Calling All Builders: Where Do We Go From Here?
While Washington debates, entrepreneurs innovate. Join our 5-week sprint to understand what social entrepreneurs need right now.
Dear Unlock Aid community,
We are launching a new effort this summer and we need your help.
While Washington debates the future of U.S. international assistance, builders around the world aren't waiting for permission. They're pivoting. Adapting. Creating new pathways we couldn't have imagined just months ago.
The new playbook is being written in real-time by entrepreneurs who refuse to let critical work stop.
Over the next five weeks, we are kicking off our State of Builders Report, a community-driven research project to understand:
Who is still building, and what gives them momentum in this moment of uncertainty?
Where do today’s frontline builders most need support to scale their impact?
How can global development funders adapt to meet new needs?
We also want to gauge to what degree social entrepreneurs and their partners still want to work with traditional international development funders – and who is pivoting to working in entirely new ways. That includes working via private commercial markets and directly with host country governments.
If there’s one constant in entrepreneurship it’s this: builders build. They adapt.
Our goal is to understand how a collective like ours, consisting of more than 150+ of the world’s top social entrepreneurs, can be of most value. We want to listen to builders, map what they need now, and help shape actionable pathways to support them.
Click here to participate in our research.
Why this matters: Over the past year, the funding landscape for social entrepreneurs has shifted dramatically. Many funders, most notably the U.S. government but also many philanthropies and other bilateral donors, have pulled back. Check out this article, which we co-authored with others in Stanford Social Innovation Review, to learn more about this retrenchment. To understand how we can best support our community of entrepreneurs, we need a clearer picture of where the energy is, where resilience lives, and where new alliances and resources are most needed.
How to get involved: If your organization is actively pivoting and if your mission aligns with the principles outlined in our Aid Reimagined Standards, we want to hear from you.
Click here to participate in our research.
We’re particularly interested to understand:
How has your organization been affected in the wake of major disruptions to U.S. funding flows?
Where do you see some of the biggest needs, gaps, and opportunities for broader sector-wide change?
Looking ahead, where do you see the most promising opportunities for organizations like yours to secure funding or partnerships to scale your impact? For example, to what extent are you pivoting to commercial markets or working directly via host country governments?
Where are opportunities that you see for coalitions like Unlock Aid and other collectives to play? For example, do you see opportunities where you still need help with changing policy, shifting narratives, matchmaking, shaping markets, or learning from peers?
We will be conducting interviews, roundtables, and surveys through June and July and publishing a final State of Builders Report later this summer.
Our insights will help social innovators, funders, and anyone else who is invested in supporting the next generation of social entrepreneurs to solve the world’s biggest challenges.
We trust the builders
At Unlock Aid, we have always believed that those closest to the work know best where the field needs to go next. The future won't be decided in Washington conference rooms. It's being decided right now by builders who see opportunity where others see obstacles. This is a moment to listen and to rally around those charting new paths. If you’re building the future, click here to speak with us to let us know what you need.
To Progress,
Unlock Aid
P.S. Know a builder or an allied organization that should contribute? Please forward this email and invite them to participate.