The results reveal an uneasy reality. Education innovators are experiencing dramatic shifts in funding and resources. For most respondents, the outlook for funding is overwhelmingly negative. Yet, amid the turbulence, stories of resilience stand out, showing that it is innovators’ resilience and skilful adaptation strategies, collaboration, and determination, that keep them focused on the goal of making quality, equitable education available to all children.
A Rapidly Shifting Landscape of Funding
Between April and June 2025, HundrED collected 189 unique responses from our global innovator community. Innovators shared details about their operating budgets, sources of international aid, whether their funding was increasing or decreasing, and how shortfalls were being managed.
The findings were sobering:
- Overall sentiment is negative. Most innovators anticipate further funding cuts and instability.
- Those with a positive outlook tended to report either increased aid (from sources other than international donors) or stable funding streams.
- Adaptability is the lifeline. Many innovators emphasised that, despite challenges, their long-term survival depends on flexibility and creative problem-solving.
As one innovator put it: “Changes are 90% negative, 10% positive—yet organisations stick together and support each other.”
The Impact of Funding Cuts on Communities and Motivation
Behind the big numbers are harsh realities of children and communities most at risk:
“Girls are not allowed to attend high school… We provide online education… but families struggle to pay internet costs.”
“After the… decision of the American government, everything has changed rapidly, and also the other donors… the political framework in Europe has been changing rapidly with all of these right-wing political parties.”
Amid such challenges, innovators are driven less by motivation and more by resolve:
“It’s no longer motivation, it’s absolute determination… regardless of what comes, because we know what is needed.”
If one theme stands out from the 2025 Innovator Survey, it is resilience. Innovators may be navigating unprecedented volatility, but they are not giving up. Instead, they are relying on collaboration, determination, and adaptability to chart a path forward.
As one respondent noted: “We should work united to solve this… my hope now is the international community so that we can help each other.”
Why This Matters
The survey findings align with what our collaborators, BTS Spark’s Sean Slade observed: “Effective leaders do not cling to certainty, but instead embrace uncertainty with vulnerability and courage. Far from playing the superhero, they lead by listening, adapting, and working collectively.”
HundrED’s own CEO Lasse Leponiemi sees a parallel trend emerging: while global actors and large aid organisations are retreating from some country programmes, locally rooted organisations are stepping up.
“These organisations serve a specific context, and their role becomes even more important if and when global actors withdraw their programming. If we look at the silent trend of the current momentum, we might see the active decolonisation of education development work.”
Indeed, for the minority of innovators reporting positive changes, a common thread is a deep local grounding and diversified income streams.
Education is one of the most powerful levers for equity, and innovation in education is vital to keeping quality education access to children worldwide. Yet innovation cannot thrive without resources. The 2025 HundrED Innovator Survey is both a warning signal and a testament: while funding instability threatens progress, the resilience of education innovators offers hope.
The full survey findings are available now. Read the report here.
