications clearly argued the anchor organization’s readiness to lead large scale systemic change. We could discern this most often in the initiative’s description of their partnerships and in their approach to learning. Most shortlisted initiatives already had strategic partnerships in place, and described how their partners’ incentives and capabilities were aligned and complementary to their own. Likewise, the strongest applicants thoughtfully described how they would track progress within systems and for people, how data would be used by the target system/government moving forward, and how learning and adaptation manifest in their organisation.

Fundamentally, systems change is all about how large-scale systems support people to thrive, and particularly the women, men, and children who have not had a fair shot, who have been systematically excluded, who have been denied sufficient support to withstand shocks and access opportunity. If it was not evident already, the current global context has made that abundantly clear. Unless inclusion is designed and intentional, it will not happen. At the next stage of diligence in our process, we will continue to seek to better understand how our partners will drive outcomes at the systems level, are rooted in the contexts they aim to improve, have the organizational capacity and savvy to enable systems change, and how they will center the needs of women and others experiencing systemic exclusion.

Kappie Farrington

The global impetus to fight systemic racism and discrimination, reinforced by the brutal murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in the US, and a growing understanding of the insidious impact of anti-blackness and deep-seated racism across the globe, is long overdue. All over the world, people are taking to the streets to express outrage and demand change. We find ourselves in a moment of reckoning. What we do next – over the coming months and years – will determine whether we succeed in turning this moment into decisive and lasting change.

We are mindful of the fact that those with wealth have disproportionate power and privilege, reinforced by prevailing political and socio-economic systems. Grappling with the reality of structural racism, economic and social inequality, and other forms of discrimination raises critical questions about the role philanthropy has been, is, and should be playing.

At Co-Impact, our core work is to support partners to drive systemic change to achieve better outcomes for all women, men, and children. A major reason why systems do not work for people is that discrimination is baked into their core design and functioning. As funders, if we do not actively fight discrimination, we in effect support unjust systems. If we are serious about equity and inclusion, therefore, our approach and actions need to be actively anti-racist, gender equitable, and inclusive across every facet of our work.

Since our launch in 2017, we have been leaning into deep-seated issues of systemic exclusion and inequity, and working to continuously learn and improve our practice. And we need to do much more and are committed to doing so. We also know that actions speak louder than words. Accordingly, we commit to the following actions:

• Across all aspects of our programs, we will further develop and apply an intersectional framework to address inequities related to gender, race, and class and other forms of discrimination. We will use it to review our approach, including how we structure and source our grants, assess proposals, award grants, support partners, strengthen organizations, measure success and share lessons. We will fulfil our commitment to  make 100% of our country-level anchor grants to organizations rooted in the Global South and at least 50% to organizations led by women. We will actively seek to advance women; and Black, Indigenous, and people of color and from other historically disadvantaged constituencies in leadership at all levels, especially in senior management and governance.
• In our work to influence philanthropy, we will actively promote anti-racism and gender inclusion, and grantmaking that addresses discrimination in all its forms. We will advocate for increased resources towards organizations addressing systemic discrimination and inequality, and that are led and governed by women and other underrepresented groups. We will seek to advance the representation and participation of women and leaders from the Global South in philanthropy, and we will work to promote better funding practices.
• In our organization, we will make clear that to be part of Co-Impact means to actively advance gender equality, and to strive to be anti-racist and against all forms of discrimination. We will work to increase representation of women, people from the Global South, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color at all levels among our staff and boards, and to foster a work environment where everyone is respected, taken seriously and supported to thrive. We will take measures to deepen our individual and collective learning and growth. We will enhance our policies and tools to codify and promote these commitments and reflect them in our Handbook and website.

Building on our current practice, some of these actions will start immediately and others will take time to achieve. We will continue to grapple with how we can do better and will periodically review and strengthen our commitments. We will regularly seek feedback and listen with care, internally and externally, so that we can continue to learn and improve. Finally, to hold ourselves to account, we will report on progress on these commitments at least once a year.

At Co-Impact – as in every organization and community – we continue to reflect on the current situation around COVID-19. Here, we share our evolving approach and the launch of our Systems Response Fund, for funders seeking to support some of the critical work being done to respond to the pandemic and strengthen systems around the world.

All over the world, health systems – and others – are being tested to their limits.  It is more important than ever that we keep a focus on strengthening underlying systems so that those systems are able respond to this emergency and recover for the future, while continuing to deliver essential public services in the here and now.

Health systems are on the front lines, but the effects on education and economic opportunity are also severe. More than 1.5 billion children are now out of school. As the global economy slows down and unemployment begins to soar, people’s livelihoods are placed in jeopardy. And while all societies are being affected by this, it is weaker systems that will be most affected – and within those systems, the most disadvantaged, including women.

In light of the above, we are working closely with all of our program partners, guided by the following five principles:

1. Active listening – Throughout, we listen more than we talk. This is about what partners would find helpful, rather than about what we can do.
2. Showing empathy – We acknowledge that this time will be difficult, in terms of work and personally, and that we understand. We empathize. We ask how is it affecting them, and how they doing.
3. Being supportive – We ask how can we be supportive? We make ourselves available but do not impose, recognizing that some people want to talk, others want to be left alone.
4. Being flexible – We offer to be flexible in terms of plans, reporting, etc. We are open to discussing how partners need to pivot. We assure them that our agreed funding will not be threatened by this.
5. Supporting fundraising – Where requested, we connect partners to potential additional funding opportunities, and we advocate that funding be provided in a way that is simple, not burdensome, and supports our partners’ core systems work.

We know we are not alone in thinking about how we can best support our partners at this time – and that we need to come together as a global funding community – to advocate jointly, share insights, and learn from one another and from our partners. To date, we have signed two pledges committing to providing flexibility to program partners, and to holding ourselves, as funders, accountable to that commitment:

• Council on Foundations Pledge
• London Funders Pledge

 

Systems Response Fund

Two of our program partners are working on health systems, and have been called upon by relevant governments to take a leading role in responding to COVID-19. To meet this demand, Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program and Project ECHO are in need of additional flexible funding to respond to the crisis. To facilitate this process and allow for funds to reach these initiatives quickly and effectively, we have launched the Co-Impact Systems Response Fund – please see here for more details.

 

 

 

 

We – like so many of you – have been monitoring the COVID-19 situation, and thinking about how it may affect our team, all of our partners, and, in particular, the communities we seek to serve. We are mindful that while all of us are affected, it is communities with limited means and countries with weaker systems that will be most affected.

The safety of our partners around the world – and that of their families and communities – is our chief concern. We understand that the pandemic may affect priorities, plans, timelines and how our partners work, and that this may require adjustments to deliverables, reporting and the like. Flexibility in our support and expectations, and the space for our program partners to lead and adapt, become even more important in the face of uncertainty.

As funders, we’re also mindful that support for the crucial work of strengthening underlying systems is as important as ever. While there is certainly the need for a rapid response to the unfolding situation, it is equally imperative that we do not lose focus during times of crisis, remembering that it is the most vulnerable communities, and especially women, who are likely to be hit the hardest by this pandemic.

Finally, we would like to reiterate our deep gratitude to all those working in health systems across the globe – to the community health workers, nurses, doctors, hospital staff, medical researchers, and others working tirelessly during these difficult times.

Wherever you are in the world, we hope you and your families remain safe and healthy.

Olivia and the Co-Impact team

Global philanthropic collaborative announces call for new round of systems change initiatives – with particular emphasis on Global South-rooted and women-led organizations.

This press release is also available in español, français, português and العربية.

London, January 29, 2020 – Co-Impact – a global philanthropic collaborative for systems change – is pleased to announce its third call for proposals for transformative systems change initiatives that are:

 

Co-Impact collaborative includes core partners Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Skoll, The Rockefeller Foundation, and – most recently – Rohini and Nandan Nilekani

LONDON, January 15, 2019 – Co-Impact announced its first round of grants today to improve education, health, and economic opportunity for an estimated 9 million people over the next five years across Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The grants total more than US $80 million. This is the first set of grants delivered by Co-Impact, a collaborative partnership founded in late 2017 by Olivia Leland, founding director of The Giving Pledge, and partners including Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Skoll, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Rohini and Nandan Nilekani.

Co-Impact works in collaboration with a diverse group of change makers, creating large-scale social impact by employing a systems-based approach. Co-Impact makes long-term investments to help address obstacles and limitations in systems that hamper human progress in the areas of education, health, and economic opportunity.

The first-round grant recipients include:

• Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and Last Mile Health, alongside other partners, will support the Government of Liberia to scale and strengthen the National Community Health Assistant Program, which is advancing universal health coverage through the deployment of a community health workforce, providing access to primary health services for 1.2 million rural people.
• The graduation approach to economic opportunity: A global multi-stakeholder effort, involving Jeevika, Fundación Capital, and the Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI) hosted by the World Bank, that will enable governments to adapt and scale programs proven to help households sustainably boost their incomes and assets, as a pathway to lift millions of people out of extreme poverty.
• Project ECHO: A global movement in 34 countries and growing that leverages technology for remote mentoring and group problem-solving; expanding work underway in India to build the capacity of community healthcare providers to treat patients with chronic and complex diseases.
• Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa: A joint venture between Pratham and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to support African governments and partners develop locally effective approaches to help all children read and do basic arithmetic, and to develop the essential foundation for lifelong learning.
• citiesRISE: An initiative creating a global network of mental health friendly cities and communities (starting with Nairobi, Chennai, Bogota, Sacramento and Seattle) and scaling systemic solutions by leveraging the energy and creativity of youth, the speed and reach of technology, and through cross-sectoral collective action.

Co-Impact is also pleased to announce that Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, having served as technical partners since Co-Impact’s launch, recently joined the collaborative as Core Partners and are jointly invested in the strategic direction of the effort.

Olivia Leland, Founder and CEO: “At Co-Impact, our guiding mission is to make the biggest difference possible in the lives of millions, and I believe that our impressive first round of program partners are poised to do just that. I am also extremely pleased that Rohini and Nandan Nilekani have joined our group of Core Partners who see the great need – and opportunity – for pooling resources and knowledge to drive large-scale change. Deep collaboration is still a relatively nascent area for philanthropy. Co-Impact and our partners are committed to proving that it not only works but has the potential to drive much greater impact.”

Co-Impact is building a global group of funding partners committed to using results-oriented philanthropy to drive meaningful systems change. This growing group includes more than 25 philanthropists, foundations, and other funders representing more than a dozen countries. In addition to our Core Partners, a host of philanthropists and foundations have joined the Co-Impact Community to learn, collaborate, and collectively support initiatives – while a range of donor institutions are also joining as Co-Investors around specific initiatives.

Once an initiative is well-positioned to scale its work to address underlying systemic limitations, the Co-Impact model delivers financial and nonfinancial supports to further empower local or country-based initiatives that are proven to work. This model allows initiatives to plan for growth, activate a coalition of actors, and unlock large-scale change.

Co-Impact’s systems change grants typically range from US $10 to $50 million over five years to deliver results for millions of people in a specific country or region. In limited cases, Co-Impact also provides smaller venture grants to promising, earlier-stage opportunities to support program partners in testing and refining their change model.

Each of the grants announced today was selected as part of a rigorous assessment from an initial pool of more than 250 initiatives. Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program, the graduation approach to economic opportunity, Project ECHO, and Teaching at the Right Level Africa were selected to receive Co-Impact’s systems change grants over five years, while citiesRISE is receiving a two-year venture grant.

 

Quotes from some of our partners

Funding Partners

“Co-Impact is establishing the world’s leading social investment platform for philanthropists who have a passion for translating big visions into enduring legacies of good. At its core is the belief that collaboration creates multiplication. By combining the passion, insights, experience, and relational networks of its members to catalyse and accelerate breakthrough social initiatives, Co-Impact will be a testament to the power of collaborative social investing.”

Richard F. Chandler
Founder and Chairman, Chandler Foundation
Co-Impact Core Partner

 

“This kind of philanthropic collaboration focused on multiplying impact by unleashing the power of the collective allows us all to take risks and aim higher than we would individually. Co-Impact offers a platform for philanthropists and social change leaders to advance more fair, just, and functional social systems – efforts that require sustained and committed support.”

Richard Fahey
Interim President, Skoll Foundation
Co-Impact Core Partner

 

“While we are making progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it takes a long time to do this work well – understanding the problem, sourcing innovative solutions, identifying partners, and incorporating feedback. That’s what makes the work of Co-Impact so important. Co-Impact connects philanthropists to high-quality opportunities to drive systemic change. This helps solutions get to scale faster, which means they’ll have a greater impact on more people’s lives. For philanthropists just entering the space, this is a huge head start.”

Bill and Melinda Gates
Co-Chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Co-Impact Core Partners

 

“The growth of old and new societal problems seems to outpace current solutions. Bold philanthropy and the setting of audacious goals are needed to underwrite social innovation, especially for emergent issues. We strongly align with Co-Impact’s endeavour to drive systemic change by unleashing the imagination of various actors in the ecosystem through collaborative approaches. We are proud to be part of this network. We hope to contribute towards enduring impact, and we wish Co-Impact’s grantees much success.”

Rohini & Nandan Nilekani
Co-Founders, EkStep Foundation
Co-Impact Core Partners

 

“We live at a time of great optimism thanks to decades-long progress to cut poverty, reduce hunger and save lives from disease and illness. Yet the significant human development challenges that remain require even greater investment. In fact, solving each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals requires $2.5 trillion. By working together as part of Co-Impact’s data-driven model, philanthropists and foundations can put their resources and experience behind a set of initiatives that are driving real, measurable change. Co-Impact’s first round of grantees are examples of locally-based organizations well-positioned to bring about lasting change for millions around the world.”

Dr. Rajiv Shah
President, The Rockefeller Foundation
Co-Impact Core Partner

 

“Today, more than ever, we are in need of platforms that provide new models for philanthropic investment. Co-Impact has established a different approach where the path to achieving significant impact is collaboration. This is key to realign shared goals, incentives, and visions such that millions of individuals experience meaningful and sustained improvements in their lives.”

Elizabeth Sheehan
Founder, Care2Communities
Co-Impact Community Member

 

“We cannot solve the world’s challenges by working in isolation. If we want to ensure we’re making the biggest difference possible, each one of us – whether donor, grantee, government, civil society, foundation or business – needs to be thinking about collaboration and learning from each other. It is a pleasure to join Co-Impact in its commitment to push collaborative philanthropy forward and support systems change initiatives.”

Ruben Vardanyan
Co-Founder, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
Co-Impact Community Member

 

“We are looking forward to partnering with Co-Impact on supporting the Partnership for Economic Inclusion. This collaboration is uniquely designed to pull together and maximize the combined strength of the key actors – including NGOs, researchers, governments, donors, and the World Bank – working together to end extreme poverty globally.”

German Development Cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ on behalf of German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ)
Co-Investor, graduation approach for economic opportunity

 

“As a global philanthropic organization working to advance the education development agenda, Dubai Cares sees the ultimate role of philanthropy as being to amplify and strengthen the ability of government to deliver services, but we recognize that we cannot do this alone. We believe that collaboration between partners is key to improving education for children worldwide. Co-Impact represents an exciting new way to collaborate to scale. Having funded some of the earliest work of Pratham for the TaRL methodology, we are thrilled to join forces with Co-Impact to help scale this approach throughout Africa.”

H.E. Tariq Al Gurg
CEO, Dubai Cares
Co-Investor, Teaching at the Right Level Africa

 

“Large-scale gains in children’s reading and math skills will happen only if government schools improve dramatically.  We applaud J-PAL and Pratham’s work to support governments in applying the best available evidence about what works. At the Hewlett Foundation we’re delighted to be working with other committed funders to support this.”

Ruth Levine
Director, Global Development & Population program, Hewlett Foundation
Co-Investor, Teaching at the Right Level Africa

 

“At LGT Venture Philanthropy, we believe that systemic change requires long-term investment and joint action. Together with Co-Impact, we’re supporting Last Mile Health to further strengthen their catalytic role in Liberia and beyond. Through LMH’s work with government and other social change leaders, LGT VP’s engagement aims to ensure access to basic quality healthcare for more than 1 million rural Liberians.”

LGT Venture Philanthropy
Co-Investor, Liberia’s National Community Health Assistant Program

 

“The Atlassian Foundation partners with others to support education initiatives with the potential to provide educational outcomes at scale, so we are very excited to join like-minded members of the Co-Impact Community who are working to do the same. We are focused on bringing out the best in our business through Pledge 1% and believe that collaboration is critical to growing the movement and driving change at scale.”

Mark Reading
Head of Foundation, Atlassian Corporation Plc
Co-Impact Community Member

 

“The Tata Trusts are working on making primary health care accessible and affordable through technology. We are happy to partner with Co-Impact in supporting Project ECHO in this shared cause.”

R. Venkataramanan
Managing Trustee of the Tata Trusts
Co-Investor, Project ECHO

 

Program Partners

“Collaboration is at the heart of Project ECHO. We’re thrilled to join with Co-Impact to help bring the ECHO model to scale in India, a high-population country with serious healthcare needs and a government that embraces innovation and impact. Ultimately, we hope that the progress and lessons learned from our expanding effort in India will propel further growth of the ECHO model around the world, so that more people can get the care they need, when they need it.”

Sanjeev Arora
Founder and Director, the ECHO Institute
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Jeevika’s scaled up implementation of the graduation approach and Co-Impact’s systems change investment bring together a rare blend of massive government outreach and private philanthropic capacity, not only in terms of funding but new generation of ideas and knowledge as well. We are excited for the next few years, which may unlock critical lessons for addressing extreme inter-generational poverty and demonstrate that government initiatives and private philanthropy together can be more than the sum of their parts.”

Mr. Balamurugan D.
CEO, JEEViKA
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Using Teaching at the Right Level, we have helped millions of children to read and to do basic math in India. Together with J-PAL, we are excited to have the opportunity to work in Africa with many partners. Foundational skills can transform a child’s life and unlock their potential to do so much more in education and in life. We are grateful for Co-Impact’s support for this partnership.”

Rukmini Banerji
CEO, Pratham
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Imagine a world in which people living in extreme poverty were no longer relegated to the sidelines, but became active ‘economic citizens’, engaged in shaping their own futures. Fundación Capital is working to make that a reality, and is teaming up with Co-Impact and its partners to help governments graduate a million people into improved and more sustainable livelihoods.”

Yves Moury
Founder, President and CEO, Fundación Capital
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Liberia is advancing universal health coverage through the historic National Community Health Assistant Program. In partnership with Co-Impact, we not only have the opportunity to further the Government of Liberia’s vision, but to prove what’s possible when you invest in a paid, professionalized community health workforce that goes the last mile.”

Raj Panjabi
Founder and CEO, Last Mile Health
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Good ideas can be magical – if they receive the support they need to blossom. Governments and other partners across Africa are developing Teaching at the Right Level approaches as a key way to help all children learn well. J-PAL and Pratham have helped to seed this idea across the continent, and catalytic support from Co-Impact is helping us build a bolder vision and grow a stronger base for supporting this movement.”

Laura Poswell
Executive Director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), Africa
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“Today’s challenges call for an integrated approach, something that was made clear in the Sustainable Development Goals. Only through deeper partnerships and intensive collaboration can we defeat HIV, TB and malaria, and deliver universal health coverage. We need to step up the fight to protect and build on the gains we have made together, or we will slip back.”

Peter Sands
Executive Director, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

“While undeniably one of the most complex challenges faced by every society in the world, with the support of Co-Impact, we have an incredible opportunity to transform global mental health by uniting in action across all sectors and generations.”

Moitreyee Sinha
CEO and Co-Founder, citiesRISE
Co-Impact Program Partner

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Co-Impact

Co-Impact is a global collaborative focused on systems change to improve the lives of millions by advancing education, improving people’s health, and providing economic opportunity.

Co-Impact brings together a group of results-oriented funders and program partners who are pooling resources, networks, and expertise to enable lasting change at scale. Today, few mechanisms exist to match pioneering social leaders with donors who can provide the right size and kind of investment to support their ambitions. Social change leaders with proven ideas expend enormous effort to raise disparate and insufficient funds. Philanthropists often struggle to identify game-changing opportunities.

Co-Impact aims to address these barriers to large-scale impact with its global model of collaborative philanthropy. Co-Impact connects donors and social change leaders to work together to drive systemic impact and enable millions of people to thrive.

Co-Impact brings together a global group of philanthropists and other funders to learn, collaborate, and collectively support initiatives, providing significant leverage for philanthropists’ resources, time, and effort, as well as an opportunity to build relationships with fellow donors. They can choose to join as Core Partners to help set the strategic direction and determine investments, become a member of the growing Co-Impact Community to contribute to and learn from each other and the initiatives, or join as Co-investors on issues that match their interests.

Co-Impact invests in systems change efforts in low and middle-income countries that are working to address underlying conditions that perpetuate social inequities. These grants are typically US $10 to $50 million over five years, accompanied by non-financial supports, and go to coalitions of actors with proven leaders and results that are poised to bring about a step change in transforming broken systems, on a scale that can improve the lives of millions of people and sustain those changes over time. Co-Impact’s program partners do not try to change everything; instead they seek to influence one aspect that is both critical to achieving shared outcomes and can exert a powerful leverage or fulcrum effect on other parts of the system. In limited cases, Co-Impact also provides smaller venture grants to promising, earlier-stage opportunities to support program partners to test and refine their change model.

Co-Impact’s approach builds on and supports the work and experience of civil society, government and philanthropic partners, and each one of its first grants has been developed in partnership with others. By collaborating, and creating a platform for others to join, Co-Impact and its partners seek to achieve far more together than possible alone.

Co-Impact’s current Core Partners include Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, Jeff Skoll, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

 

Media contacts

Portland Communications

Bridget Nurre Jennions (UK) +44 20 7554 1704
Dan Wilson (US) +1 917 421 3661
[email protected]

Co-Impact
Sara Husseini (UK) +44 20 8058 4287
[email protected]

Initial core partners include Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Skoll, Romesh and Kathy Wadhwani, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

Co-Impact will make large multi-year investments in health, education, and economic opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people around the world

NEW YORK, November 15, 2017—A group of the world’s leading philanthropists today announced the formation of Co-Impact (co-impact.org), a new global model for collaborative philanthropy and social change at scale.

Co-Impact will invest US $500 million in three critical areas – health, education, and economic opportunity – to improve the lives of underserved populations across the developing world.

Co-Impact Is Focused on Changing Underlying Systems to Deliver Sustainable Results

Co-Impact’s goal is to improve the lives of millions by advancing education, improving people’s health, and providing economic opportunity so that all families, no matter where they live, have a more hopeful future.

Co-Impact is founded on the belief that achieving these goals requires collaboration and partnership, long-term support for promising approaches, and a commitment from key actors to change underlying systems. Systems change succeeds by bringing together local communities, non-profits, governments, business, donors, and others to drive lasting change beyond what any individual actor could possibly do alone. Co-Impact’s role is to connect philanthropists with each other and with social change leaders to develop, support, and invest in proven solutions that are ready to scale even further.

Co-Impact’s Donor Community and Leadership

Co-Impact’s initial core partners are Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, Jeff Skoll, Dr. Romesh and Kathy Wadhwani, and The Rockefeller Foundation. The core partner group will define strategy and select the opportunities Co-Impact will support. In addition to its role as a core partner, The Rockefeller Foundation has incubated Co-Impact and will provide staff, significant operating funds, and ongoing strategic support. The EkStep Foundation, co-founded by Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, will serve as Co-Impact’s technical partner by supporting a number of Co-Impact programs with their open knowledge and societal platform assets as well as capacity building.

Co-Impact expects to add additional core partners as well as co-investors interested in specific initiatives or geographic areas. In addition, a Co-Impact Network will provide a broader group of philanthropists from around the world with an opportunity to contribute, exchange, and learn from Co-Impact’s model.

Olivia Leland, Managing Director at The Rockefeller Foundation and founding director of the Giving Pledge, is the founder of Co-Impact and will be Co-Impact’s CEO.

“We believe that collaboration is critical to solving some of the world’s most daunting social challenges,” said Leland. “Our goal is to build a community where philanthropists can work and learn together – along with successful social change leaders – to drive extraordinary results. Our hope is that over time more philanthropists will come together to pool resources and expertise to support great social change approaches and drive results at scale.”

Co-Impact’s Grant-making

Co-Impact will make its first system change grants in the first half of 2018. These grants will be informed by more than a year’s worth of due diligence and field research. Systems change grants will be up to US $50 million, flexibly structured, and will go to initiatives with proven leadership and results that are poised to scale even further. Co-Impact will also seek to unlock additional participation by governments and the private sector.

The Need for Co-Impact

The model for Co-Impact grew out of Leland’s experience with the Giving Pledge and subsequent research with donors and social change leaders. That research identified key gaps in the current philanthropic and social change landscape.

There are few effective mechanisms for donors to pool expertise and resources to fund large multi-year projects or for social change leaders to find the philanthropists interested and capable of providing that long-term capital and support. As a result, donors must invest significant time and resources to find, vet, and manage even one game-changing investment. This limits the number of large-scale projects being funded, and keeps many donors from being able to engage in these kinds of projects, despite their desire to do so. Similarly, social change leaders must devote extraordinary amounts of time and energy to piecing together disparate and ultimately insufficient funding, limiting their ability to scale their work.

The result is that with the exception of a handful of extraordinary global initiatives, most giving today is for US $10 million or less, short-term, and focused on growing individual organizations rather than creating change at the systems level.

Co-Impact is designed to fill these gaps.

 

What’s Different about Co-Impact’s Collaborative Model

Co-Impact will drive significant, lasting results by:

• Connecting established and emerging philanthropists from around the world, who share a vision of driving change at scale, with each other and with social change leaders in order to pool their knowledge, relationships, and resources;
• Supporting proven systems change opportunities with significant multi-year funding and technology, program management, and other support so they can scale even further; and
• Leveraging additional support by inviting other donors to join, co-invest, and learn alongside, and by actively engaging both the public and private sector.

QUOTES:

“Servant leadership means putting the people we serve at the center of everything we do, and that will be part of the culture of Co-Impact. The founding partners are committed to supporting the champions of human development – bold leaders who are working to unlock the creative potential of individuals, communities, and nations.”

Richard F. Chandler
Founder and Chairman, Clermont Group

“Co-Impact is an innovative new model for philanthropy that has the potential to make a big difference in the lives of the world’s poorest. We’re pleased to be part of it.”
Bill and Melinda Gates
Co-Chairs, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

“We live in a pivotal time where many people across the world are struggling to attain the very fundamentals of human well-being. Yet we know it is possible to help even the most vulnerable of families move themselves out of poverty, send their children to school, and protect those children from simple, but too often deadly, diseases. Achieving these goals will require a focus on fundamentally changing the way philanthropy, social change leaders, governments, business, and civil society work together—and that is the kind of collaboration and partnership that Co-Impact will enable.”
Dr. Rajiv Shah
President, The Rockefeller Foundation

“Time is not on our side on some of the world’s most pressing issues. Investing more in social entrepreneurs’ proven work allows them to accelerate their pace and reach, and enhances the possibility of achieving transformational social change sooner. It’s a pleasure to join this new philanthropic collaborative along with people I greatly admire, in support of the change-makers our world needs.”
Jeff Skoll

“An increasing number of philanthropists are expanding their global commitments, especially in critical areas such as health, education, and job creation. The Co-Impact platform will allow all of us collaboratively to leverage the capabilities that each of us has developed individually to enable system change for large scale social impact and best outcomes. Co-Impact will be a catalyst for collaborative global philanthropy in partnership with the most promising NGOs and governments.”
Dr. Romesh Wadhwani
Founder and Chairman, Wadhwani Foundation

“At EkStep Foundation, we are investing in creating open digital public goods. Our intent is for it to benefit an ecosystem of innovators who can create contextual solutions for the development sector through the Societal Platforms approach. We support Co-Impact’s visionary efforts of driving large-scale systemic development, and are glad to be their Technical Partner in this endeavour.”
Rohini & Nandan Nilekani
Co-Founders, EkStep Foundation