‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’ was the theme for the 2025 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which concluded last week. Attendees from the impact ecosystem had much to add to this theme, as their pathways of collaboration are many and constantly evolving.
Impact Europe’s members and partners showed up to Davos with a unique capability to show collaboration in action. The Annual Meeting offered an opportunity to engage a broader audience for the ideas that drive collective impact action.
But that opportunity contained a challenge, as the geopolitical context at WEF raised questions for impact. Many global leaders in attendance were focused on “responding to geopolitical shocks, stimulating growth to improve living standards, and stewarding a just and inclusive energy transition,” per WEF’s website. These three topics have significant overlap with the work of social environmental impact, and yet they’re seen a lot differently by an investor for impact than, say, a far-right politician.
Indeed, there was plenty of anxious talk among European attendees about Trump and tariffs, competitiveness, innovation and the future of the green transition. “We have entered a new era of harsh geostrategic competition,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her speech at the event, before hinting at forthcoming plans to boost European competitiveness. What is the plan for impact in this era? How can impact capital providers – including corporates, foundations, investors for impact and more – continue to accelerate change in this ‘harsh’ context?
Answers depend on who you ask. But for our community, many answers would seem to hinge on collaboration. This roundup of perspectives, from Impact Europe members at WEF this year, offers a look at how they’re collaborating, and why showing this on the world stage matters.
Corporate collaborators
For corporate impact actors, an investment is often an opportunity to bring in new collaborators from across the continuum of capital. Several of the corporate impact actors we heard from at WEF showed this effect; partners from corporate, philanthropy, NGO, impact investing and foundation sectors came together around themes like health, youth, employment, the green transition and many more. Many of these engagements also showed how public-private partnerships become central to the business value chain.
SAP hosted discussions from the corporate social responsibility perspective, where topics included: how social entrepreneurs and private sector leaders can scale job creation across Africa; building resilient supply chains with more impact businesses in sustainable procurement; and bringing youth to the table.
On the subject of youth, SAP is a member of the Youth Alliance, the community of practice for youth empowerment established in 2022 at the initiative of Impact Europe and Schneider Electric Foundation. The Alliance recently published a whitepaper, Better Together for Youth, wherein the collaborative approach necessary to empower young entrepreneurs is presented in detail. It’s a collaboration that proves that one can bridge not just sectors but generations.
On the subject of social procurement, it’s encouraging to see that the topic is reaching a wide audience at WEF; last year, Srikrishna Sridhar Murthy (Co-Founder & CEO, Sattva Consulting) and Alexandra van der Ploeg (Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, SAP) spoke with us about it at Business of Impact and on the Impact People podcast. Still more voices joined the social procurement conversation at WEF, as Schwab Foundation released State of Social Procurement 2025 (novel finding: 19% of supply chain disruptions were driven by social issues such as strikes, protests, or disputes).
Data collaborators
Valuable public-private partnerships can also form around data. As we heard from Vanina Laurent-Ledru (Director General, Foundation S- the Sanofi Collective), a session in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and Reaching the Last Mile Fund unveiled “first-of-its-kind data on international financing for climate and health solutions.” This initiative brings together public and private actors to pool their insights, taking a big step closer to “a critical baseline understanding to strengthen financing” in these themes. The idea that shared data can help the market better target gaps and accelerate more capital for impact represents an established aim among Impact Europe’s members and partners, exemplified by the data collaboration on the latest market sizing report.
With the right collaborators coming together, data can also flow toward specific interventions for people and planet. Such was the case when Fourfold Foundation empaneled partners to discuss “investments in nature and regenerative landscapes, and explore how data can empower and accelerate these efforts.” To unlock better data for driving change, a diverse set of collaborators – including corporates, foundations, tech leaders and more – had to first come together and collaborate.
We asked Fourfold’s CEO, Valerie Remoquillo-Jenni, her key takeaway for impact capital providers. “There is immense potential for technology, including AI, to bring about rapid breakthrough in regenerative and agri-food solutions,” Valerie wrote. “Today we are able to capture and analyse environmental data at a scale and pace that wasn’t possible even just a decade ago! But these can only work successfully with global standards for better interoperability and integration. With common guidelines, we make data and tools more accessible and relevant at both grassroots and global levels. As impact capital providers of all stripes, we should think about how the projects we invest in contribute to overcoming these hurdles.”
From commitments to 'how'
From corporates to foundations, those at Davos get the floor to make big commitments – but also show how it’s done. For example, Schneider Electric joined the Rise Ahead Pledge, which includes a concrete acceleration goal; according to Impact Investor, “signatory companies, which now number 25, invested over $270m in social innovation in the first reporting year of the initiative, and have committed to increase that by an average 25% in the next year.”
Foundations at WEF get the opportunity to show innovations in how they give. Such was the case at the unDavos Summit, where elea contributed to the discussion on new trends in systemic philanthropy, crypto philanthropy and “unlocking the catalytic potential of capital along the impact investing continuum.”
We also heard from two foundations that teamed up to empower women entrepreneurs: Bayer Foundation and We Share Forward. As Eleni Theodorou Admiraal (Managing Director, We Share Forward) wrote in a LinkedIn post: “The first cohort, the first selected investees, of the exceptional pipeline of women social entrepreneurs tackling critical challenges in health, food security, climate resilience, and economic empowerment was showcased. Their stories and vision left us inspired and determined to create a sustainable, pay-it-forward funding model that drives lasting change.” This represented an opportunity for the partners not only to showcase entrepreneurs, but also to give the funding model visibility.
From social to environmental
Impact Europe’s Board Chair, Leslie Johnston, posted on LinkedIn an ambitious agenda of the events where she, Laudes Foundation and their partners were involved, many of which sat at the intersection of environmental and social goals. The just transition took the spotlight in two events: one about making the transition investable and another on how the built environment can accelerate it. Related to the built environment, Built by Nature, a partner of Laudes, became the recipients of a GAEA Award, which Leslie accepted on their behalf. Inaugurated this year by WEF, the GAEA Award recognises “the innovative collaborations leading the way on systems change, beyond traditional celebrations of individual efforts.”
Wrapping up, collaborating further
Tech and AI, youth, health, employment, equity – the Impact Europe community took speaking roles on all these topics. Themes and collaborators often overlapped: brain health, for example, which covers every aspect of the wellness of our minds, from cognitive health tech solutions to mental wellbeing in the workplace (with a new report released on the latter aspect). Some attendees leveraged film for change, others showed accountability.
The themes and actions that brought our community together at Davos were many. One common thread we tracked was moving from speech to action. “Davos is not just about high-level discussions,” wrote Eric Berseth (CEO, Philanthropy Advisors) “it’s about turning dialogue into impact and ensuring we deliver for the people and communities we aim to serve.”
Another resonant theme: inspiration. One example, as Saskia Bruysten (Co-Founder, Board Member, Yunus Social Business) shared in a personal highlight, was the speech by Dr. Mohammed Yunus. One year ago, Dr. Yunus been sentenced to prison in Bangladesh; now, in an “incredible plot twist” Yunus is interim Prime Minister of the country It was a triumphant moment for those who have long believed in the principles that won Dr. Yunus the Nobel Peace Prize – and the vision of Yunus Social Business, to “harness the power of business to end poverty and the climate crisis.”
With an audience that included the world’s richest, most powerful people, Davos was an opportunity to present a set of.solutions for people and planet. The Impact Europe community showed that the methods, people and strategies attached to the deployment of impact capital are exactly that -- and ready to scale. In addition to solutions, impact ecosystem players are uniquely equipped to show off collaboration in action. For a final thought, consider Leslie’s reflection on the purpose of the meetings at Davos: “They gather those with power. They join them with those with purpose. And they can and do lead to new forms of collaboration.”
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Impact Europe is always seeking new and deeper ways to spotlight the change of its members; if you’re seeking to give greater visibility to your work, please reach out to Ben DeVries at bdevries(at)impacteurope.net