Built to Last 2025

Founded in 1998 by Hilde and Klaus Schwab, the Schwab Foundation empowers purpose-driven leaders to transform economic and social systems for the benefit of people and the planet, leveraging its leading global platforms to mainstream social innovation and accelerate the transition to a stakeholder economy. Over the past 27 years, the Foundation has built a dynamic community of impact leaders driving solutions to systemic issues across sectors — from social entrepreneurs and corporate social innovators to public social innovators and collective organizations. Together, they represent hundreds of organizations that deliver inclusive and sustainable innovations improving millions of lives worldwide. To support these innovators and scale the work of social entrepreneurship at large, the Foundation convenes a series of ecosystem platforms. The Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship connects partner organizations that together represent over 100,000 social enterprises. The  Corporate Leadership Council for Social Innovation brings together leading companies that integrate social innovation into their business strategies and supply chains. The Policy Leadership Council engages policymakers, multilateral institutions and national governments to shape environments that facilitate a social economy. Across these platforms, the Foundation enables its community of innovators to advance collective action and thought leadership on critical issues that require collaboration. These include AI for social innovation, innovative finance, social procurement and social economy policy. Through the State of Social Enterprise initiative — a global effort to harmonize data collection – the Foundation helps align research methodologies, making the field of social entrepreneurship more transparent and measurable. Each of the areas we work across builds bridges between sectors and demonstrates how social innovation is an essential capability of future-ready economies and a powerful policy tool for the challenges of our time. Together with its community and partners, the Schwab Foundation continues to champion a world where innovation serves society, impact is valued as much as profit and collaboration across sectors becomes the norm for achieving systemic change. 34 policymakers, multilateral institutions and national governments engaged by the Policy Leadership Council 51 leading companies convened by the Corporate Leadership Council for Social Innovation 130 partner organizations connected by the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship 510 active social entrepreneurs and innovators 950 Million lives positively impacted by this community Schwab Foundation 2026 Awardees and Impact Report 5