£1.5m landmark social investment pilot to boost Black and Global Majority-led social enterprises
19th May 2025 / Posted by Susannah WilksTrust for London, City Bridge Foundation and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation have created a six-year social investment pilot to support Black and global majority-led community enterprises.
The new ‘Beyond Barriers’ facility comprises a powerful blend of patient, flexible catalytic capital and skills support.
It’s built around knowledge sharing and skills transfer from Sumerian Foundation, a pioneering impact-first investor, to BUD Leaders – a Black-led, female-led organisation based in South London.
BUD Leaders will receive tailored support to build capacity as a future social investor, developing the team’s ability to identify, support and fund minority-led social enterprises.
Beyond Barriers responds to the findings of the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment, which called for “comprehensive structural reform” to the social investment market.
It also aims to fill a gap in the social investment market for unrestricted grant funding, identified in 2023 research by ClearView Research — a Black-led agency — drawing on feedback from social enterprises supported by Sumerian Foundation.
Find out more here. Watch this space for updates on how the pilot progresses.
