Can unrestricted funding and radical trust unlock greater impact than traditional grants?

In this TBLI Talk, we sit down with Kevin Starr, CEO and director of the Mulago Foundation — one of the most respected and unconventional philanthropic organisations in the world. A former physician who stumbled into philanthropy in 1994, Kevin has spent three decades building a model that bets on the best people with the best ideas — and then gets out of their way.

Mulago finds, funds, advises, and promotes organisations with scalable solutions to poverty, working today with 50 portfolio organisations and 40 fellows across Africa, South Asia, and South America. Many of its portfolio organisations have become leaders in the global social sector.

In this episode:

• What truly defines a high-impact organisation — and why most funders get it wrong
• Why unrestricted, long-term funding produces better outcomes than traditional grant structures
• The case for grants over investments — and when each is the right tool
• How Mulago's eight-word mission statement framework helps social entrepreneurs design for measurable impact
• Why measuring impact is not just about accountability — it is how organisations get better
• The difference between organisations that scale and those that stall — and what funders can do about it
• How philanthropy can function as early-stage venture capital for humanity's biggest problems

The key insight: The social sector's biggest problem is not a lack of funding — it is a lack of rigour. The organisations that change the world are built around a big idea, designed for scale, and relentlessly focused on whether what they are doing is actually working.

⏱️ Episode Guide:

• 0:00 — What is a truly high-impact organisation?
• 0:X:XX — Mulago's model: unrestricted funding and radical trust
• 0:X:XX — Grant vs. investment: which drives more impact?
• 0:X:XX — Designing for scale: the eight-word mission statement
• 0:X:XX — Why measuring impact is the most important thing you can do
• 0:X:XX — What the best social entrepreneurs have in common
• 0:X:XX — The future of philanthropy as risk capital for humanity

👤 About Kevin StarrKevin Starr had a perfectly good career in medicine when he stumbled into philanthropy in 1994 — when his friend and mentor Rainer Arnhold died suddenly while the pair were working together in Bolivia, and Arnhold's family asked Starr to carry forward his legacy through the Mulago Foundation. Hewlett He completed medical school and residency at UC San Francisco. Mulagofoundation In 2003, he established the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program to apply Mulago's principles and tools to help social entrepreneurs turn good ideas into lasting change at scale. Inspiringsocialentrepreneurs Mulago's portfolio includes globally recognised organisations such as One Acre Fund, Blue Ventures, Digital Green, Educate Girls, Noora Health, and Global Forest Watch. Wikipedia Kevin is a regular contributor to the Stanford Social Innovation Review and serves as chairman of Big Bang Philanthropy, a group of funders working to direct capital to those best at fighting poverty.

Whether you are a philanthropist, an impact investor, a social entrepreneur, or a foundation leader, this episode is essential listening for anyone serious about making funding work harder for the world.

Note: Please update timestamps marked 0:X:XX once confirmed.

ABOUT TBLI RADICAL TRUTHReal experience. Real results. No greenwashing. TBLI Group is the world's leading ESG and impact investing network — educating, advising, and connecting investors for 25 years.

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