Echoing Green
2026 Skoll World Forum
Oxford, UK
The Future of Social Innovation: Overcoming Near-Term Obstacles to Build Enduring Impact as a Field
Social innovation has grown into an enterprise-level field backed by research, funded by leading investors and philanthropists, and fueled by an ever-growing pipeline of talent. Now, though, that decades-long progress is threatened on multiple fronts.
At Skoll World Forum 2026, Echoing Green will host a series of conversations that explore pressing challenges like climate change and the shifting geopolitical landscape with an eye toward their long term impact on social innovation.
Pushing beyond immediate survival strategies and the crises of the moment, we want to understand how the field can evolve and adapt to provide the kind of nimble, proactive ecosystem social innovators need to thrive long-term. No one can do it alone, but we all have a role to play.
Schedule of Events
For more information on these events or connecting with Echoing Green at Skoll, please contact events@echoinggreen.org.
Tuesday, April 21
3:00 – 4:30 PM GMT | Before We Begin: An Intentional Start to Skoll Week
In partnership with Project Dandelion and Moonshot, this opening session is designed especially for first-time delegates (but open to all registered Forum delegates) to help leaders arrive with intention, connect to one another, and ground themselves for the week ahead.
You must be a registered Skoll delegate to attend this event: >>Register Here
Social Innovation Field Builders Collective
Annual meeting of the Echoing Green and Skoll Foundation-led collective of the leaders of the field of social innovation.
This is a private meeting by invitation only.
Wednesday, April 22
9:00 -10:15 AM GMT | When the Ground Shifts: How Leaders are Building Lasting Impact:
How do you build durable institutions in deeply volatile contexts? Social innovators are working in environments defined by political instability, economic shocks, climate disruptions, and rapid change. In partnership with the McNulty Foundation, this interactive session will follow a fishbowl format where you can engage with leaders who will provide insight into leading enterprises that navigate crisis after crisis while remaining accountable to the communities they serve.
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM GMT | How Social Innovators are Evolving for the Next Phase of the Field
With international foreign aid backsliding and philanthropy becoming increasingly risk averse, social innovators are forced to explore new models for sustainable impact. Echoing Green has spotted four increasingly common pathways that leaders are using to evolve their organizations. This field-level conversation calls on ecosystem partners to challenge the way we think about organizational growth and sustainability.
8:30 – 10:30 PM GMT | Echoing Green Skoll Reception
Echoing Green’s annual reception in honor of the Skoll World Forum 2026.
Thursday, April 23
8:00 – 10:00 AM GMT | Catalytic Capital Roundtable
If you believe that social innovation is a tool to address our global crises, and that catalytic capital is required to scale social innovation, please join us for a briefing on Echoing Green’s Signal Fund, a catalytic capital follow-on fund that prioritizes operational milestones and measurable social impact. You’ll hear testimonials from founder-investees and learn how you can support the world’s leading innovators.
This is a private meeting by invitation only.
