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Why is supporting already existing organizations today just as strategic as creating new impact projects?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ Many organizations already have a solid foundation — teams, partners, know-how. What they often lack is alignment with the new frameworks of the impact economy. Transforming an established actor means accelerating the global transition: we don’t rebuild everything, we redirect flows, skills, and economic models towards solving the Sustainable Development Goals. It’s an approach of smart reinvention, not a brutal rupture.
How do you assess the impact potential of a company or NGO already in operation?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ We always start with an AGILE assessment, based on five categories of criteria: Alignment, Governance, Intention, Leadership, and Efficiency. This allows us to distinguish organizations that act on root causes from those that act only on symptoms. It’s a clear-eyed and constructive analysis, which highlights quick transformation levers and areas for progress.
What are the first steps to engage a traditional project in an impact approach?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ The first step is diagnosing the current economic model. Where is value created? For whom? At what environmental and social cost? Then, we reconfigure the value chain to create shared value: with suppliers, financial partners, and beneficiaries. It’s a strategic design effort, where we retain the core business but change the performance logic: winning because we solve, rather than despite externalities.
What resistance do you most often encounter from leaders or teams?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ Among companies, the fear of “slowing down.” Many still think sustainability equals constraint. We demonstrate the opposite: impact increases performance. A company that optimizes its resources, anticipates regulations, and strengthens its reputation is more competitive. In the Forum’s workshops, this fear quickly disappears, as leaders exchange with peers who have already undergone this transformation and are seeing tangible benefits.
Among NGOs, the challenge is to break away from a vertical model that only gets moving after receiving a grant or project call. This “grant-based” logic often hinders strategic autonomy. We work with NGOs and International Organizations, as well as UN Agencies to develop sustainable economic models where social or environmental impact — the organization’s primary objective — becomes a source of income: shared services, frugal innovation, low-tech, local replicability, partnerships with the private sector, or creation of ethical economic spin-offs 100% aligned with their mission. The goal is to restore their capacity for initiative and long-term planning — in short, to shift from a logic of dependency to a logic of influence and sustainability.
How do you help economic actors integrate impact into their financial model?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ We work on hybrid modeling: public-private partnerships, blended finance, patient capital, impact royalties… The goal is for the economic model to be profitable by solving a global problem. We also support the design of financial impact indicators — management tools that speak both to investors and executives. Impact becomes a driver of sustainable profit, not a cost center.
What types of tools or methodologies do you use to support this transition?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ The AGILE tool of course, but also the Impact Business Model Canvas, the Consolidated Logical Framework, materiality analyses, and co-creation processes inspired by design thinking, as well as modelable success stories. These tools are integrated into a customized transformation journey, where each organization moves at its own pace, from the initial diagnosis to financial modeling. The Forum is not a conference, it’s an accelerator of achievements.
How does the Geneva Forum facilitate connections between projects, investors, and public policies?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ Each Forum conference acts as a brokerage platform at the UN: projects meet with state representatives, institutional funds, philanthropists, and international companies. The Geneva Forum’s key thematic areas — rights of nature, impact finance, citizen diplomacy, regenerative tourism... — allow organizations to align their strategy with global frameworks throughout the week while finding operational partners. It’s International Geneva in ultra-collaborative mode, breaking down all silos.
How do you measure the progress of a project transitioning towards impact?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ We co-develop impact KPIs with executive teams: percentage of revenue from regenerative activities, number of beneficiaries, volume of avoided emissions, local economic impact, degree of alignment with the SDGs. These indicators are embedded in an AGILE roadmap and tracked over several years. It transforms governance: impact becomes a managerial performance criterion.
What are the most common mistakes organizations make when trying to move towards impact?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ The first is trying to add a “sustainability component” to an old model without revisiting its logic. Impact is not something you add: it redesigns the engine. The second is thinking you can do it all alone. Impact is systemic: it’s built in networks, with other actors, other sectors, sometimes even former competitors. One of the Forum’s strengths is precisely to create these unprecedented bridges.
What is the Geneva Forum’s added value in this support?
’’Thomas Egli:’’ We don’t sell a method: we set things in motion and implement directly. At the Forum, leaders leave with redesigned models, concrete roadmaps, trusted partners, and sometimes already funding opportunities. It’s an experience of collective intelligence that transforms organizations from the inside, giving them the means to reconcile performance, purpose, and influence.
Through its rigorous approach, proven tools, and anchoring at the UN, the Geneva Forum positions itself as a key player in the transition towards the impact economy.
For business leaders, NGO directors, and institutional investors, it offers a space where yesterday’s models become tomorrow’s levers — a place where organizations learn to generate profit by creating sustainable value.