Heading for Change

What Heading for Change does

Heading for Change is a London-based, US-domiciled donor-advised fund (DAF) launched in 2022 by Suzanne Biegel and Dani Maskit with a $1MM endowment. The organization makes catalytic investments and grants at the intersection of climate and biodiversity solutions and gender equity, deploying 90% of contributions into investments and 10% into grants. Its primary products are a global demonstration portfolio of 18 climate and gender funds managing approximately $2.8 billion across Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, MENA, and Indigenous North America, an open-source Climate & Gender Investment Toolkit (Scorecard, Due Diligence Questionnaire, and portfolio construction tool), and a Donor-Partner community of more than 150 members that contributes between $100 and $1MM each. The fund operates as a field-building platform, sharing its investment thesis, criteria, due diligence outputs, and learnings publicly to enable replication by other investors.

The underlying "technology" is the open-source toolkit and the demonstration portfolio itself, rather than any proprietary software. The toolkit provides standardized five-dimension scoring and a climate-and-gender DDQ used by fund managers and investors; the portfolio, which includes vehicles such as KawiSafi Ventures Fund II ($200MM), EcoEnterprises Partners IV ($150MM), Circulate Capital Ocean Fund LAC ($100MM), Acumen Climate Action Pakistan Fund ($90MM), The Catalyst Fund, and others, functions as a reference set for the climate-gender investment thesis. The fund does not report traditional revenue; its inflow metric is contributed capital, which has grown from $1MM at launch to nearly $3.5MM by 2025.

Heading for Change serves individual impact investors and philanthropists, institutional and entity Donor-Partners (foundations, family offices), and gender-smart climate fund managers. Its go-to-market is community-led: individuals and entities contribute at any level to join the Donor-Partner community, which is activated through quarterly newsletters ("Making Waves"), "Voices from the Field" interviews, the annual Insights Report, open-source tool distribution, and co-investment partnerships with other DAFs such as Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund. Leadership includes Dani Maskit (Trustee, Chief Ursine Officer), Jackie VanderBrug (Trustee), Sana Kapadia (Chief Catalyst), Natalie Shriber (Head of Investments), and Rose Maizner (Director of Investments). Skoll Foundation is a documented seed funder and Donor-Partner. Suzanne Biegel, the original co-founder, passed away in September 2023 and was posthumously honored with the 2024 Joan Bavaria Award.

Name

Heading for Change

Legal name

Heading for Change

Website

https://headingforchange.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Heading for Change is a London-based, US-domiciled donor-advised fund that makes catalytic investments and grants at the climate and gender nexus, deploying capital into a global demonstration portfolio of 18 climate and gender funds and serving a 150+ member Donor-Partner community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Impact Investing and Donor-Advised Fund Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Renewable Energy & Energy Transition Funds (FSANAJAB), Transition / Engagement & Stewardship Funds (FSANAJAO), Results-Based Financing (RBF) & Performance-Based Grants (BPADAOAF)

Keywords

• Donor-advised fund
• Climate gender investing
• Impact investment portfolio
• Gender lens investing
• Catalytic capital grants

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donor Contributions: Heading for Change is a donor-advised fund (DAF) launched with a $1MM endowment by Suzanne Biegel and Dani Maskit. Contributions of any amount from individuals and entities are accepted into the Donor-Partner community. 90% of total contributions are applied to investments, with 10% flowing to grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Heading for Change is a donor-advised fund (DAF) that accepts contributions from individuals and entities into a Donor-Partner community and deploys 90% of those contributions as catalytic investments into a global demonstration portfolio of 18 private-market climate and gender funds, with the remaining 10% flowing to grants that support ecosystem building at the climate-gender nexus. It also publishes open-source investment tools, including a Scorecard and Due Diligence Questionnaire, that other investors can use to build their own climate-gender strategies.

Product overview

Heading for Change is a donor-advised fund (DAF) launched with a $1MM endowment that makes catalytic investments and grants accelerating proven climate and biodiversity solutions with women as agents of change. The organization operates as a unified platform combining a Global Demonstration Portfolio of 18 climate and gender funds, an open-source Investment Toolkit (including Scorecard and Due Diligence Questionnaire), a Donor-Partner community, and a Grants Program. 90% of contributions are applied to investments while 10% flows to grants supporting ecosystem building at the climate-gender nexus.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donor-Partner Community A community of 150+ Donor-Partners who contribute to a donor-advised fund focused on climate and gender investments; 90% of contributions are applied to investments and 10% to grants. Designed for individuals and entities seeking to deploy catalytic capital at the climate-gender nexus and benefit from shared quarterly newsletters, learning circles, and open-source tools.
• Global Demonstration Portfolio A portfolio of 18 private-market climate and gender funds managing $2.8 billion in assets, spanning Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and MENA and covering climate technology, food systems, oceans, and biodiversity. Functions as a demonstration portfolio that the Donor-Partner community and broader field can learn from.
• Heading for Change Investment Toolkit Open-source investment toolkit for fund managers, investors, and ecosystem players; bundles a Scorecard, Due Diligence Questionnaire, and portfolio construction tool to evaluate and build climate-gender aligned portfolios.
• Grants Program Grant-making program that directs 10% of total Donor-Partner contributions to ecosystem-building initiatives at the climate-gender nexus, including ecosystem mapping, digital investor platforms, and pre-accelerator programs for first-time fund managers.
• Climate and Gender Investment Scorecard A practical self-assessment tool for evaluating climate and gender investments across five dimensions — Climate, gender, climate and gender integration, organizational strength, and fund terms — with a 1-5 scoring scale to guide selection, due diligence, and post-investment support.
• Climate and Gender Due Diligence Questionnaire (DDQ) A questionnaire that assesses how candidate funds integrate climate and gender, emphasizing women as agents of change and examining impact, team strength, and community alignment to support fund screening and due diligence.

Quantifiable outcome

• 102.96 gigatons projected CO2 emissions drawn down by closing financing gaps for girl's education
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• VC IncludecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Heading for Change provided a catalytic grant to VC Include's Fund Fundamentals programme, a pre-accelerator for first-time fund managers in impact investing. The programme helps aspiring fund managers prepare for market, with 93% of participants self-identifying as investors upon completion. This supports HfC's mission to build the next generation of gender- and climate-smart fund managers.
• Artha NetworkssupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Heading for Change partnered with Artha Networks through a grant to undertake ecosystem mapping and establish a digital investor platform for pipeline and co-investment, aiming to mobilize capital for funds and initiatives combating climate change and gender inequality. Artha's platform provides curated climate-gender investment profiles, due diligence templates, and networking tools.
• Firebird CollectivesupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024A woman-founded and impact-led family office that used the Heading for Change Investment Toolkit to integrate gender considerations into its investment strategy for a mission-aligned multi-asset impact portfolio, including investing in women-led climate funds.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Acumen: Acumen is a pioneering impact investment organization deploying patient capital in climate adaptation and gender-inclusive businesses, including via Acumen Climate Action Pakistan Fund (a HfC portfolio investment). Comparable mission alignment and climate-gender portfolio overlap.
• Global Greengrants Fund: Global Greengrants Fund is a grantmaking foundation supporting environmental action globally, with strong gender equity focus. Comparable as a climate-environment grantmaking organization, though HfC's donor-advised structure and fund-of-funds model differs from GGF's direct grantmaking.
• Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund: Sea Forward is a collaborative multi-donor DAF making impact investments and grants for ocean health. It is a direct peer of Heading for Change: both are donor-advised funds deploying catalytic capital into thematic portfolios, and the two explicitly co-invested into Circulate Capital's Ocean Fund LAC.

Emerging players

• CapShift: CapShift is an impact investing platform and DAF sponsor enabling donors to deploy thematic capital. Comparable as infrastructure for donor-directed impact investing, including climate and gender strategies.
• 2X Global: 2X Global (formerly GenderSmart, co-founded by Suzanne Biegel) is the leading gender lens investing network and platform. It is comparable as a gender lens investing field-builder, though its focus is industry coordination and standards rather than direct DAF-style investment deployment.

Broad incumbents

• ImpactAssets: ImpactAssets is a DAF sponsor with a dedicated impact investing platform. It overlaps with Heading for Change in providing donor-advised structures for impact-oriented capital deployment, particularly in climate and gender lens investing strategies.
• Tides Foundation: Tides is one of the largest DAF sponsors and fiscal sponsors in the U.S., operating across climate, gender, and social justice themes. It is comparable to Heading for Change as a thematic, donor-advised charitable vehicle, though Tides operates at vastly greater scale and broader scope.
• Skoll Foundation: Skoll is a major impact philanthropy foundation and Donor-Partner/seed funder of Heading for Change. It is comparable as a climate-and-equity-aligned philanthropic foundation deploying capital and grants through a multi-asset impact strategy, but at a materially larger scale.
• Schwab Charitable: Schwab Charitable is one of the largest national DAF sponsors. Comparable as a donor-advised fund sponsor infrastructure, though its scale, donor base, and thematic breadth differ materially from HfC's niche climate-gender focus.
• National Philanthropic Trust: NPT is a major independent DAF sponsor. It is comparable as a large-scale DAF infrastructure provider, though HfC differentiates by maintaining a narrow thematic focus and active demonstration portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Heading for Change