LSE’s Marshall Institute to launch £50m social impact accelerator
Melanie May | 3 November 2021 | News
A new social impact accelerator is to launch with the aim of developing innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges, kickstarted by a £50 million donation to the London School of Economics’ Marshall Institute from investor and philanthropist Sir Paul Marshall.
Announced today (3 November) and launching in Spring 2022, the Marshall Impact Accelerator will provide a new platform for scaling promising social ventures to help tackle global challenges in areas such as health, the environment, social inequality, public policy and developmental economics.
Bringing together LSE’s research expertise and the Marshall Institute’s existing government and policy networks, the accelerator will provide grant making services and resources for the social sector that have previously only been available to commercial firms and for-profit investors.
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Sir Paul Marshall said:
“We live in a constantly evolving world, and if we want to overcome the challenges we face, we need to embrace brand new ways of thinking, now more than ever. This donation to create the Marshall Impact Accelerator will support visionaries from every continent, as they create ground-breaking new innovations and change the world. I can’t wait to see what they come up with.”
Stephan Chambers, Director of the Marshall Institute said:
“As the world begins to turn away from a focus on ‘making things people want’ towards ‘making things people need’, the scaling up of social impact projects through the Marshall Impact Accelerator will accelerate this trend. Our aim is to create ‘impact unicorns’ — organisations improving billions of lives.”
The Marshall Institute was established in 2015 with a £30m gift from Sir Marshall to improve the impact and effectiveness of private action for public benefit. He is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Marshall Wace LLP, a founding trustee of ARK, the children’s charity, and Chairman of ARK Schools. He is also a trustee of the Education Policy Institute, and was formerly a lead non-executive board member at the Department for Education.
WATCH: Sir Paul Marshall and Stephan Chambers discuss the Marshall Impact Accelerator
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.