A global co-creation social enterprise

The right challenge.
The right minds.
Real outcomes.

Every organization we work with arrives with a challenge that matters — and not enough of the right people around it. We change that. Catalyst Co-Labs connects you with hand-picked global experts who co-create real solutions to your most important challenge. The result isn't a report. It's new funding, new partners, and outcomes ready to scale.

We give funders, foundations, impact investors, and corporations a fast, high-leverage way to unlock collective intelligence around the challenges that matter most to their portfolios — and to the organizations they support.

How It Works See Impact Stories

What We Do

Co-creation that delivers outcomes — not just conversations.

What is a Co-Lab?

A Co-Lab is a structured, virtual co-creation process built around a single, well-defined challenge. We recruit 30 hand-picked experts — practitioners, researchers, sector leaders, and people with lived experience from around the world — and convene them in two intensive 90-minute sessions.

The result: new relationships, actionable strategies, and outcomes ready to implement. All results are open-sourced.

Why it works differently

Most collaboration takes too long, involves the wrong people, or produces outputs that sit on shelves. Co-Labs are different by design.

The challenge is defined precisely before anyone is recruited. Participants are selected specifically for that challenge – not from a standing roster. Sessions are facilitated for decisions, not just discussion. And the process ends with clear next steps, not just a report.

How We Work With You

Think of us as strategic consultants who use co-creation as their primary tool. We start with a question: what is your challenge, precisely? Most organizations arrive with something real and urgent but not yet focused enough to act on. Sharpening it — before a single expert is contacted — is one of the most valuable things we do.

Only then do we recruit: drawing on Catalyst NOW, Ashoka, Schwab, Skoll, Echoing Green, and other global networks, we hand-pick 30 participants from typically 100+ qualified applicants — matched to your specific challenge, not pulled from a standing roster.

Then come two 90-minute sessions that are the concentrated expression of all that preparation — expertly designed and facilitated to produce decisions, not just discussion. Afterward, we document outcomes and help new connections grow into lasting collaborations and funding opportunities.

This is not a workshop. It's a strategic partnership from first conversation to lasting outcome.

01

Define the challenge

Think of us as strategic consultants who use co-creation as their primary tool. We work with you iteratively — through structured conversations and working drafts — to sharpen the challenge until it is precise enough to act on. This happens before a single expert is contacted.

02

Recruit the right experts

From 6,000+ vetted social entrepreneurs and practitioners across Catalyst NOW, Ashoka, Schwab Foundation, Skoll, Echoing Green, and other global networks — supplemented by direct outreach where the challenge demands it. From typically over 100 qualified applicants, we hand-pick 30 participants — every one selected specifically for your challenge.

03

Facilitate intensive sessions

Two 90-minute co-creation sessions that build trust, surface insight, and drive toward concrete, co-owned outcomes.

04

Leave with new collaborators, partners, and funding pathways

From the 30 participants, a self-selected group typically continues working alongside the host — bringing new perspectives, relationships, and in many cases new funding pathways. All outcomes are open-sourced.

Co-Lab Outcomes

Impact stories from the field.

Each story follows the same structure: a real challenge, a Co-Lab convened, concrete outcomes.
Click any card to read the full story.

Gaza Co-Lab participants
Gaza · Palestine 35 experts · 21 countries

Supporting children in a conflict zone

At the height of the war in Gaza, intensive co-creation built field-ready mental health methods — and raised two new grants.

Outcomes 2,000 children reached · 2 grants raised · 4S Model launched
Read full story →
MHPSS Nordic Summit
Nordic Countries · EU 34 experts · 21 countries

Shaping mental health policy at the Nordic Summit

The MHPSS Collaborative needed concrete recommendations — not just intentions — for a landmark policy conference.

Outcomes Best-prepared track at the conference · Nordic governments now building investment case
Read full story →
CVPA Kenya team
Africa · 6 Countries 20+ experts · 10 countries

Building a lasting impact framework across Africa

CVPA needed a credible way to measure outcomes across its Collective Enterprise Model — without one, they couldn't attract funders.

Outcomes The ICE Index — now used across all CVPA initiatives in 6 countries
Read full story →
We Love Reading
Global 28 experts · 14 countries

Connecting 3,000 reading ambassadors worldwide

We Love Reading needed a peer-to-peer platform — but lacked technical expertise and strategic clarity to get there.

Outcomes UNESCO support secured · Pro bono tech development attracted
Read full story →
Desh Ka Bag vendor
India · Circular Economy 26 experts · 10 countries

"Turning coals to fire" — plastic waste and systemic change

Poonam Bir Kasturi needed to crack how to get Indian street vendors to replace plastic bags with a recyclable cloth alternative. We brought together 26 experts — from the head of India's Street Vendor Association to fintech and marketing specialists.

Outcomes Strategy & funding proposal co-developed · "Catalyst Co-Labs was like turning coals to fire."
Read full story →

For Funders & Philanthropies

What funders, foundations, and investors get from a Co-Lab.

Whether you are a foundation seeking faster outcomes from your grantees, a funder looking to catalyze collaboration across your portfolio, or facing a challenge your team alone cannot crack — a Co-Lab delivers outsized return on your investment in people and ideas. You don't hire consultants to tell you what to do. You convene the world's best minds to co-create it with you.

Speed.

Move from challenge to actionable co-created outcomes faster and more effectively than traditional consultative approaches — because you end with new collaborators, not just a report.

Depth.

Co-Labs surface lived-experience expertise, geographic diversity, and cross-sector insight that traditional advisory panels cannot replicate. Experts from 41 countries. Zero geographical barriers.

Proof.

Concrete deliverables — frameworks, roadmaps, open-sourced solutions, and documented new partnerships — with outcomes you can report to your board. Not just a good conversation.

Leverage.

Through Catalyst NOW, Ashoka, Echoing Green, Schwab Foundation, and Skoll networks, you tap into 6,000+ vetted social entrepreneurs without building that pipeline yourself.

Co-Lab fees are structured based on scope, scale, and the level of post-session support included. This includes the complexity of the challenge, the depth of post-session support, and whether the Co-Lab is part of a series. We work with organizations of varying sizes and budgets. Contact us — we're happy to have a direct conversation about what works for your situation.

In Their Words

What participants say.

"
This Co-Lab brought us collaborators and expertise to rapidly improve our technical approaches to MHPSS support for Gaza-based teachers and psychologists. As a result, we raised two grants to support our program implementation.
Dr. Mohammad Issa President, Creativity Lab Arab World
"
After the rich discussions, I realized we needed to focus on Social Investment ROI to measure progress and impact. We gained the ideas and resources to build the ICE Framework — which we now use with all our partners.
Dr. Wamuyu Mahinda Founder, Collaborative Value Partners Africa
"
Catalyst Co-Labs was like turning coals to fire. I reached people I otherwise wouldn't have had access to — and was able to take a risk, to attempt a systemic change with a team, through collaboration.
Poonam Bir Kasturi Founder, Daily Dump
"
Co-Labs enabled our team to holistically design policy and funding recommendations on an emerging topic. At the conference, this track was the best prepared — we hit the ground running and were in the best position to drive policy change and Nordic government funding.
Peter Brune & Marie Dahl War Child Sweden & MHPSS Collaborative

Clients & Partners

Organisations we've worked with.

Our Network

Drawing from the world's most trusted social innovation networks.

Our participants are drawn from the world's most respected social innovation networks — providing instant access to diverse, vetted expertise across every sector and region.

Catalyst NOW
Ashoka
Schwab Foundation
Skoll Foundation
Echoing Green

What makes a good Co-Lab challenge?

A Co-Lab works best when the challenge is specific and solvable — not a broad sector problem, but a defined question your organization is actively trying to answer. It should be tied to a concrete goal: increasing your impact, scaling your model, replicating your approach in new contexts, or strengthening your evidence base to attract new funding. Challenges that touch on systems change are welcome, as long as the Co-Lab question itself is focused enough to generate actionable outcomes.

The challenge should be relatable across regions and contexts — so that participants from diverse geographies can contribute meaningfully. And it should be open to collaboration rather than requiring a single technical expert.

Challenges that are too large, too narrow, or purely academic are poor fits. The format is designed for strategic action. Not sure if your challenge is Co-Lab-ready? Contact us — we'll tell you honestly.

New in 2025

Introducing the Catalyst Compass.

A shorter, sharper format: a 90-minute strategic dialogue among up to 20 thought leaders convened around a "meet the moment" challenge.

Less intensive than a full Co-Lab, but equally outcome-focused. Results are shared openly. Think less fireplace chat, more situation room with results.

Get in touch about Compass
First Compass · 2025

Learning Reimagined for the 21st Century

8 global experts. 4 regions. One urgent question: are we building schools for children — or children for schools?

Read the story →

Our Founders

Built by people who know what it takes to scale impact across borders.

Catalyst Co-Labs was founded by three social entrepreneurs who understand firsthand what it takes to scale impact across borders — and why the right collaborators make all the difference.

Kristin Peterson

Kristin Peterson

Co-Founder Schwab Social Entrepreneur · WEF · Founding member, Catalyst NOW
Therese von Blixen

Therese von Blixen

Co-Founder Stockholm · Founding member, Catalyst NOW
Winthrop Carty

Winthrop Carty

Co-Founder Cambridge, USA · Founding member, Catalyst NOW

Our Advisory Board

Guided by global leaders in social innovation.

Yasmine Sherif

Yasmine Sherif

Former Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait
Harlem Désir

Harlem Désir

Former Secretary of State for European Affairs (France); Board Member, IRC; Former OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media; Co-founder, SOS Racisme
Rose A. Dodd

Rose A. Dodd

Leader in Innovation & Systems Change, The Education Collaborative, Ashesi University, Ghana
Dr. Mohammad Issa

Dr. Mohammad Issa

President, Creativity Lab Arab World; Co-founder, Yes Theatre
Manoj Panjwani

Manoj Panjwani

Social Impact Advocate, Catalyst 2030; Finance, Strategy & Governance
Ina Breuer

Ina Breuer

Executive Director, NEID Global; International Non-profit Leadership
María José Rubio de Hart

María José Rubio de Hart

Director, Compromiso Bogotá; Systems Change & Social Innovation, Colombia

Get in Touch

Ready to accelerate your most important challenge?

Tell us about the problem you're trying to solve. We'll show you how a Co-Lab could work — and who we'd bring to the table. No commitment required.

We respond to all enquiries within 2 business days.