(3 minute read)
Published: 30 January 2026
Written by: Kate Hitchcock, Senior Grants Manager
Here at John Ellerman Foundation, our overarching aim is to advance wellbeing for people, society and the natural world. However, we are living in an age of significant disruption and interconnected global threats which are directly impacting this aim. In our Strategy for 2025 to 2030, we identified some of the most pressing systemic issues resulting from this, and considered how we might support organisations to address them. In this series of blogs, we delve a bit deeper into these issues, and the steps we are taking as a Foundation to address them.
We believe that the economic models and systems that shape our world, and the wealth inequalities that emerge as a result, are a key factor in the challenges we face today. Within the UK and more widely, our prevalent economic system is designed to optimise for growth and the generation of profit. The idea that is commonly touted is that economic growth creates jobs and prosperity for all. However, many of the communities that our grant-holders work with would argue that this is not the case. The other issue with this type of growth is that it does not acknowledge the reality that we live within planetary boundaries. We have finite resources, and eventually, extraction leads to depletion and the destruction of ecosystems; ecosystems that we are a part of. By harming our environment and the natural world, we are harming ourselves, our society and our economy.
In response to this, John Ellerman Foundation is seeking to fund work that aims to reimagine and redesign our economic models and systems, and to present alternatives that put people and planet first. This means committing to more sustainable ways of living that move away from pursuing economic growth at all costs, address wealth inequalities, and recognise that our long-term prosperity is rooted in social equity, deep democracy and ecological sustainability.
Such ideas are often dismissed as wishful thinking. We are told that current models are embedded and complex, and that society would fall apart without them; we are told that it is naïve to think that we could or should change things. As a Foundation, we have been thinking more and more about the risk of doing nothing and continuing as we are.
Because these issues are systemic, we need change to be systemic too. By systemic, we mean taking into account the interconnected relationships, processes, structures and beliefs that shape our world. We focus on systems at a national level. Systems can operate across multiple domains, such as financial, political, or environmental systems.
We take this a step further, by considering that there are two types of systems that co-exist at any one time. There are existing systems, which can also be described as the status quo, business as usual, or dominant systems. Then there are new systems, which can also be described as disruption, or emergent systems, and which seek out and champion new approaches and solutions. Systems change must acknowledge both of these paradigms and chart a course through them. As such, over the course of our strategy for 2025 to 2030, we expect to fund new economy work that takes a range of different approaches. This might include:
- Pushing for change within existing systems- sometimes referred to as ‘inside track’ work. An example could be shareholder and investor action initiatives, that aim to work with financial institutions to change their investment approach.
- Supporting an orderly transition from existing to new systems. An example could be a membership body that supports businesses to adopt practices that are more environmentally friendly.
- Presenting a compelling vision for how things could be, and making others believe that change is possible. An example could be arts, research, or communications activities that model alternative economic systems and help people see how they could work in practice.
- Articulating what needs to change, and how this change can be achieved. An example could be mounting a legal challenge to an economic practice that is causing wealth inequality.
- Piloting and creating the evidence base for new approaches. An example could be developing a new finance product that will improve things for less advantaged communities, and sharing the learning from this more widely.
- Pushing for change to happen by exerting pressure externally. An example could be a campaign that seeks to raise public awareness and push politicians to make changes to legislation to promote fairer economic systems.
- Involving people and communities in creating change, offering perspectives that may not be considered in the current status quo, and ensuring that change is delivered equitably. An example could be joining up grassroots and community action groups to create a wider national movement to challenge economic inequities.
Overall, we recognise the need for a variety of approaches. Some people may be campaigning on very specific elements of the system, whereas some may be looking at the picture more widely. However, the golden thread that we expect to see through all of the work we fund is that the people and communities who are most impacted by issues under the current system are being involved in the solutions. In this area, this is likely to be people who are especially impacted by wealth inequalities. We also believe that as funders, we have our own role to play. As such, we are committed to transitioning away from mainstream finance models and orthodoxies that prioritise income generation, to sustainable finance models that support long term environmental and societal sustainability. You can read more about our approach in our Investment Policy and our Social investment Policy, which can both be accessed on our website by clicking here.
We recognise that we cannot work alone on this, and must partner and engage with others to realise our ambitions. We are lucky that there is already a solid community striving to create change in this area, and the UK is leading the charge. According to Metabolic and P4NE’s ‘Fertile Ground’ report, which can be accessed by clicking here, the UK has the largest concentration of new economy organisations in Europe. We want to help this sector grow and have even greater impact in the years to come.
For more detail about our strategy and our other funding areas, check out our blog ‘Sharing more on our funding priorities for 2025 to 2030’ by clicking here.