Imaginable Futures charts new path after split from Omidyar Network

In the three years since it split from the Omidyar Network, Imaginable Futures has been working to redefine itself as a global education funder. While it has retained its focus on supporting the development of education technology, the organization is working more closely with researchers from the global south and local communities to create more social justice and equity in education systems. Imaginable Futures’ strategy has transformed since it left as part of the network’s broader restructuring strategy. Whereas before the California-based firm focused primarily on investing in for-profit and nonprofit organizations, it now works more closely with grassroots advocacy groups and education researchers around the globe to promote what it refers to as “justice, equality, diversity and inclusion,” or JEDI. The inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic helped inform the shift, the group has said. It’s a turning point for Imaginable Futures, which is pouring more investment dollars and grant funding into education systems in Brazil, sub-Saharan Africa, and the United States. And with new partnerships with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Echidna Giving, and Porticus, Imaginable Futures is poised to become a bigger force among global education funders. “I think in our previous approach as part of Omidyar Network, we were primarily venture philanthropy and impact investing — investing in bold entrepreneurs, working on the edge of innovation to create social change,” Amy Klement, Imaginable Futures’ managing partner, told Devex. The grantmaker and impact investment firm launched in 2020 after it left the Omidyar Network. It brought with it $200 million in investments and grants it previously held as the network’s education initiative and also received an additional $150 million gift from billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam for its operations and further investments over the next four years. The couple has been spinning out portfolios from their philanthropic investment vehicle, the Omidyar Network, since 2018 as part of a strategy to turn some of its portfolios into independent firms. At the time, the network said it wanted to focus on “reimagining capitalism, promoting the beneficial use of technology, building bridges in a pluralistic world and fostering individual capabilities and empowerment,” then-managing partner, now CEO, Mike Kubzansky said in a blog post. All of the new firms have remained part of the larger Omidyar Group of companies, initiatives, and organizations, and they continue to receive funding from the couple. Pam Omidyar also sits on Imaginable Futures’ board. Now, rather than focusing almost exclusively on educational technology solutions, Imaginable Futures has become more focused on addressing underlying systemic issues that have limited some communities’ access to education and training, Klement said. It is also trying to refine its approach to have a greater impact on education systems. “For us, that means we’re using new types of funding tools that we weren’t historically using very often — things like supporting more research and evidence creation, particularly by diverse and underrepresented researchers,” Klement said. She was previously with the Omidyar Network and in 2013 started leading its education initiative that eventually became Imaginable Futures. Still, Klement said her team also wants to keep and refine some of the “good practices” from their earlier approaches, such as providing nonprofits with multi-year grants and funding for their general operations rather than only in specific areas. The organization credits local communities for helping it identify where changes are needed. “To sustain truly transformative change, like the kind that learners deserve, communities must have a say in defining what impact and success really mean for them,” Imaginable Futures said in its 2022 impact report. The organization has deployed more than $270 million total as of this quarter, a spokesperson Rebecca Hankin told Devex. It is focused on tackling structural racism in Brazil’s education system by funding the work of groups such as nonprofit political advocacy group Todos Pela Educação as well as the human rights advocacy group Instituto Brasileiro de Estudos e Apoio Comunitário (Brazilian Institute of Studies and Community Support). Among other things, Imaginable Futures has supported advocacy efforts to maintain Brazil’s quota law — an affirmative action law first enacted in 2012 that reserved half of the seats in the country’s free, public universities for Black, Indigenous, and low-income Brazilians. “We heard from our Black and Indigenous partners that this was one of the most important actions for us to take,” Imaginable Futures said in the impact report. In Africa, it is supporting groups like Kenya’s Shining Hope for Communities with a focus on job creation and ensuring young people have access to education, job training, and jobs. By 2050, 50% of the world’s working population will be in Africa, Imaginable Futures notes in its impact report. However, there already aren’t enough jobs for young people seeking employment in sub-Saharan Africa, and many “struggle to meet basic needs, making it hard for them to focus on longer-term goals that might positively impact their future,” it reads. Imaginable Futures hosted a forum on education research in Africa with the Echidna Giving, the Gates Foundation, and Porticus last year. The organizations collaborated on a related report. The forum and report were prompted by the fact that only 3% of worldwide research as a whole comes from Africa, Klement said. “And when you think about how much research is done on international development, all of that is happening by Northern, Western white institutions and researchers versus Africans asking what matters most for them,” she said. Imaginable Futures hopes to eventually help form a bigger collaborative of global education funders, she said. Update, March 10, 2023: This story has been updated to clarify the relationship between Imaginable Futures and Omidyar Group.