The Next Chapter for Unlock Aid

Why we're sunsetting in 2026 and what comes next

Dear Unlock Aid community,

We want to share something important: after nearly five years of work, Unlock Aid will begin winding down operations later this year.

This is a deliberate decision. The work is not finished, but the moment has changed. What is needed now is different, and so is our role in it.

Our five-year campaign

When we started Unlock Aid five years ago, we were clear about what we set out to do.

We spoke with more than 60 social entrepreneur leaders and heard the same thing again and again. High-impact organizations had built models deeply embedded in the communities they served, yet the traditional aid system routinely bypassed them. It operated in parallel to local systems, rewarded process over results, and concentrated funding among a small group of incumbents. For many of these organizations, scaling was nearly impossible.

Three barriers came up consistently:

1. Power was concentrated in a way that limited access to resources.

2. Incentives favored compliance over outcomes.

3. And the people closest to the problems were often the furthest from decision-making.

We entered this work to change who holds power, who gets heard, and which organizations get to shape solutions. We built Unlock Aid as a time-bound effort that operated with the ethos of a high-intensity political campaign designed to move those conditions.

At the time, many of our ideas sat outside the mainstream of global development. Or, they were seen as “nice to have” goals to be realized someday in the distant future. Today, we are seeing real movement across each of these areas, enough to fundamentally shift what is possible over time.

Why now

Unlock Aid was designed as a time-bound effort from the start.

Effective advocacy requires different roles. Some institutions hold a long-term North Star. Others bring focused energy to move the field forward. We were the latter.

The world also looks different than it did in 2021. The ideas we and others championed – a Beyond Aid future built on investment, local leadership, financial sustainability, and pay for results – have moved from the margins into the mainstream. In many ways, that future is already taking shape.

Countries are asserting greater agency. High-impact organizations are continuing their work without waiting for systems to catch up. New funding models are emerging that prioritize results, ownership, and long-term sustainability.

The language of “aid” itself is becoming outdated, and so are many of the structures built around it, including ours. Continuing in our current form would mean holding onto a model built for a system that no longer exists.

The rules are changing. The market is moving. Innovators are no longer on the outside looking in. We believe the Overton window has shifted in a way that opens up a different path forward.

Whether these shifts fully materialize in 2026 or over the next several years, a new trajectory is becoming clear.

What comes next

The disruptions of the past year have had real consequences. Systems people relied on broke down. Communities were forced to adapt in real time.

That reality makes clear what this moment demands from what comes next.

A credible pathway to sustainability without long-term dependence on U.S. funding should be part of every development investment moving forward. Systems should be designed to strengthen country ownership, support broad-based economic growth, and scale what works over time.

It also calls for directing resources more clearly to those closest to the work. The future we have been working toward depends on that shift happening in practice, not just in theory.

As we look to our final year, which we expect to be our most consequential, we are focused on three priorities:

1. Shaping the market
   We will continue working to ensure funders and policymakers prioritize investment in social entrepreneurship and innovation. This year we launched our inaugural Solutions Index, an expert-curated list of 35 organizations shaping the future of global health. We followed that with a food security edition, highlighting 25 innovators in school feeding, seed research, and agricultural development. In the coming weeks, we will launch an open call focused on livelihoods, education, and economic development.
   

2. Getting funds to high-impact organizations
   We believe 2026 is the pivotal year to move institutional capital. If funding does not flow this year at meaningful levels, and in ways that reach countries and frontline innovators, it is unlikely to shift in the near term. To support this, we have facilitated roundtables connecting Solutions Index organizations with donors and country leaders, and supported funding platforms designed to channel capital directly to frontline groups. These models prioritize results, local ownership, and long-term integration into national systems.
   

3. Passing the baton to what comes next
   We will work with our community of entrepreneurs and funders to identify organizations best positioned to translate this shift into durable change. In the United States, this includes supporting efforts that move policy conversations toward a new framework rooted in local leadership, self-reliance, and mutual benefit. Globally, it means investing in organizations that can connect governments with the innovators best positioned to strengthen service delivery and scale proven solutions.

Unlock Aid was never meant to be one voice or one permanent institution. The next phase of this work will be carried forward by governments, innovators, and organizations building systems that reflect this new reality. Our role now is to help make that transition possible.

Thank you

This work has always been bigger than Unlock Aid. It has been powered by a community of builders, policymakers, funders, and advocates committed to a better system.

To our community of more than 200 social entrepreneurs and our funding partners, thank you.

The old system is not coming back. What replaces it is already being built. The people closest to the work are ready to lead.

To Progress,
Unlock Aid