Research

Collaborations to Advance the Impact Economy

Impact Entrepreneur Research advances the ideas, evidence, and frameworks needed to build the impact economy.

Our research focuses on understanding how capital, enterprise, policy, and institutions interact — and where existing models fall short. Through original analysis, collaborative inquiry, and applied research with practitioners, we aim to surface insights that help decision-makers move beyond incremental change toward durable, systems-level solutions.

As an example, Impact Entrepreneur partnered with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors on a year-long project focused on the role of philanthropists and philanthropic institutions in building an impact economy. The project included an international leadership summit held at Impact Entrepreneur’s homebase in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, followed by two published reports, including a Call to Action to the Philanthropy Sector, which received wide distribution and was complimented by an Impact Entrepreneur-hosted webinar with a global audience that featured several of the key participants in the project. The Call to Action challenges philanthropic organizations "to use their capital in a way that more directly supports the development of an impact economy; and to align their investments and actions overall with the underlying values inherent in an impact economy.”