Alan Hudson

Ecosystem funding and systemic investing

Theme

Ecosystem funding and systemic investing

Funding and investing in ways that nurture whole systems, their relationships, learning and emergence, rather than single projects.

Start here

Rio reflections: Systemic investing in contextWhat systemic investing misses about government, power and policy, and how to fill the gap. (May 2026)Ecosystems, emergence and social changeWhat it might mean for a funder to act as an ecosystem funder. (Aug 2024)

Measuring impact to inform systemic investing: a three-part series (2025)

Building on Jess Daggers' work with the TransCap Initiative. ★ marks pieces in Selected writing.

  1. Making sense of emergence: Measuring impact to inform systemic investing. A summary of Jess Daggers’ explorations of measuring impact for systemic investing, with a short video.
  2. Measuring “impact” to inform systemic investing: Reflections, resonances and questions. Where Jess Daggers’ thinking resonates with my own practice, and the questions it leaves.
  3. ★ Full-stack systemic: Measuring, learning, investing. A learning-centred vision for systemic investing, with returns on investment seen as ripples of change.

Also touching on this theme

Updates, and pieces mainly on other themes.

Topics in this theme

Philanthropy and fundersSystemic investingImpact measurementMonitoring, evaluation and learningComplexityCollaborative political intelligenceRegulatory landscapingEmergenceLearning systemsPowerPolitical economy

See also: all topics

Exploring this theme in your own work? I’d love to hear what you’re discovering. Let’s connect.