SOC25 programme
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.
If you're attending SOC25 in person join us in the Inamori Forum for the official SOC25 photograph.
The Government Outcomes Lab's leadership team will welcome online and in-person participants to this year's conference.
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
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.
Politecnico di Milano School of Management
British Asian Trust
The Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives
Indiana University
AllChild
University of Oxford
Chair
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.
University of Oxford
ATQ Consultants
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.
Acrux Partners
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.
RISE
Public Health Agency
Public Health Agency
Chair
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.
University of Oxford
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.
University of Oxford
ShikshaLokam
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.
Greater Change
London Borough of Camden
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.
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 …
Near East Foundation
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.
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 …
Utfallsfonden
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 …
BSC
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.
Public Digital
Public Digital
University of Oxford
Chair
University of Oxford
Chair
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
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 …
Manchester Metropolitan University
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 …
Village Enterprise
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 …
Self-employed
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 …
Save the Children UK
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 …
Social Finance
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 …
Bridges Outcomes Partnerships
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
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 …
Latitude Network
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 …
Renaisi
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 …
Matter of Focus
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, …
British Asian Trust
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 …
UEA
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, …
Grupo Politeria
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
University of Oxford
UCL and Georgetown University
University of Oxford
Chair
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 …
State Secretary of Treasury of Rio de Janeiro
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.
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
CSY Directorate, DCMS (UK)
TNLCF
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.
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
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.
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.
VIVA Idea/GAIL/UN University for Peace
Instiglio
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.
Social Finance
Common Good Marketplace
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.
Independent researcher
University of Oxford
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.
Social Finance NL
Social Finance
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.
University of Milano-Bicocca
Peterlee Town Council
University of Oxford
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.
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
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.
University of Oxford
Education Outcomes Fund
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.
Enuma Inc.
University of Oxford
Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation
Independent
Chair
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.
South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC)
University of Oxford
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
University of Oxford
Chair
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.
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.
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 …
Cordaid
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 …
The Healthy Brains Global Initiative
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 …
University of Toronto
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.
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 …
Sunbird Finance & InvestPalestine: Impact Advisors
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 …
Mathematica
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 …
Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF)
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.
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.
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
University of Oxford
Chair
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 …
University of Melbourne
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 …
Social Finance
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 …
Krutham
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.
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.
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.
Submit the event access code to reveal the session/meeting credentials.