Catalyst Now

Friday is the final day of Catalyst Now Week 2026, focusing on Sovereignty, Culture, and Wellbeing across North America and the MENA region.

Throughout the day, social innovators, youth leaders, funders, and changemakers will come together to unpack cross-border youth leadership, systems change, and faith- and culture-driven approaches to impact. Sessions will explore practical applications, community-led solutions, and cross-border collaborations aimed at leveraging collective wisdom to tackle pressing global challenges.

Join the conversation and explore the full Friday programme.

Find the full Friday schedule and register for sessions: https://f.mtr.cool/28t # #

Thursday is Day 4 of Catalyst Now Week 2026, focusing on AI for Social Innovation across Europe and Latin America.

Throughout the day, social innovators, technologists, funders, and changemakers will come together to unpack how artificial intelligence can drive positive social change, streamline impact, and create new possibilities for communities across regions. Sessions will explore practical applications, ethical considerations, and cross-border collaborations aimed at leveraging technology to tackle pressing global challenges.

Join the conversation and explore the full Thursday programme.

Find the full Thursday schedule and register for sessions: https://f.mtr.cool/h7wp1gl8yh

Wednesday is Day 3 of Catalyst Now Week 2026, focusing on Technology and AI, the Future of Work, and Faith-Based Innovation.

Throughout the day, social innovators, technologists, funders, faith leaders, and changemakers will come together to explore how technology and AI are shaping the future of work, creating new opportunities for social innovation, and influencing how communities respond to emerging challenges.

Sessions will also explore the role of faith-based innovation, bringing diverse perspectives and experiences into the wider conversation around technology, work, and social change.

Join the conversation and explore the full Wednesday programme.

Find the full Wednesday schedule and register for sessions: https://f.mtr.cool/jibzgnre1p

Tuesday is Day 2 of Catalyst Now Week 2026, focusing on Education and Youth, with regional sessions highlighting perspectives from Asia-Pacific.

Throughout the day, social innovators, educators, funders, and youth leaders will come together to explore new ideas, share experiences, and examine how education and youth engagement can contribute to lasting social change.

The Asia-Pacific sessions will bring regional perspectives and experiences into the wider conversation, creating opportunities to learn from different contexts and approaches to social innovation.

Join the conversation and explore the full Tuesday programme.

Find the full Tuesday schedule and register for sessions here: https://f.mtr.cool/zg4ht8ir7d

Monday, October 12th is the first day of Catalyst Now Week 2026 and we're focusing on Funding, Finance and Shifting Funding Paradigms!

To create lasting, systemic impact, we have to rethink how social change is resourced. True transformation requires moving beyond short-term funding of isolated projects and shifting toward flexible, long-term capital that strengthens the broader ecosystems enabling sustainable solutions.

Throughout Day 1, global social innovators, funders, and ecosystem builders are coming together to explore impact investment, participatory grantmaking, and capital models designed for scale.

Join the conversation and help shape the future of learning.
Explore the full Monday schedule and register for sessions here: https://f.mtr.cool/k2g1mtwu55

Coopera.coop Enda inter-arabe Africa Voices Dialogue

We’re living through a polycrisis that no single actor can solve alone.

In their Alliance Magazine article, Hanin Ahmed, Josie Fernandez-Marelli, and Nick Allardice explore what it would take for philanthropy to rise to this moment, not by doing more of the same, but by stepping into a fundamentally different role.

One that goes beyond funding individual solutions and instead strengthens the ecosystems that make solutions possible.

The infrastructure exists. The evidence exists. The capital exists. What’s missing is the collective choice and imagination to use them differently.

And that responsibility doesn’t sit with billionaires alone, it sits with all of us in the sector: to keep building systems worth trusting, and to ensure capital flows through them in ways that enable real, lasting change.

The Ecosystems Funders Council (EFC) is one example of this approach in action. It brings together philanthropists, social innovators and ecosystem builders who are working to shift how change happens towards collaboration, trust, and long-term systems thinking.

Instead of just funding solutions, we need to strengthen the ecosystems that allows solutions to emerge, connect, and scale.

Join the EFC: [email protected] and read the full article in the comments.

Catalyst Now Week is around the corner and this year is all about the power of collaboration, showing what happens when we step across borders, sectors, and languages to build real, lasting impact together.

During the week, we'll come together with thousands of social innovators to explore, learn, connect, and collaborate around:

🔸 Monday 12 October: Funding, Finance and Shifting Funding Paradigms. We'll explore impact investment, blended finance, and practical frameworks to redistribute accountability and scale sustainable solutions.
🔸 Tuesday 13 October: Education and Youth. Sessions focused on youth civic leadership, innovative learning models, and health initiatives, with a regional focus on Asia-Pacific.
🔸 Wednesday 14 October: Climate and Environment. Sessions showcasing local-led solutions, climate resilience, agroecology, and circular economy practices driving environmental sustainability, with a regional focus on Africa.
🔸 Thursday 15 October: AI for Social Innovation. We'll dive into AI for social innovation, EU funding opportunities, local infrastructure, and regional collaboration, with a regional focus on Europe and Latin America.
🔸 Friday 16 October: Sovereignty, Culture and Wellbeing. We'll examine cross-border youth leadership, systems change, and faith- and culture-driven approaches to impact, with a regional focus on North America and the MENA region.

Register Now: https://catalystnow.net/upcoming-events/?_type=cnw

One idea, in the right hands, changes everything.

Catalyst Now Sustainable Fashion Collaboration is proud to nominate our members for the Global Change Award 2027- partnering with H&M Foundation to fuel the next wave of pioneers. Ten early-stage changemakers will secure funding and support to slash greenhouse gas emissions across the textile value chain while accelerating social impact.

As nominators, we’re here to connect big potential with big support: €200,000 grants, a systems focused Changemaker Programme, and a powerful global network.

Let’s find the ideas the world needs. Know someone building the future of fashion?

Submit the form by October 1st 2026: https://f.mtr.cool/hw0lllh2ir
Join our Sustainable Fashion Collaboration: https://f.mtr.cool/ocmccdiscl

Family philanthropy is evolving: financial giving is no longer enough, younger generations want to see strategic impact

Arianna De Leo, Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at UNICEF Italy, speaking to Elisa Battaglia Trovato of Professional Wealth Management, highlights that a clear shift is emerging: families are engaging with the impact sector in more intentional and strategic ways, across generations, geographies, and forms of capital.

At the centre of this shift are values, legacy, and long-term purpose. The clearer families are about the impact they want to leave, the more coherent and strategic their engagement becomes. But engagement is no longer only about financial giving. Families are contributing through expertise, advocacy, time, and networks, helping build more collaborative ecosystems for change.

Younger generations are accelerating this shift, bringing a stronger focus on purpose, impact measurement and alignment across philanthropy, investment and business while also reshaping how older generations engage. As a result, family philanthropy is moving from fragmented giving towards more aligned, system-wide engagement.

And this is something that the Ecosystems Founders Council (EFC) values and aims to leverage.The EFC aims to bring together philanthropists, families, and social innovators to work towards a more impactful, sustainable and durable funding ecosystem, one that will scale solutions with long lasting, global impact.

Join the EFC: [email protected] and listen to the full interview in the comments

What happens when social innovators turn isolated efforts into radical collaboration? That was the core focus of our sessions at AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026 in Singapore.

One insight stood out above all: business can—and must—be a life force for good. Across the globe, the solutions communities need already exist. What is missing is the connective tissue to help those working on systems change find one another, learn across perspectives, and design together.

Through our sessions on the power of global networks and redesigning business education, we explored how member-led initiatives—from local chapters in Singapore and India to regional collaboratives like RAFT-APAC and ASEAN Rising—are building this critical infrastructure.

A warm thank you to our speakers and leaders Karen Spencer, Sumathy Krishnan, Shama Karkal, and Chien Yuan David Chen for driving these crucial conversations.

Our heartfelt gratitude to our hosts NO.17 Foundation and Tsao Pao Chee (TPC) for creating such a generous space for collective action.

The solutions are here. Now we need the collective courage to act on them.