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This think piece focuses on deep-dive research into seven businesses that are operating at the care-climate-gender nexus. We share findings on achievements and challenges, and recommendations for impact investors who are interested in the “triple win” of reducing women’s and girls’ unpaid care work, enhancing climate resilience, and promoting gender equality.

This tool was designed to support investors, fund managers, and businesses apply an integrated care, climate, and gender lens to their investments and activities. It offers a conceptual framework and data collection strategy to assess how well businesses are achieving the interconnected goals of reducing unpaid care work, enhancing climate resilience, and advancing gender equality. Additionally, it serves as a valuable resource for identifying areas where investors can support investee businesses to deepen their impact across these three dimensions.

This report draws on 20 in-depth case studies to explore the varying impacts that care economy enterprises are having on women workers and consumers. Through secondary analysis of the quantitative and qualitative outcome data presented in each case study, this report illustrates how these businesses are contributing to women’s enhanced social and economic empowerment and how the four pathways are being implemented in practice. Additionally, the report offers valuable insights into “what works” to achieve positive impact for women through care economy businesses. Further, it provides an overview of how these businesses are currently capturing outcomes and impact, and identifies gaps in current impact measurement systems. The report concludes with actionable recommendations for businesses, investors, funders, and practitioners on how to enhance impact measurement, support normative change, and guide program design and advocacy efforts to maximise the potential gender impact of these investments.

This report will conduct a meta analysis of different types of care business models, highlighting what works (or does not work) as well as challenges and specific needs (financial and non-financial), with live examples of businesses. It will explore differences in business model scale within and between businesses – including those that recognise and reward paid care work, that reduce unpaid care work time poverty, and that redistribute care work more equally within society – in terms of reach, impact, size and revenue. This report will help businesses learn about other business models and what works, help government, funds, private investors and ecosystem builders target their financial and non-financial support in a catalytic way and to the most promising models.

Kore Global is partnering with Root Capital, with IDRC’s support, to field-test a pilot of cooperative-level care investment across three coffee cooperatives in Costa Rica. And we are building the tools to replicate it. Working with a largely migrant workforce, the pilot aims to validate care as productive infrastructure through the Casas de la Alegria model, which delivers childcare, nutrition, and safe developmental spaces during harvest season. The outcome will be a complete, deployable model: an ROI framework that translates care into firm and workforce performance metrics, a tested blended finance vehicle, and a proposal for TA integration for agricultural lenders and gender-lens fund managers. 

The report can be accessed in English and Spanish.

We will co-design an accelerator with an implementing partner in Colombia. The accelerator will provide financial, mentoring, and capacity strengthening support to selected community-based care organizations. Key components will include an initial bootcamp, flexible seed grants, mentoring from regional specialists, and participation in key events. This program aims to enhance the sustainability and scalability of these organizations, promoting innovative and sustainable care solutions. The report will share our successes, challenges and key learnings from the accelerator pilot.