We support public, private, and third-sector organizations in addressing complex social challenges through evidence-based social innovation, delivering real, scalable, and sustainable impact.

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We support public, private, and third-sector organizations in addressing complex social challenges through evidence-based social innovation, delivering real, scalable, and sustainable impact.

START A CONVERSATION →

Why Choose Us

01.

Tackling complex social challenges through social innovation

We work with approaches that recognize the systemic nature of major social challenges—such as poverty, inequality, or exclusion. We don’t offer simple solutions to complex problems. We apply systems thinking, multi-level analytical tools, and collaborative approaches to understand structural causes and design interventions with transformative potential.

02.

Experimenting with evidence-based solutions

We create safe spaces to test, refine, and validate solutions before scaling them. Combining creativity with rigor enables us to experiment with impact hypotheses, prototype interventions, and continuously incorporate data. Experimentation is not an end in itself but a strategy to reduce uncertainty and maximize real results.

03.

Impact-oriented financing

We help organizations and institutions link financial resources with the social outcomes they aim to achieve. We design blended financing mechanisms, pay-for-performance systems, and hybrid models that ensure economic sustainability without losing sight of the social purpose. We promote a new way of financing, focused on value created, not just activity performed.

04.

Building internal capacity for adaptive management during solution implementation

Implementation is not a final stage but a living process. We support organizations in developing their ability to learn while acting. We do this by integrating real-time decision-making systems, feedback structures, and a culture of strategic flexibility. This enables improved outcomes and agile responses to changing contexts.

05.

Scaling impact upward, outward, and deep

Not all scaling is the same. We work across three dimensions of scalability: upward (influencing public policies and institutional structures), outward (replicating best practices across territories or sectors), and deep (changing mindsets, cultures, and power relations). Systemic impact requires combining these dimensions according to context and strategy.

rotonda

06.

Developing the social ecosystem for systemic transformation

No organization can transform reality alone. That’s why we work to identify, connect, and energize key actors in a territory or sector. By facilitating alliances, co-creation processes, and common frameworks for action, we help build social innovation ecosystems that reinforce collective impact and sustain long-term change.

07.

Evaluating for learning and continuous improvement of solutions

Evaluation is not just an external requirement but an essential tool for growth and adaptation. At UpSocial, we design evaluation systems that support strategic decision-making, generate useful knowledge, and continuously improve solutions. They combine methodological rigor with participatory approaches and add value to the people and organizations involved.

Why Choose Us

01. Tackling complex social challenges through social innovation

We work with approaches that recognize the systemic nature of major social challenges—such as poverty, inequality, or exclusion. We don’t offer simple solutions to complex problems. We apply systems thinking, multi-level analytical tools, and collaborative approaches to understand structural causes and design interventions with transformative potential.

02. Experimenting with evidence-based solutions

We create safe spaces to test, refine, and validate solutions before scaling them. Combining creativity with rigor enables us to experiment with impact hypotheses, prototype interventions, and continuously incorporate data. Experimentation is not an end in itself but a strategy to reduce uncertainty and maximize real results.

03. Impact-oriented financing

We help organizations and institutions link financial resources with the social outcomes they aim to achieve. We design blended financing mechanisms, pay-for-performance systems, and hybrid models that ensure economic sustainability without losing sight of the social purpose. We promote a new way of financing, focused on value created, not just activity performed.

04. Building internal capacity for adaptive management during solution implementation

Implementation is not a final stage but a living process. We support organizations in developing their ability to learn while acting. We do this by integrating real-time decision-making systems, feedback structures, and a culture of strategic flexibility. This enables improved outcomes and agile responses to changing contexts.

05. Scaling impact upward, outward, and deep

Not all scaling is the same. We work across three dimensions of scalability: upward (influencing public policies and institutional structures), outward (replicating best practices across territories or sectors), and deep (changing mindsets, cultures, and power relations). Systemic impact requires combining these dimensions according to context and strategy.

rotonda

06. Developing the social ecosystem for systemic transformation

No organization can transform reality alone. That’s why we work to identify, connect, and energize key actors in a territory or sector. By facilitating alliances, co-creation processes, and common frameworks for action, we help build social innovation ecosystems that reinforce collective impact and sustain long-term change.

07. Evaluating for learning and continuous improvement of solutions

Evaluation is not just an external requirement but an essential tool for growth and adaptation. At UpSocial, we design evaluation systems that support strategic decision-making, generate useful knowledge, and continuously improve solutions. They combine methodological rigor with participatory approaches and add value to the people and organizations involved.

How We Work

Systems thinking

We analyze social challenges from a structural perspective, identifying root causes, interdependencies, and leverage points to achieve lasting change.

UpSocial Innovation Standards

We use our proprietary methodology to identify and analyze solutions with evidence of impact that can be adapted to new contexts.

Estandares UpSocial pdf

Theory of Change for Scaling

We apply our own methodology to identify and analyze solutions with proven impact that can be adapted for scaling to new contexts.

Open Innovation Applied to Social Challenges (Proposed)

We leverage open innovation processes to attract ideas, technologies, and solutions from diverse sectors and geographies, accelerating the design of responses to complex problems.

Scaling Deep, Scaling Out, Scaling Up

A comprehensive scaling approach that considers cultural change (deep), geographic or population expansion (out), and influence on policies and systems (up).

Payment by Results

A financing model where payments are conditional on the achievement of predefined and verified results. This includes Social Impact Bonds and Performance-Based Contracts.

Blended Finance

A combination of philanthropic, public, and private capital to finance social solutions, reducing risk and attracting large-scale investment.

Developmental & Rapid Cycle Evaluation

Agile and adaptive evaluation models that accompany the development and real-time implementation of solutions, facilitating continuous learning in complex environments.

Impact Evaluation

Rigorous evaluations aimed at attributing observed changes to a specific intervention, using experimental or quasi-experimental designs.

Design Evaluation

Evaluation of an intervention’s design to assess its internal coherence, causal logic, and suitability for the context and target population.

Adaptive Management

An iterative management model that allows for adjusting decisions and strategies on the fly, incorporating continuous learning and emerging evidence.

Agile Project Management

A flexible project management approach prioritizing incremental deliveries, constant collaboration, and responsiveness to change.

Results-Based Management (RBM)

We apply our own methodology to identify and analyze solutions with evidence of impact that can be adapted to new contexts.

Social Labs

We create collaborative experimentation spaces where multiple stakeholders can co-create, test, and iterate solutions to complex social challenges in real contexts.

Design Thinking

We apply a human-centered approach combining empathy, ideation, and prototyping to generate innovative, viable solutions aligned with the intended impact.

Lean Startup

Iterative cycles of build, measure, and learn to validate impact hypotheses at the lowest possible cost.