The Impact World this Week: 11 September 2026

Global: Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) to wind down 

The Aspen Institute has announced it will wind down the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) by November 2026 in the face of development funding cuts. Founded in 2009 to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems across the global south, today the network numbers more than 300 member organisations, which in turn help hundreds of thousands of small and growing businesses through research, convenings and innovative investments. In a statement, Danielle Baussan, interim executive vice president for policy programmes at the Aspen Institute, said: “Perhaps ANDE’s greatest accomplishment is that the ecosystem it set out to strengthen has matured… The field is fundamentally more resilient than it was 17 years ago.” The decision to close the network was made “within this context – and acknowledging the unprecedented contractions in global development funding over the past year”, the statement continued. 

Global: Good Start Challenge winners revealed

Solar-powered hubs for displaced mothers in Ethiopia and a virtual wellbeing network for new mothers in Brazil are among the six winners of the €2.6m Good Start Challenge, which rewards innovative solutions to improve parental wellbeing in underserved communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. Each of the winners will receive €200,000 and will be connected to partners to help them scale their solutions. Other winners include Strongminds, which provides group therapy for refugees in northern Uganda, including for parents of young children, and MindUp Tawfekh Keur Jaboot, a community hub in Senegal where children can learn and play while their parents access health checks, nutrition advice and support. The Good Start Challenge is designed by social enterprise Challenge Works and backed by the Van Leer Foundation, FEMSA, Fundaçāo Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal and LEGO Foundation.

• Read more: Shooting for the moon: How challenge prizes can diversify innovation for more social impact

Asia Pacific: Rising share of family offices dedicate majority of their portfolio to impact and ESG – new survey

More than a quarter (27%) of family offices in Asia Pacific dedicate more than half of their portfolio to impact and ESG strategies, according to a new survey published by Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFI), a platform for private investors keen to mobilise their capital for positive impact in the region. The share is up ten percentage points on last year’s figures, showing a growing commitment to sustainable finance. Meanwhile, more than half of the 121 respondents report allocating more than 10% of their portfolio to sustainable investments. Katy Yung, CEO of SFI, says the numbers reveal a “polarisation” around how family offices invest in sustainable finance: they either go “all in”, or just “test the waters” around the strategy.

Finding a suitable pipeline of deals appears to be a main challenge for respondents this year, similarly to 2025, suggesting the bottleneck in the market resides in the supply of suitable investment opportunities rather than the willingness of investors to make sustainable investments, according to the researchers. Yung said “impact investing has clearly earned its place in a serious portfolio” but the community was now working on how to find the right deals.

• Read more: Asia's impact network tells its own billionaires to step up

UK: UK Social Enterprise Awards reveal 2026 shortlist

The UK Social Enterprise Awards, organised by Social Enterprise UK and Co-operatives UK, have revealed the finalists of the 2026 edition. The awards feature 15 categories, including UK Social Enterprise of the Year, Social Enterprise Women’s Champion and Co-op of the Year. Shortlisted organisations include many social businesses Pioneers Post readers are familiar with, including Belu Water, NEMI Teas, Migrateful and Hey Girls. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 12 November in Manchester. 

Movers and Shakers

• Joan Larrea, CEO of Convergence, the global network for blended finance practitioners, is to step down next year after a decade in the role. She will continue to serve as CEO as the board launches its search for her successor.
• Hélène Malandain has stepped down as chair of the Social Enterprise World Forum after nine years on the SEWF board.
• Amanda Johnston has become interim CEO at Social Enterprise Northern Ireland for the next 12 months, following the retirement of Colin Jess after 10 years at the head of the organisation. Johnston wrote on LinkedIn she was hoping to take on the role “permanently in the future”.
• Adrian Ackeret and Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh are to become co-CEOs of the elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization, a philanthropic impact investor based in Zurich, Switzerland, at the start of 2027. The organisation has announced founder and chairman Peter Wuffli and founding partner and CEO Andreas Kirchschläger, will hand over operational leadership, two decades after founding the organisation.