{"id":5364,"date":"2025-01-21T09:35:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T09:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.changex.org\/blog\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2025-05-15T14:44:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T13:44:37","slug":"our-2024-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changex.org\/blog\/our-2024-highlights\/","title":{"rendered":"Our 2024 highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As we reflect on another year of growth at ChangeX, we are also looking back a little further and celebrating our first decade. ChangeX turns 10 in 2025, and we\u2019re gearing up to celebrate this milestone with our biggest year of impact yet.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The journey so far<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem that we set out to solve at the start was that there are all these great ideas in communities, and instead of everyone having to reinvent the wheel, we wanted to make the best ideas accessible to others and easy to adopt,\u201d explains our chief executive, Paul O\u2019Hara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That concept grew into our mission to make proven ideas and grant finance accessible to everyone, everywhere. We knew that technology was key to delivering our goal, and in 2015, the ChangeX platform was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our 2015 launch event in Ireland<\/em>
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That year, a successful pilot campaign in Ireland resulted in more than 100 new community projects getting off the ground. The following year we made the leap outside Ireland, with a pilot project in Minnesota, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In 2017, we successfully launched our \u2018Impact as a Service\u2019 business model, which allowed us to offer both funding and proven ideas to communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the years since, we have worked with a wide range of corporations and foundations, including Microsoft, the LEGO Foundation, Amazon Web Services, ServiceNow, Paramount, Nickelodeon, PwC, Accenture and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To date, we\u2019ve launched almost 250 community funds across 26 countries, and distributed more than \u20ac14 million in funding. More than 30,000 community projects have been started on the ChangeX platform, impacting more than 1.3 million people so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024: a year of continued growth<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2024 saw us significantly extend our global reach, with funds launched in 25 countries, including venturing into 11 new countries. We deepened our footprint in Latin America, launching in Argentina and Chile, and also broadened our reach in Europe, with new community funds in Italy, France, Finland and the Netherlands. We brought the ChangeX model to Australia, and launched in Asia for the first time, with funds in Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, we funded 1,486 community projects last year, directly impacting 768,829 people.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Expanding horizons: new partners, ideas and themes<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As well as expanding with our existing partners, and working with them to empower more communities across the world, we also added some new funding partners in 2024, including launching funds with Paramount and PwC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We added 50 new proven ideas to the ChangeX platform last year, and now have more than 225 ideas ready for replication by communities around the world. The new ideas added in 2024 spanned a wide range of themes, with a focus on mental health, sustainability, digital skills and play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with Paramount, we launched the World Mental Health Day Community Fund in August 2024. This was our first mental health and well-being focused community fund, and a total of 96 community projects across 10 countries received funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the new mental health focused ideas we added in 2024 were Sidewalk Talk, which sees communities come together to offer a space for people to talk about mental health, and OpenSeat Mindful Meals, an initiative to support communities to build connections through food and conversation. Read more about social innovator OpenSeat and its scaling journey with ChangeX.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With funding from the World Mental Health Day Community Fund, supported by Paramount, the \u2018Todos por Cerro de San Pedro\u2019 Foundation hosted a mindful meal in the village of Cerro de San Pedro in Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBy sharing reflections and experiences, we had the opportunity to feel understood and valued on mental health issues, which we don\u2019t normally discuss with each other. This social connection resulted in increased emotional well-being and a greater sense of belonging.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Paloma Caballero Tella, the foundation\u2019s director of sustainability, says that taking the time to slow down and enjoy each moment of the meal created a safe space for participants to reflect on their thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In Buenos Aires, Argentina, with support from the same fund, a local group called The Good Healing arranged a mindful meal.
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They said it was \u201cmuch more than a dinner; it was a celebration of life, connection and well-being<\/em>\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch their Instagram video to discover more.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In January 2024, we launched the PwC Resilient Communities Fund, a \u20ac100,000 fund to empower individuals and teams across Ireland to spearhead local community projects that promote inclusion, equitable access to opportunities, skills development, and sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fund supported 40 projects across Ireland, including the Curragh Pocket Forest Initiative in Kildare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe project has successfully transitioned from an idea into a thriving initiative making a tangible difference in our community. The funding has been instrumental in laying the foundation for the project. It allowed us to procure essential materials, tools, and infrastructure to get the project running, and recruit and train a dedicated group of volunteers and staff who are passionate about the project\u2019s goals.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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Scaling higher impact climate ideas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, in partnership with ServiceNow, we launched community funds in 9 countries to support projects focused on decarbonisation. With an investment of $1.1 million from ServiceNow, a total of 43 projects were awarded funding<\/a>, including neighbourhood recycling initiatives, a campus microforest, solar energy projects and various educational programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This investment by ServiceNow builds on a 2023 pilot, which funded ten projects across Germany and Ireland. As part of our partnership with ServiceNow, we have added a number of higher impact climate ideas to our platform to empower communities to drive deeper change on climate and sustainability, and supported social innovators to bring their ideas to life in multiple countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the ideas supported by the partnership was Ecosystem Restoration Communities (ERC), a programme focused on \u2018regreening\u2019 the planet, by rebuilding soil, fixing water systems, and increasing local biodiversity on degraded land. So far, 7 ERC projects have been funded through our partnership with ServiceNow, across multiple countries, including a rainforest restoration project by non-profit organisation ReForest Now in Brunswick Heads in Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ReForest Now team in the rainforest in Brunswick Heads, New South Wales, Australia
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Continuing to celebrate the power of play<\/strong>
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While 2024 saw us add new themes, regions and ideas, we also maintained our focus on one of our key impact pillars, play.

In March 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted an official International Day of Play, signalling the importance of play for children. ChangeX has long been committed to creating more play opportunities for children, and was part of a global network of organisations that drove this effort forward, alongside the LEGO Group, Save the Children International, UNICEF and many others.
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Through our ongoing partnership with the LEGO Foundation, we launched the International Day of Play Community Fund in May to support as many children as possible to engage in creative play on the first ever International Day of Play on June 11\u2026and beyond. The fund supported nearly 300 projects across 6 countries, benefitting more than 40,000 children so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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