WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 - AFTERNOON KEYNOTE

Change the Way We Change the World: A New Approach to Risk, Learning, and Impact

What if you could make bigger bets, expand your giving, and gain meaningful evidence in weeks—not months or years?

In this practical and thought-provoking keynote, Heather Hiscox, Founder and CEO of Pause for Change, will share examples demonstrating how small investments in learning and experimentation can lead to bigger, more informed bets.

Drawing on Heather’s PAUSE Framework, the session challenges funders to pause before jumping to solutions, surface assumptions and biases, get curious about what they don’t yet know, and use radical empathy and experimentation to learn alongside grantee partners. Participants will explore how to test potential solutions before building them, reduce risk before making significant commitments, and create stronger, more collaborative relationships along the way.

You’ll discover how to:

• Make funding decisions based on real data and evidence in weeks instead of months or years
• Reduce risk and uncertainty by testing assumptions before making larger investments
• Build trust-infused relationships with grantee partners through learning, flexibility, and shared discovery
• Test-drive collaborative partnerships and learn what works before scaling
• Expand your giving with greater confidence, even when staff and resources are limited

Most importantly, this session invites funders to rethink what it means to take a risk. What if the best way to make a bigger bet is to create more opportunities to learn before you make it?