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Social Outcomes Conference 2025

SOC25 programme

Inamori Forum

Registration opens

In-person participants will be able to register at the reception of the Blavatnik School of Government and enjoy tea, coffee and pastries with other in-person attendees and speakers.

Inamori Forum

Official SOC25 photograph

If you're attending SOC25 in person join us in the Inamori Forum for the official SOC25 photograph.

Lecture Theatre I

Welcome to the Social Outcomes Conference 2025

The Government Outcomes Lab's leadership team will welcome online and in-person participants to this year's conference.

Lecture Theatre I

Keynote discussion by Professor Mario Calderini

Turning Pressure into Progress: Unlocking the Next Chapter of the Impact Economy

As governments face mounting fiscal constraints, the imperative to deliver public value through innovative, collaborative, and outcomes-driven approaches has never been stronger. This keynote will reflect on 15 years of experience in the impact economy—drawing on real-world practice as well as research into innovation and the dynamics of how impactful ideas spread. By examining what has worked, what hasn’t, and why, the session will offer fresh insights for cross-sector leaders—governments, impact investors, and not-for-profits—working together to scale solutions in complex, resource-limited environments.

A panel of distinguished leaders will respond with perspectives from the frontline of delivering social impact. Drawing on deep experience in public service delivery, applied research, innovation practice, and philanthropic investment, the panel will ground the keynote themes in real-world contexts. Their insights will highlight both the opportunities and tensions of working across sectors to achieve measurable outcomes, offering practical reflections on what it takes to drive change at scale in today’s complex and resource-constrained landscape.

Social Outcomes Partnerships in the UK: Learning and evidence from the two largest outcomes funds in the UK

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study exploring the two largest outcomes funds from the UK: the Life Chances Fund and the Commissioning Better Outcomes Fund.

Nurturing ecosystems for outcomes-based partnerships: examples from across Latin America

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from Latin America on nurturing ecosystems for outcomes-based partnerships.

Establishing a Swedish outcome lab – national support function and outcomes financing

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from Sweden: establishing a Swedish outcome lab - national support function and outcomes financing.

A framework for capturing transaction costs in Social Outcomes Partnerships: Insights from the evaluation of the Mental Health & Employment Partnerships

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on a framework for capturing transaction costs, drawing insights from the Mental Health and Employment Partnership SOPs.

Strengthening grassroots collective action for education in India

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from India on strengthening grassroots collective action for education.

Cash with purpose: Camden’s dual pilots for pregnancy and youth employment

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on Camden’s (London) dual pilots for pregnancy and youth employment.

Leveraging technology and machine learning for better impact measurement

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on leveraging technology and machine learning for better impact measurement, taking lessons from an impact bond helping refugees and their host communities in Jordan and Lebanon.

Presentations

Improving cost-effectiveness in outcome-based contracting: lessons learnt from a crisis context

In 2021, the Near East Foundation (NEF) launched a development impact bond (DIB) to help refugees and their host communities in Jordan and Lebanon recover their livelihoods and build their …

Capital for change: the investor role in social outcomes contracts

As impact investing continues to gain global traction, and aligning private capital with public good continues to grow, social outcomes contracts are gaining renewed attention as a way to finance measurable impact. But what draws investors to this model? What makes it work in practice? And what needs to shift to unlock greater investment at scale?

This interactive workshop, hosted in partnership with Better Society Capital, brings together investor perspectives from both the UK and Sweden to explore the fundamentals of investing in social outcomes. Together, in this dynamic workshop, we’ll examine how social outcomes finance is evolving, what makes it attractive to mission-driven investors, and how to strengthen the ecosystem across borders.

The workshop is especially ideal for private sector actors, investors, philanthropies, and foundations – from those new to outcomes-based commissioning all the way to seasoned practitioners with insights to share.

Presentations

Making social outcomes contracts work in the Nordic welfare states

We believe that we have valuable insights to share, when it comes to adapting the SOC model to the context of welfare states. Contrary to the UK, where charities and …

Why do investors invest in Social Outcomes Contracts

Given the announcement of the Social Impact Investment Vehicle by His Majesty's Treasury what role do investors play in building a stable ecosystem of social outcomes contracts. Why are investors …

Prototyping the Future of Complex Public Service Contracts: Testing, Learning, and Scaling Formal-Relational Approaches

At SOC24, participants helped us take the first step: identifying what gets in the way of contracting for complex public services - and what might make it better. Building on those early insights, we convened a series of follow-on workshops with commissioners, lawyers, and practitioners to co-develop a prototype formal-relational contract model for public services.

Now, at SOC25, we’re coming full circle. This workshop will introduce the draft model, invite feedback, and road-test its core components. Together, we’ll explore how this approach might translate to other sectors and service areas, laying the groundwork for broader application and impact.

Outcomes-focused partnerships: Exploring pathways for impact at scale

Achieving impact at scale has long been the holy grail for those leading outcomes-focused partnerships. While the challenges are well-documented, recent practice suggests progress is being made partnerships are increasingly designed with scale and sustainability built in from the start, alongside a greater recognition that pathways to impact vary widely based on context.

There isn’t a single blueprint. Some approaches focus on expanding and mainstreaming these models, while others involve adoption of innovative service delivery models at the national level, new ways of working within local ecosystems of service, or a different approach to how central government works with local communities to balance accountability and flexibility. Regardless of the approach, accelerating progress requires collective learning, open dialogue and honest reflection on the barriers to scale.

This interactive session will bring together experienced researchers, delivery organisations, policymakers, and technical advisors, and intermediaries to explore different pathways for impact at scale in outcomes-based partnerships. We’ll blend research and practical insights to examine the strategies that different organisations have pursued to grow their impact. The discussion will kick off with real-world examples that showcase the diversity of approaches, before inviting participants to share their experiences and collaboratively sketch roadmaps to greater impact

Presentations

Best practice in delivering Social Impact Bonds (SIBs/SOPs) in the UK: a comparative qualitative thematic analysis of antecedents

We argue that for SIBs to realise their full potential as incubators of innovation and to deliver their outcomes, they need to incorporate a stronger element of co-production and relational …

Scaling Outcomes Contracting in LMICs: Key Considerations for Government Adoption

Outcomes-based contracting has the potential to transform service delivery by aligning funding with measurable impact and facilitating local partnerships with grassroots organzations who are often the most effective at delivering …

Can Social Outcomes Contracts contribute to systems change? Exploring asset-based working, innovation, and collaboration

Since their establishment over a decade ago, considerable research has been done on Social Impact Bonds (SIBs). Nonetheless, many questions remain on their ability to meet their high expectations, including …

The Education Outcomes Fund's outcomes for us: the influence of SLEIC on organisational effectiveness for Save the Children

Save the Children aims to place greater emphasis on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions. In the education sector, this includes collaborating, since 2021, with the Education Outcomes Fund on …

Could outcomes-based approaches transform funding and accelerate locally led development?

Current times call for bravery, new thinking and letting go of old ways of deciding and doing. This workshop will look at whether and how outcomes-based approaches could shift power …

Should we be thinking about 'institutionalising outcomes' or creating next generation of public institutions?

We are faced with new challenges and our institutions are not well equipped to solve those. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described this well in his address to the General Assembly …

From reporting to value creation: impact measurement as a strategic tool in social outcome projects

This interactive session explores impact measurement as a management tool within social outcome projects. Through the presentation of selected contributions, we will discuss how impact measurement can create value by facilitating mutual learning among stakeholders, enhancing governance practices, and informing the design of interventions. The session offers a critical reflection on the strategic role of evaluation in advancing social outcome projects

Presentations

Returning power to social organisations through data collaboration

A key structural challenge in social services is the imbalance of power between funders (often governments) and the social service organisations who deliver the services. Part of this structural imbalance …

A rigorous and developmental approach to evaluating place-based systems change programmes for the public sector

The challenge

Place-based systems change programmes are vital to addressing complex issues like deprivation, homelessness, education or youth safety. Yet many people have told us they struggle to conclusively prove …

Embedding evaluation to support systemic action towards national outcomes: learning from the evaluation of Scotland's national suicide prevention strategy

Evaluating the impact of national, preventative missions that require systemic action is notoriously hard to do. In this paper we share learning from our work taking an embedded approach to …

Evolving measurement frameworks to drive systems strengthening through Development Impact Bonds (DIBs)

Background and objective:

DIBs have typically focused on direct service delivery and are seen as difficult to apply to systems strengthening initiatives due to the complexity of defining, quantifying, measuring, …

'You want data, you get data...' Ethnographic insights into how the treatment of research officers impacts data quality

Enumerators (or field officers) are essential to the production of evidence on which outcomes-based decision-making rests. They collect data that is subsequently analysed by project managers and (hopefully) ends up …

Fit-for-Purpose temporal evaluation: How loose multi-stakeholder collaboration contributes to social outcomes

Strengthening education systems, particularly in contexts of partial decentralization and persistent low-quality results, presents a complex challenge. This presentation explores an innovative ex-post evaluation of the Dominican Republic's education system, …

Delivery beyond deliverables: what does it take to put meaningful outcomes at the heart of public services?

GO Lab’s pioneering evaluation of the Life Chances Fund, a £70m programme funded by the UK government, highlights how outcomes-focused partnerships can lead to more adaptive, accountable and person-centred public services. But purposeful and impactful partnerships aren’t forged by themselves – they require government at multiple levels to be deliberate in curating an enabling environment for a fundamentally new way to manage public services.

In this session we will bring together experienced scholar and government perspectives from across the globe to explore the conditions that are required to put meaningful outcomes at the heart of our public services. We will look beyond the technical conditions, to explore how courageous leadership at local level, a culture of empowerment rather than compliance, and a broader understanding of public value can lead to better outcomes for our communities. We will hear examples of how these enabling conditions look like on the ground and discuss the challenges of these ways of working

Presentations

The impact of budgetary flexibility measures in the state of Rio de Janeiro

This paper presents a series of actions implemented by the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro to enhance the flexibility of resource allocation and revert unused balances from …

Inamori Forum

The Life Chances Fund: Data, evidence and impact

To mark the conclusion of the Life Chances Fund and the publication of the final evaluation report, the Government Outcomes Lab will host a report launch reception at the Blavatnik School of Government, in Oxford.

At the event we will present key findings from the evaluation and celebrate the impact of the Fund with those who have been involved in the Life Chances Fund since its launch in 2016.

Blavatnik School of Government

Networking dinner

Oxford landmarks morning run

Stay active during the conference and discover some of Oxford's most iconic landmarks by joining us on an easy morning run. We will be starting the run promptly at 7am outside the Radcliffe Camera, in the very heart of Oxford.

Inamori Forum

Registration opens

In-person participants will be able to register at the reception of the Blavatnik School of Government building before joining our Croissants and Collaborations for tea, coffee and pastries with other in-person attendees and speakers.

Regulatory frameworks for outcomes-focused partnerships

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can build regulatory frameworks for outcomes-focused partnerships.

Nurturing social outcomes markets

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can help nurture social outcomes markets.

Making theoretical savings real: The case for building preventative spending into budget rules

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can build preventative spending into budget rules and how to take more preventative approaches.

How can we create a health system with a focus on outcomes?

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can create a health system with a focus on outcomes.

Connecting the local with impact at scale

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can help better connect the local with impact at scale.

Life Chances Fund project learn and share session

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

This session is a special one for Life Chances Fund (LCF) projects to have the opportunity to come together. Projects should come ready to join together in this session to discuss and share their key learnings from the LCF.

Outcome funds 2.0

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

This peer-learning session is particularly for those who have been involved in running an outcomes funds. Attendees should come ready to share their experiences and learn from one another.

Big Picture: Impact economy - the what, the how, and the why

With governments, investors, and communities grappling with how to deliver better outcomes in a time of mounting social, economic, and environmental pressure, the concept of an impact economy is no longer a fringe concept—it's fast becoming a policy and investment imperative. But amidst the buzz, there's still a need for clarity and coherence: What exactly do we mean by the impact economy? How can it be built in practice, not just in theory? And why does it matter now more than ever?

This Big Picture session brings together senior policymakers, sector leaders, and cutting-edge academics to unpack the what, how, and why of the impact economy — from mobilising private capital for public good, to embedding accountability and evidence in decision-making. Featuring senior voices from government, academia, and the frontlines of delivery, expect bold ideas, international perspectives, and a candid conversation about what it takes to shift systems towards impact at scale.

Big Picture: From metrics to meaning - rethinking data infrastructure for adaptive public service

Delivering effective public services in complex environments requires collaboration across government, service providers, intermediaries, and philanthropy. Yet, traditional data systems—built to monitor performance through fixed outcomes and linear theories of change— fall short in capturing some key drivers of impact: trust, relationships, and adaptive local responses.

This panel will explore how we can reimagine data infrastructure to better support test-and-learn approaches in the design and implementation of social programs. We will discuss limitations of existing data infrastructures but also remain pragmatic to what can be done at every level of programs to generate learning from data on complex services.

Social impact poster gallery

We recognise that there is so much exciting and meaningful work all of our different speakers and their organisations are doing which can’t be fit into the limited speaking slots.

As such, we are excited to host this opportunity at the Social Outcomes Conference 2025. Speakers and organisations are invited to share a poster at the conference. This poster will be on display physically in the Inamori Forum at the Blavatnik School and virtually on the SOC25 webpage. We will be displaying posters both virtually and physically so that all attendees, both online and in-person can view the posters.

Deep Dive: Scaling Results-Based Financing in maternal health: Lessons from Zimbabwe and South Africa

This session explores how results-based financing (RBF) can be institutionalised and scaled to improve maternal health outcomes in complex, resource-constrained settings. Drawing on two rich case studies—from Zimbabwe’s national rollout of RBF in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, to South Africa’s innovative integration of mental health into maternal care pathways in rural Limpopo—the session provides concrete insights into designing, implementing, and sustaining outcome-based approaches. Presenters will share lessons on building local ownership, aligning funding and verification systems, and co-producing outcomes with communities. The session will conclude with a panel discussion featuring implementing partners and policy experts, reflecting on the enabling conditions and challenges for embedding RBF into national health systems.

Presentations

A Journey: the institutionalisation of Results Based Financing into Zimbabwe's Health system: the process and lessons learned

The World Bank (WB) introduced Results Based Financing (RBF) in Zimbabwe's Health sector in 2011, with Cordaid Zimbabwe as the Implementing Entity. RBF started with a six-month pilot in two …

Mm awa nnete: A path to perinatal mental wellbeing in rural South Africa through outcomes-based innovation

Mothers in rural peri-mining communities of Limpopo, South Africa struggle with their mental health. There are high rates of depression, teenage pregnancy and new HIV infections, with many women only …

Social Outcomes Partnerships for resilient health systems: Empirical evidence from Canada and England about cross-sector partnerships with private, nongovernmental, and charitable providers?

A key policy priority worldwide is the development of resilient health systems to withstand future pandemics and other public health emergencies. Identifying policy levers with the potential to build resilience …

Deep Dive: Where next for international development and humanitarian aid?

Cuts to foreign aid budgets by major donor-countries have thrown development and humanitarian work into crisis. Organisations across the sector face a challenge: using fewer resources to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, all while global fragility remains at a record high. This session will reflect on the future of development and humanitarianism, with particular consideration of highly fragile contexts. We will draw from emerging evidence on alternative strategies and funding models to indicate how partnerships might support better social outcomes in fragile settings. Key themes include: accountability and efficient spending; the role of local organisations; translating investments into long-term sustainability of impact.

Presentations

The use of Development Impact Bonds in Palestine: first experiences and future possibilities

This paper explores the application of outcomes-based financing in fragile and conflict-affected regions, using Palestine as a case study. Specifically, it examines the first Development Impact Bond (DIB) implemented in …

From humanitarian assistance to building long-term resilience: the Refugee Livelihoods Development Impact Bond in Jordan

The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, generated the world's largest refugee crisis since the Second World War, with Jordan eventually hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees. The protracted …

Transformative Partnerships: How local capacity strengthening enables sustainability in fragile contexts

Strengthening local capacity in fragile and conflict-affected contexts is central to the sustainability of interventions aimed at preventing violent extremism (PVE). Local capacity strengthening is not only complementary but integral …

Deep Dive: Transforming education systems through outcomes and data

This deep dive will explore how innovative financing and strategic data use are reshaping the future of foundational learning and education. Drawing on the South African Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) outcomes fund and large-scale data-driven reforms in India's Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) mission, speakers will examine how governments and partners are building ecosystems that prioritise outcomes over inputs.

Key themes include unlocking political will for outcomes-based financing, embedding data in decision-making at all system levels, and designing scalable interventions that respond to real-world challenges.

Deep Dive: Reimagining employment support through outcomes-based employment initiatives and relational practice

How can employment services better support those furthest from the labour market into stable, welfare-enhancing and sustainable work? This session brings together diverse international case studies – from England, Australia, and South Africa – that challenge the conventional placement-driven systems and instead spotlight more relational, person-centred and capability-enhancing models of employment support.

Presentations will explore how local partnerships are embedding systems thinking and co-production into youth employment initiatives; how pay-for-performance and outcomes funds are fostering innovation and better coordination between government, training providers, and employers; and how flexible, personalised support models can deliver improved labour market outcomes for disadvantaged groups.

Together, these examples show how employment interventions that focus not just on rapid job placement but on wellbeing, confidence, and longer-term job sustainability can more effectively meet the complex needs of individuals. The session will also share new quantitative evidence on what works, highlighting the potential of outcomes-based funding mechanisms to deliver better results, both for service users and for improving value for money in public service delivery.

Presentations

Developing a trauma-informed approach in an employment services market: An Australian case study

Welfare-to-work programmes in Australia have for a long-time been structured around a 'work-first' activation model delivered by networks of organisations competing for clients, government contracts, and market share. For over …

Place based and systems thinking approaches to youth unemployment in England

At Social Finance, we tackle complex and enduring social issues to create lasting and widespread change in people's lives across a range of policy areas. Over the last few years …

How outcomes funds are helping to solve for youth unemployment in Africa

Rates of youth unemployment across sub-Sharan Africa range from high single digits to above 50%. Despite often-significant spending on schooling and post-school skills and training by governments, research is showing …

Big Picture and book launch: Contracting for Public Value

From pens to swords

Today, governments rely on private organisations to deliver a wide range of goods and services. Over the last 50 years, there has been an increased reliance on outsourced private sector provision in a range of social services, from employment support and healthcare to children’s social care and offender rehabilitation. But for much longer, governments have been contracting with private suppliers to support their military endeavours, including a range of complex equipment and technology. Elsewhere, we’ve seen major public construction projects contracted to private providers, from critical infrastructure to prisons.

While the deliverables of these contracts are often very different, the partnerships to deliver them face similar challenges: complex, ill-defined challenges that change over time; a limited supplier base resulting in a thin “market” to buy from; and key public values at stake, with a high cost of failure to wider society. In each area, we have seen examples of good and bad practice, leading to both real partnership successes and catastrophic failures.

In this session, we’ll explore how parties have sought to navigate these challenges, exploring the lessons from complex defence contracts and other larger-scale examples of formal-relational contracting. In doing so, we hope to better understand how an approach that leverages trust and collaboration might operate at larger scales, considering both the commonalities and differences between contracting for social outcomes and contracting for broader forms of public value.

In conversation with Carolyn Heinrich

Following the Big Picture session, we’ll turn to think about how we might integrate some of these lessons into more familiar contracting circumstances, as we discuss insights from a new book comparing insights from cases in the UK and US on striking the balance between the formal and relational elements of contracts.

Inamori Forum

SOC25 Closing celebration gala & remarks

A celebratory ending and closing remarks with moments of community, insights, and connection. Join us for drinks, nibbles, music, and reflections for this final celebration in our beautiful venue.