For years, philanthropy’s playbook has been remarkably consistent: Find a cause, deploy grants, scale promising programs and measure the outputs. In parallel, impact investors have done their part, backing ventures that promise social and environmental returns alongside financial ones. Governments have occasionally stepped in with aligned policy incentives or matching funds.
But the polycrisis we face today demands that the social sector do more than stay in its habitual lanes. Crises are interconnected, fast moving and deeply resistant to single-point interventions. What worked in the past is proving insufficient now.
It’s not just about more capital; it’s about different capital, deployed differently. And crucially, it’s about the other currencies that philanthropy commands: soft power, convening authority, cultural influence and the ability to set agendas.
From catalytic to systemic philanthropy
In the 2000s, the gold standard was “catalytic philanthropy.” The Gates Foundation epitomized this era, taking bold bets on HIV, malaria and vaccine access, using philanthropic capital to de-risk private finance and mobilize unprecedented resources for global health. The model was effective, saving millions of lives and serving as evidence that philanthropy could unlock large-scale change.
But catalytic philanthropy also came with its own limitations. By focusing heavily on technical solutions and capital leverage, it sometimes overlooked the political, cultural and relational scaffolding that lasting change requires. In some cases, it displaced local systems or created dependency.
We are now entering the era of intelligence and systemic philanthropy. This new mode applies a true systems lens: considering not just the flow of funding, but the relationships, incentives, regulations, narratives and market signals that determine whether a solution will survive and scale. It engages public and private leaders from day one, ensuring that interventions are embedded in the political and economic architecture that will sustain them. And it treats data, technology and adaptive learning as essential operating tools, making it possible to test ideas quickly, fail without stigma, and course-correct in real time.
This shift also reflects a generational turn. Many next-generation philanthropists aren’t interested in putting their names on a wall. They want to see measurable impact, data dashboards and evidence that their dollars are part of a coherent, risk-tolerant strategy. They are comfortable using technology, piloting innovations and working iteratively through trial and error. In short, they are willing to take more risk for greater systemic reward.
The system scaffolding mindset
One way to understand this evolution is through the lens of system scaffolding, the intentional design of the connective tissue that allows good ideas to grow into sector-wide solutions. A “system scaffolder” isn’t just a funder or operator; they are an architect of impact systems, mobilizing every tool in their portfolio, including grants, venture capital, media platforms and regulatory influence, to deliberately shape the conditions for transformation.
System scaffolding means building investable paths from NGO to IPO; translating breakthroughs into formats institutional capital can adopt; constructing interoperable infrastructure like open data platforms, talent pipelines and shared standards; and coordinating cultural influence, political capital and technical expertise around a shared north star.
GAEA — the World Economic Forum’s Giving to Amplify Earth Action initiative — was dreamed up as a platform to occupy this gap, making this kind of scaffolding visible and actionable. By convening philanthropists, policymakers and business leaders in a neutral, pre-competitive space, GAEA enables portfolios to “dock” with one another, align strategies and layer different forms of capital in ways that accelerate systemic change.
The soft power dimension
In systemic philanthropy, soft power is not a side benefit; it is a strategic lever. The ability to bring a head of state, a Fortune 100 CEO, a grassroots leader and a scientist into the same room, and have them commit to a shared agenda, can be as valuable as writing the first check.
Soft power also extends to cultural storytelling. Media platforms, celebrity advocates and iconic convenings can create the narrative tailwinds that give technical solutions political and market viability. System scaffolders understand that without cultural adoption, even the best solutions risk dying in the lab.
The age of orchestration
We are living in what could be called the age of orchestration, where the most effective philanthropists act as conductors, ensuring that every intervention, every asset and every relationship plays in harmony toward systemic outcomes.
This is the logic behind GAEA’s approach, based on insights from 700+ leaders globally: Convene the right actors, use philanthropy as both risk and trust capital, pair financial bets with policy and cultural shifts, measure the health of the whole system, and design for permanence from day one.
The world doesn’t just need more funders. It needs more orchestrators. People willing to blend capital strategy with cultural influence, hard data with human relationships, and risk tolerance with systemic patience. People willing to work in ways that they haven’t in the last 20 years, because those comfortable models will no longer do the trick. The next generation seems ready to take up that mantle, moving philanthropy from nameplates and galas into the realm of adaptive, intelligence-driven system change.
Case studies in orchestration
Lukas Walton’s Builders Vision exemplifies capital fluency and system scaffolding. His platform integrates philanthropy, direct investment via S2G Investments, and policy advocacy into a coordinated ecosystem. Grants seed early-stage innovations in food, ocean and climate solutions. Venture investments scale the most promising models. Policy works and storytelling shifts market norms. The kicker: Alignment with the Walton family’s stake in Walmart provides a built-in demand engine, turning regenerative pilots into mainstream supply chain commitments.
In Asia, Fred Tsao’s Octave Institute and Number 17 Foundation offer a masterclass in intergenerational capital as a tool for system transformation. Rooted in Taoist philosophy and the “whole person, whole system” approach, Tsao blends Eastern concepts of harmony and interdependence with Western frameworks for impact investing and regenerative design. His 100-year vision is not a metaphor — it is a strategic timeline designed to align economic, cultural and ecological renewal across generations.
Tsao’s portfolio is as diverse as it is intentional: a philanthropic foundation that seeds social innovations; a family office deploying flexible, patient capital; a venture arm accelerating regenerative technology; real estate projects designed as living labs for sustainable urbanism; a global shipping conglomerate integrating ESG into one of the world’s most carbon-intensive sectors; and a network of wellness ventures embedding human flourishing into the economic value chain. Each asset plays a role in a carefully layered capital strategy (grants de-risk emerging models, corporate procurement and balance sheets scale them, and venture or equity investment locks in market viability).
Beyond the balance sheet, Tsao wields significant soft power in Asia’s family office and policy circles. He convenes business leaders and policymakers around wellbeing economics and circular value creation. This cultural legitimacy, grounded in both spiritual tradition and modern market fluency, allows him to shift not only what gets funded, but what gets valued.
Tsao’s model functions as a system scaffolding engine: building the infrastructure, cultural norms and financial pathways needed to make regenerative industries investable, trusted and self-sustaining.
Both Walton and Tsao show that orchestration is as much about influence as it is about investment. Their ability to convene unusual allies, shift narratives and inspire peer capital is part of the architecture — not an afterthought.
In the future that Walton, Tsao and others are spearheading, NGO and IPO aren’t separate worlds. They are points along the same, carefully scaffolded path. A path designed not for incremental fixes, but for transformation that lasts.
Luis Alvarado is the outgoing Head of the GAEA (Giving to Amplify Earth Action) initiative, at the World Economic Forum. Before that he was part of setting up the Mission Possible Partnership, catalyzing global movements of corporates to accelerate decarbonization across the hard-to-abate sectors. Luis is a Millennium Leadership Fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington D.C., and his work has been recognized by the Obama Foundation Leaders program, the European Parliament and the Schwarzkopf Foundation in Berlin among others. He is Trustee at National Park City Foundation.
