2025 Impact Report
We are gatherers of people and ideas, creating the momentum for social change.
What Endures
By early 2025, funding for social impact work across Asia-Pacific was being pulled back. The shutdown of USAID affected many of the partners and communities we’d been working with, and brought an end to a partnership we had built for a decade.
Understanding our impact
In 2024, we introduced the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a shared reference point for our theory of change. But the SDGs are broad by design, and we found they didn’t capture the specific kind of change we work to create.
In 2025, we refined how we describe our outcome goals, shifting to language that more precisely reflects the scope of our work.
A more peaceful, just and empathetic world
Impact
What is our purpose? What is our long-term impact?
A more peaceful, just and empathetic world
Outcome goals
What are the goals contributing to our overall purpose and objectives?
Outputs
What are our immediate results of our activities?
Issues important to us and our communities
5 dimensions of impact
We also needed a practical way to assess impact consistently across all our programs, and over time build a clearer picture of what we’re collectively achieving. We began designing an ‘impact scorecard’ adapted from Impact Frontiers.
Expected impact
Does this project contribute to our outcome goals?
Who & how much
How many people are we reaching, and who are they?
Depth of impact
How meaningful is the change for participants?
LF’s contribution
What and where did we value?
Impact risk
Could this work cause unintended harm? How strong is our evidence?
It gives us a structured way to assess each program across several dimensions. The scorecard is designed to be completed as a team, and we’re developing a playbook to ensure shared interpretation of each dimension. We plan to pilot the impact scorecard across all our programs in the second half of 2026.
While the scorecard helps us assess and compare impact across our programs, stories help us understand what endures. In 2025, we began collecting them on our own initiative drawing from participants and our team. We’re working toward doing this more systematically, using stories both to evaluate programs and keep us connected to lived experience.
Together, the scorecard and stories represent how we’re building a more nuanced understanding of our impact.
Here is what our impact added up to
The total number of people exposed to or engaged by LF programs, campaigns, or content. This is an aggregate metric combining all organic and paid social media reach.
The total number of people exposed to or engaged by LF programs, campaigns, or content. This is an aggregate metric combining all organic and paid social media reach.
The total number of individuals who participated in structured learning activities delivered or facilitated by LF. Includes training sessions, capacity-building programs, and co-creation sessions where knowledge or skill transfer is the primary objective.
The total number of individuals who participated in structured learning activities delivered or facilitated by LF. Includes training sessions, capacity-building programs, and co-creation sessions where knowledge or skill transfer is the primary objective.
The proportion of program participants who show measurable improvement in understanding of a given topic area (e.g., mental health, digital literacy, climate action) as assessed through pre/post surveys or other evaluation instruments.
The proportion of program participants who show measurable improvement in understanding of a given topic area (e.g., mental health, digital literacy, climate action) as assessed through pre/post surveys or other evaluation instruments.
The proportion of program participants who, following a program or campaign, have shared or express intention to share what they have learned with peers, family, or community members.
The proportion of program participants who, following a program or campaign, have shared or express intention to share what they have learned with peers, family, or community members.
The proportion of participants who have applied or express intention to apply what they have learned in their own lives. Includes actions taken or intended to access resources (e.g., mental health services), take specific actions (e.g., climate action), or change personal behavior.
The proportion of participants who have applied or express intention to apply what they have learned in their own lives. Includes actions taken or intended to access resources (e.g., mental health services), take specific actions (e.g., climate action), or change personal behavior.
The number of public-facing research outputs produced by or through LF. Includes research produced for partners, shareable reports, and studies that inform broader work beyond a single project. Excludes purely internal research such as rapid desk reviews or internal evaluations.
The number of public-facing research outputs produced by or through LF. Includes research produced for partners, shareable reports, and studies that inform broader work beyond a single project. Excludes purely internal research such as rapid desk reviews or internal evaluations.
The total number of distinct events (workshops, conferences, forums, convenings) that LF organized or co-organized during the reporting period.
The total number of distinct events (workshops, conferences, forums, convenings) that LF organized or co-organized during the reporting period.
The total number of individuals who attended workshops, forums, or events organized or co-organized by LF. This includes events with no structured learning or training component, such as dialogue, networking, or knowledge exchange gatherings.
The total number of individuals who attended workshops, forums, or events organized or co-organized by LF. This includes events with no structured learning or training component, such as dialogue, networking, or knowledge exchange gatherings.
Programs involving collaboration across two or more sectors (public, private, civil society) where LF participated as a strategic partner contributing to project design, direction, and/or implementation, rather than as a contracted service provider. This includes programs where LF co-led alongside other partners.
Programs involving collaboration across two or more sectors (public, private, civil society) where LF participated as a strategic partner contributing to project design, direction, and/or implementation, rather than as a contracted service provider. This includes programs where LF co-led alongside other partners.
The total number of distinct partner organizations brought together through LF-organized or co-organized programs and events.
The total number of distinct partner organizations brought together through LF-organized or co-organized programs and events.