Gathering for Greater Impact
GEM Foundations is an invite-only gathering hosted by the Harvard Center for International Development that brings together foundation leaders, philanthropists, researchers, and development practitioners to explore how philanthropic giving can achieve greater social impact.
Held alongside CID’s Global Empowerment Meeting, GEM Foundations provides:
- a curated, global community for collective learning and candid exchange;
- a space to explore new approaches to increasing the impact of giving;
- and direct engagement with leading researchers and talented students across CID’s local and global networks.
Following GEM26: Reimagining International Development, CID convened GEM Foundations 2026 around one central question: how can philanthropy deliver outsized social returns and maximize social impact per dollar spent?
Participants explored philanthropy’s role as patient, flexible capital that can support experimentation, strengthen local institutions, and help promising solutions move from pilot to scale.
As global aid declines and development challenges grow more urgent, philanthropy faces a pivotal question: how can limited resources deliver greater social impact?
CID’s recap explores how philanthropic leaders, researchers, and practitioners discussed evidence-informed giving, local leadership, effective partnerships, and moving promising ideas from pilot to scale.
Read the full recap.
Key Themes from GEM Foundations 2026
Participants explored how philanthropy can respond to a changing development landscape by becoming more evidence-informed, locally grounded, collaborative, and intentional about scale.
Philanthropic decisions often rely on both evidence and relationships. Participants explored how funders can strengthen theories of change, make better use of research, and build trust with local partners while remaining attentive to context.
The discussion surfaced a recurring question: what does scale mean, and should every initiative aim for it? Participants considered the difference between scaling effective approaches through existing systems and directly operating large programs, while warning against pilots that are too costly or complex to sustain.
A clear opportunity emerged around stronger learning infrastructure for philanthropy, including practical case studies, evidence summaries, peer-learning forums, and matchmaking between funders, researchers, implementers, and technical talent.
GEM Foundations 2026 Program
10 AM – Welcome Remarks
10:30 AM – Opening Large-Group Conversation
Attendees will be asked to share thoughts related to the impact of philanthropic giving
11:00 AM – Session 1: Obstacles to Social Impact
This session focuses on collectively identifying 3–5 common challenges facing philanthropic organizations across the diverse sectors and geographies represented in the room.
12:30 PM – Networking Lunch
2:00 PM – Perspectives from Leadership
Amrita Ahuja provides a brief summary of the morning session, Isabella Luksic James discusses the critical role of social impact in philanthropy, and Asim I. Khwaja comments on the role of evidence in effective decision making
2:30 PM – Panel Discussion: From Intent to Impact
This panel examines how philanthropic leaders make real-world decisions about where and how to allocate their giving. Setting the model for the small-group discussions that follow, the panel tackles one central question in philanthropy.
3:30 PM – Session 2: Small-Group Discussions – Collaborative Solution Design
Following the panel discussion, participants will break into small, facilitated groups to tackle one of the key challenges identified in Session 1.
4:30 PM – Collective Insights and Path Forward
A short discussion to surface insights, common themes, and innovative ideas for impact from the small groups. Reflections on what these takeaways mean for the GEM Foundations community and outlining Harvard CID’s vision for continued collaboration following the convening.
5:30 PM – Drinks in Harvard Square