Dear Unlock Aid community,
Across the world, and against great odds, people are consciously building the conditions the next generation will inherit: healthier childhoods, stronger communities, meaningful work, economic security, and a real chance to shape a more just and shared future.
Today, we are excited to invite organizations doing that essential work to apply to Unlock Aid’s third and final Solutions Index: the Future Generations Solutions Index.
The Future Generations Solutions Index will highlight solutions that expand what is possible for the next generation by strengthening the foundations for lifelong wellbeing, building productive industries and pathways to meaningful work, and growing the economic opportunities that allow households to thrive.
Organizations working across these domains should apply for consideration by Wednesday, July 8.
Eligibility is open to organizations working in low- and middle-income countries. Potential inclusion is not restricted to organizations already affiliated with Unlock Aid.
Over the past year, Unlock Aid has published Solutions Indexes focused on health and on food security and nutrition: two essential foundations for human flourishing.
The Future Generations Index, our third and final edition, asks a broader question:
What would it take to build the kinds of futures we would want for the next generation, everywhere?
Children and young people need more than a single intervention to reach their full potential. They need the chance to grow up healthy and safe. They need families with economic security, schools and communities that support learning and wellbeing, pathways to meaningful work, and a future in which they can participate, contribute, and thrive.
We are looking for organizations that are expanding what is possible for the next generation: not only by addressing immediate needs, but by building the foundations for lifelong wellbeing, meaningful work, productive industries, and shared prosperity.
We are in the midst of a once-in-a-generation shift in how global development is understood and delivered.
At a moment when the future of global development is being reimagined, we are focusing on the long-term development side of the work: investing in the enterprises, systems, and institutions that help partners around the world build broad-based prosperity, safety, and opportunity for their citizens.
This is not simply a question of providing high-quality social services. It is also about building productive industries, locally-rooted enterprises, infrastructure, institutions, and economic opportunities needed to build strong futures. We want to highlight solutions that create markets, jobs, capabilities, and systems that allow people and countries to participate more fully in the economies of the future.
As governments, donors, investors, and philanthropic leaders look for new ways to support long-term prosperity, they need to know which pacesetters are building locally-grounded solutions that can create real pathways to opportunity.
The Future Generations Solutions Index is designed to close that visibility gap.
Inclusion in the Index does not guarantee funding from Unlock Aid, any donor institution, or any government partner. The purpose of this Index is to identify organizations that can show evidence of impact, financial sustainability, local buy-in, and capacity to scale.
We will publish the names and mission statements of selected organizations, creating a curated list of leading innovators building the future for children, young people, and families. We will share the Index with policymakers, funders, and partners actively seeking scalable solutions, and when partners ask us for help identifying the next generation of organizations to meet, we will turn first to organizations included in the Index.
We are seeking organizations working across five core categories:
1. Building the industries, jobs, and employment rails of the future
Solutions building the sectors, enterprises, and markets that can create good jobs and enable future generations to shape and benefit from the next waves of economic growth.
Examples include first movers that enter or create new markets, as well as platforms that build local industry infrastructure, connect producers and talent to buyers, and help other models scale across sectors such as food systems, healthcare, clean energy, manufacturing, digital services, and emerging technology.
2. Economic opportunity, financial inclusion, and livelihoods
Solutions helping individuals, households, entrepreneurs, and businesses earn, save, invest, manage risk, access capital, and build greater economic security over time.
Examples include digital payments, savings and credit, youth-friendly financial services, insurance, asset financing, working capital, remittances, income-generating tools, financial resilience models, and financing and market-access platforms that enable small and growing businesses to start, operate, expand, and create jobs.
3. Education and pathways to opportunity
Solutions helping children and young people build the knowledge, confidence, relationships, and practical pathways they need to participate fully in work, civic life, and the future of their communities.
Examples include literacy, numeracy, tutoring, school improvement, teacher support, learning recovery, education technology, career guidance, school-to-work transitions, and support for learners facing the greatest barriers.
4. Mothers, babies, caregivers, and systems of care
Solutions that strengthen healthy beginnings, caregiving environments, and the systems families rely on during the earliest and most formative years of life.
Examples include maternal and child health, child nutrition, childcare models, caregiver support, parenting support, developmental screening, early childhood services, and integrated models that support mothers, babies, families, and care workers.
5. Infrastructure for thriving and resilient communities
Solutions building the conditions communities need to live healthy, safe, connected, and economically resilient lives.
Examples include clean water, sanitation, safe housing, reliable and efficient energy, digital connectivity, transportation access, climate-shock readiness, community safety, and other enabling infrastructure that supports household wellbeing and long-term opportunity.
Organizations will be evaluated based on:
Demonstrated impact and measurable outcomes
Organizational maturity and absorptive capacity
Financial sustainability and revenue diversification
Local endorsement and country alignment
A clear pathway to scale impact cost-effectively
We welcome applications from organizations with a range of models, including social enterprises, nonprofit organizations, platforms, and hybrid approaches. We recognize that the pathway to financial sustainability differs across sectors and operating contexts, and these factors will be considered as part of a holistic review.
To bring independence and expertise to the review process, an expert Review Committee will review applying organizations:
Efosa Ojomo, Director of Global Prosperity at the Clayton Christensen Institute and co-author of The Prosperity Paradox
Shiro Wachira, Head of Portfolio & Investor Relations at Equator
Ineza Mutimura, Co-Founder & CEO of Funders of African Descent
Daniel Yu, Founding Partner of Africa Jobs Fund
Shalane Yuen, Founding Managing Director at Trevor Noah Foundation
All individuals are advising as volunteers in their personal capacities.
If you are building a proven, scalable solution that expands opportunity for children, youth, and families, please complete our intake form by Wednesday, July 8, 2026, at 23:59 Pacific Time.
We expect to publish the first edition of the Future Generations Solutions Index on Monday, July 27.
We strongly encourage organizations with demonstrated traction, measurable outcomes, and clear scaling pathways to apply.
If you have questions about the process, please reach out to us at hello [at] unlockaid.org.
The Future Generations Solutions Index exists to help reframe what we look for in the future of global development: highlighting the builders creating both the human foundations and the economic engines that allow children, young people, families, and countries to thrive.
Please share this call with organizations, founders, and networks building toward that future.
To Progress,
Unlock Aid
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.