The Impact World this Week: 17 October 2025

Your quick guide to the most interesting news snippets about social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business around the world from the Pioneers Post team. This week: Skoll Foundation to relocate to Washington DC and 'reshape team'; business leaders campaign for sustainable economy ahead of COP30; US$500m ethical AI initiative launched.

Marla Blow Skoll Foundation CEO

Marla Blow, Skoll Foundation CEO, announced the organisation is relocating from Sillicon Valley to Washington DC

 

US: The Skoll Foundation is leaving Silicon Valley for Washington DC and “reshaping its team” following a strategic review. The foundation said the move to the country’s capital would be completed by summer 2026, and it was “undergoing an organisational realignment to ensure we are fit for purpose, including reshaping the team”, although it has not specified if that meant some staff would be made redundant. The new strategy will see the organisation focus on three specific areas – climate, through preventing deforestation; global public health, through community health workers; and economic opportunity, through smallholder agriculture and girls’ education. It will continue running the Skoll Awards and Skoll World Forum. Marla Blow, Skoll Foundation CEO, said: “These decisions reflect our responsibility to steward resources wisely and position the Foundation for greater impact and service in the future, in line with our long-term strategic focus and direction.”


Global: The gains from investing in low-carbon, climate resilient businesses stand in sharp contrast to the escalating costs of inaction, said the leaders of more than 130 companies this week. In an open letter to world leaders ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference 2025 (COP30), the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders said “COP30 presents a pivotal moment for business and government to reignite progress towards a more resilient and environmentally sustainable economy.” The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, co-chaired by Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group (the largest Ikea retailer), represents US$4tn in revenues and 12m employees. Between 2019 and 2023, its members reduced aggregate emissions by 12% while delivering revenue growth of 20%.


US: Ben Black has been confirmed as the CEO of the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the US’s development finance institution. Black (40), who has until now worked in the finance industry, is the son of the billionaire founder of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, Leon Black, a close ally and donor to US president Donald Trump. Black’s nomination for the DFC top job came as a surprise because of his lack of foreign policy experience and some in the impact investing sector are concerned that he could steer the agency’s investment in line with the priorities of the Trump administration rather than international development. Black said his priority would be for the DFC to mobilise capital towards projects that serve the US’s foreign policy objectives, in particular countering China’s “belt and road” investments in developing countries, with a focus on returns. In an essay earlier this year, he wrote: “The American people want us to use our resources to advance American interests and promote American primacy.” 


Figure of the Week: US$500m has been committed to a new ethical AI initiative by 10 US foundations. The Humanity AI initiative will distribute grants over a five year period, focused on establishing a people-driven future where AI delivers a positive impact for humanity, strengthens communities and enhances human creativity. Foundations behind Humanity AI include the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation. The initiative expects to begin making grants in 2026. Details on how to apply for Humanity AI grants can be found on the initiative’s website.


Global: The world’s first flat-packable manual washing machine, a ‘garbage cafe’ scheme where citizens receive free food for recycling and affordable prenatal micronutrient supplements for women in the Global South are among the innovations named in the social impact category of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025 list. The extensive list, spanning 300 inventions, also includes accessibility, green technology and sustainability categories. The list was compiled through nominations from Time’s editors and correspondents around the world, and through an online application process. Nominations were then evaluated on a number of key factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition and impact.


Global: Steps to overcome the false dichotomy between the public and private sectors is just one element of a new toolkit for policymakers published by GSG Impact on Wednesday. Towards Impact Economies: Aligning government action and private capital for public good outlines practical ways in which policymakers can help fill the trillion dollar financing gap to solve the social and environmental challenges societies face worldwide. The report says that through models that prioritise measurable social, environmental and economic outcomes – especially in left-behind communities – and by mobilising private capital and enterprise alongside public funds, governments can stretch limited budgets, reduce fiscal pressure, and deliver more value for citizens. 


Greece: Women living in a refugee camp in Samos Island, Greece, will receive period products thanks to social enterprise Hey Girls and humanitarian charity Refugease. The organisations have partnered to donate 650 pairs of period pants and 650 reusable period pads to women in the camp. The products were hand delivered by the Refugease team, with guidance and support and ensured the women feel confident using them. For many in the camp, this was the first time they’ve had access to reliable, sustainable period products.


UK: Financial Services hold unmatched influence over business sustainability through sustainable finance, but a gap remains between sector commitments and measurable impact. That’s one key finding from Trailblazers & Transformers: UK Business Sectors Redefining Sustainability, a report published by the UN Global Compact Network UK on Tuesday. The report benchmarks six high-impact UK business sectors against the SDGs: consumer staples, energy and utilities, consumer discretionary, industrials, financials, and technology and telecommunications. Its recommendations include that businesses must go beyond compliance, embedding the SDGs into their core purpose and operations while scaling circular, low-carbon, and inclusive practices.


UK: Social returns of £46 for every £1 invested have been delivered by social enterprise lender Fair for You in its first decade of operations. That’s according to an independent evaluation carried out by the Centre for Responsible Credit, which published its report on Wednesday. Fair for You was founded to help the millions of UK adults with no or very low savings to buy essential household items like fridges and washing machines, rather than go without or rely on high-cost lenders and loan sharks. The report’s conclusion said: “The evidence presented in this report demonstrates that Fair for You’s model…has delivered not only substantial financial savings but also profound improvements in wellbeing, health, and social inclusion for tens of thousands of families.”


Social Investment Scotland 25th anniversary

Social Investment Scotland celebrates its 25th anniversary.
 

Scotland: Social Investment Scotland distributed £52.5m in loans and investments to 216 social enterprises in the 2024-2025 financial year. The organisation’s latest impact report, published on Tuesday to mark its 25th anniversary, shows it supported over 6.1m people via its investees. Of its investees, 36% were based in areas within the 35% most deprived in Scotland and 31% operate in rural locations or on islands. A quarter of Social Investment Scotland’s investee companies were founded or co-founded by people of colour or minoritised ethnic heritage and 50% of investee companies were founded or co-founded by women.


Europe: The scope of organisations in Europe actively working to transform economic systems to meet the needs of people and planet has been mapped in a report published by Partners for a New Economy. The report, titled Fertile Ground: Exploring Europe’s New Economy Ecosystem and authored by systems change agency Metabolic, identified 735 organisations across 35 countries which fulfil Partners for a New Economy’s ‘new economy’ criteria. The data gathered will be the basis for a new online directory of new economy actors across Europe, which is currently in beta testing but is available to add organisations to.


Movers and Shakers

  • Jose Luis Ruiz de Munain, founder of SpainNAB, has been appointed as the first managing director of Suma Impact Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Suma Capital, launched to advance a just ecological transition.
  • Better Society Capital has appointed two new non-executive directors to its board, who will also be members of its investment committee. Michelle Ashworth is the founder of Silver How Venture Advisory and has a 25-year career in venture capital and institutional investment, notably as head of venture at the Church Commissioners for England. John Bromley was managing director of clean energy and climate at Legal & General until May 2025, following a position as chief investment officer at Triodos IM.
  • Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has announced five new trustees, who will gradually replace a number of existing trustees as their terms end over the course of next year. The new trustees are: Jabeer Butt, CEO of the Race Equality Foundation; Nassali Douglas, director of change and transformation at BBC Children in Need; Matthew Horne, joint CEO of Innovation Unit; Amir Rizwan, director of the London Social Venture Fund project at Queen Mary Innovation; and Jeremy Townsend, chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of NHS England.

 

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