Driving Lasting Change Across the Globe

One Family Foundation empowers communities, social entrepreneurs, and governments to co-create lasting solutions that tackle poverty, inequality, and exclusion.

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A river starts at the head of a mountain and it knows it has to reach the sea. But it goes this way and that, turning until it reaches its destination. That’s what systems change is about. You go slowly and negotiate your way through.

– Jeroo Billimoria. Co-Founder, One Family Foundation

introducing the circle of change

How Can We Achieve Lasting Change Together?

To achieve lasting change, we must fundamentally transform the way we think and act. It’s no longer enough to ask, "What’s in it for me?" We must shift to a mindset that asks, "What’s in it for all of us, and for our planet?" This shift requires us to draw from the wisdom of ancient cultures, empowering the Global South with a platform to voice their needs and drive the changes they wish to see. Only through this collective, inclusive approach can we hope to address poverty, restore our planet, and ensure true financial inclusion.

At the heart of this transformation lies poverty alleviation and financial inclusion. By empowering local communities, social entrepreneurs, and governments to collaborate and drive solutions together, we can create systems that address the root causes of poverty and ensure that marginalized populations have access to the tools and resources needed to thrive. True financial inclusion means providing individuals, especially in underserved regions, with access to services and opportunities that foster economic empowerment and long-term prosperity. This is not just a development goal—it is a call to action for a more equitable global society.

One Family Foundation's approach is centered on collaborative systems change, where communities, social innovators and governments work together to create lasting impact. These three groups are not isolated; they are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. One Family Foundation's expertise lies in bringing these groups together to collaborate, and creating an ecosystem where these collaborations can flourish.

The Community - Empowering Local Voices

In traditional development models, communities are often seen as passive recipients of services, with little say in identifying their own needs or priorities. The Distributed Development Platform aims to flip this dynamic by using advanced AI technology to facilitate collaborative development. This platform gives communities the tools to actively participate in identifying and solving their own challenges, ensuring that development is driven by actual needs rather than external agendas. By reducing development costs and focusing on need-based solutions, the platform makes sustainable development more accessible and cost-effective.

Initial feedback from our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) launched in India has been overwhelmingly positive. Based on this success, we plan to expand and initiate dialogue in Africa in June 2025 together with our partners. This will be a key step in broadening the platform’s reach and impact across the Global South.

The Enablers - Strengthening Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators

The enablers of change are social entrepreneurs and innovators—individuals and organizations who serve as the bridge between communities and solutions. The One Family Foundation incubated Catalyst Now (formerly Catalyst 2030) to create a strong, unified movement of social entrepreneurs. Over time, Catalyst Now has grown into a powerful, independent network that continues to drive social change globally. In 2025, it will formally transition out of One Family Foundation to operate independently.

Recognizing that the Global South's voice was insufficiently represented within Catalyst, One Family Foundation launched Africa Forward. This initiative seeks to shift funding and decision-making power to African social innovators, empowering them to shape the solutions that directly impact their communities. Africa Forward also works to strengthen the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa, creating jobs and fostering local innovation. Over the next year, Africa Forward will transition into an independent entity, similar to the path that Catalyst Now has taken.

Inspired by Africa Forward, other regional movements have gained momentum, each strengthening the voice of local entrepreneurs and social innovators in the global development conversation. These include:

MENA Manhara

A regional initiative aimed at empowering social entrepreneurs across the Middle East and North Africa, providing them with the tools, resources, and networks to create meaningful change in their local communities.

Asia Rising

A movement focused on social entrepreneurship across Asia, fostering innovation and creating solutions that address the unique challenges faced by communities in this diverse and rapidly evolving region.

Latin America Avanza

A collective of social innovators in Latin America working together to create sustainable and scalable solutions to the region’s most pressing issues.Through these regional initiatives, the Foundation amplifies the voices of local entrepreneurs and contributes to a more inclusive, decentralized approach to global development.

The Government - Creating Supportive Policy Frameworks

A key learning from our experiences with Catalyst was the realisation that, to sustain and scale social innovation, government policies must be restructured to support the social sector. In response, One Family Foundation launched the Government Council for Social Innovation, a platform led by governments for governments. This Council aims to help governments learn from the experiences of social entrepreneurs, impact investors, academics, and businesses to design policies that nurture and support social innovation ecosystems.

The Council works to create a regulatory and policy environment that empowers social entrepreneurs to thrive, fostering a sustainable, inclusive development model. By closing the loop between grassroots innovation and policy change, this initiative ensures that the voices of the people shape the policies that govern them.

The first summit for the Government Council for Social Innovation will take place in Luxembourg in April and will be hosted by the government of Luxembourg.

Learn more about the Government Council for Social Innovation

Our Initiatives

Initiatives and Organisations incubated by One Family Foundation

From grassroots empowerment to policy innovation, we support change-makers through initiatives across Africa, Asia, the MENA region, Latin America, and Europe.

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