The Better World Agenda
Bridging Academia and Philanthropy
Why we need the Better World Agenda now
As the world faces overwhelming and seemingly increasing challenges, the global community faces a sobering truth: despite collective ambition and significant philanthropic investment, meaningful progress on equitable development, tackling climate change, and crisis resilience has been slow and uneven.
At the same time, we are living through a period of seismic change. The COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, and the weakening of global multilateral institutions are reshaping the world at extraordinary speed.
Old models, ideas, and ways of working are no longer enough. The complexity of our challenges requires our key institutions to redefine the roles and redesign how they work with others - this moment calls for more than doing things together, we need to help transform each other in the process.
We need a new vision for the future - one shaped by collective purpose, shared accountability, and institutional transformation.
We need a new ‘Agenda’ to create a better world.
Our Vision - Co-creating the Better World Agenda
The Better World Agenda is a bold, innovative attempt to imagine a different future — an aspiration rooted in community wisdom, propelled by university-led innovation, and resourced by philanthropy’s catalytic capital.
It is a living framework intended to evolve through dialogue, reflection, and collective action. It offers an alternative pathway for universities and philanthropy to co-create a vision for the future, grounded in shared purpose and mutual accountability.
Our aims
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Co-create a blueprint for an inclusive, equitable, and transformative future, informed by the institutional strengths of universities and philanthropy.
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Coalesce islands of excellence across research, innovation, leadership development, and community engagement.
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Identify incentives for deeper collaboration between Universities and Philanthropic institutions.
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Strengthen mutual learning between Global South and North institutions, recognising that leadership for the future cannot be unidirectional.
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Reignite the spirit of world-class centres for innovation, grounded in equity and well-being, rather than institutional prestige
Dreamers and Advisors
The Better World Agenda is an initiative co-created by a global group of change-makers.
Joseph Wong
Vice-President, International, University of Toronto.
Professor Joseph Wong is Vice-President, International, University of Toronto, where he is also a Professor of Political Science. He held the Canada Research Chair in Health, Democracy, and Development for two terms from 2006 to 2016, and the Roz and Ralph Halbert Professor of Innovation at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy from 2013 to 2023. He was selected to be a Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation mentor and fellow in 2023.
Prior to being appointed Vice-President in 2021, Professor Wong was the U of T’s inaugural Associate Vice-President and Vice-Provost, International Student Experience, and before that, the Director of the Asian Institute, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He is the author of several books, including the latest From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia in 2022, published by Princeton University Press.
Professor Wong founded the Reach Alliance.
Gwen Burrows
Assistant Vice-President, International Engagement & Impact in the Office of the Vice President International.
Gwen Burrows is Assistant Vice-President, International Engagement & Impact in the Office of the Vice President International. In her role, she collaborates with colleagues across the university and internationally to advance U of T’s global engagement and impact in research, in teaching and learning.
She leads a staff team situated in 6 different countries, who together implement the university’s international strategy across multiple dimensions, with a particular focus on region-specific engagement strategies and the development of respectful, reciprocal partnerships to maximise U of T’s global impact.
Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Gwen held a number of leadership positions at The Hospital for Sick Children, including as Executive Director, Public Affairs and Child Health Advocacy from 2013-2017 and as Director of Strategy in the SickKids Research Institute.
Louise Pulford
Senior Advisor & Social Innovation Expert.
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Louise was the CEO of the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) for 15 years and is now a Senior Advisor. Under Louise’s leadership, SIX grew into an independent organisation, developed into a truly global team, and became deeply embedded in an international network. Most recently, she has secured the next chapter of SIX through a new partnership with the EdelGive Foundation in India: EdelGive with SIX.
Louise has played a pivotal role in strengthening the social innovation field globally and elevating its visibility on both national and global agendas, from working with the European Commission since 2010 and pioneering a decade-long collaboration with the Mayor of Seoul to embed social innovation practices across the city. Louise is a global bridge builder and has worked closely with foundations and universities around the world to help them embrace social innovation and prepare for future challenges since 2013.
Aparna Uppaluri
Founder & Principal Advisor, Antara Advisory
Aparna Uppaluri is a seasoned global executive with deep expertise in strategic planning and implementation across philanthropy, research, and policy. She has led programs and initiatives spanning gender and climate justice, public health, education, livelihoods, governance, arts and culture, and academia.
Aparna is Founder and Principal Advisor of Antara Advisory, a practice rooted in Global Majority knowledge and practice. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer at the Tata Trusts and as Senior Global Program Officer for Gender Justice at the Ford Foundation.
In 2024, Aparna was named Philanthropy Professional of the Year by the Hurun Report, India. At present, she serves on the global advisory bodies of EM203, Empower Foundation, Reach Alliance, Centre for Health Equity and the Sustainable Futures Collaborative.
Payaswini Tailor
Co-Founder & Head of Research and Operations, Antara Advisory.
Payaswini Tailor is Co-Founder and Head of Research and Operations at Antara Advisory, a boutique advisory firm offering strategy, knowledge development, accompaniment, and facilitation support to philanthropies, non-profits, CSRs, and social enterprises.
A strategy and research professional with experience across philanthropic, multilateral, civil society, and research institutions, she has led large-scale studies and contributed to programme design and grant portfolios at the Ford Foundation and Tata Trusts.
At Antara, she oversees research design, operations, and strategic communications, and is committed to strengthening knowledge ecosystems that centre diverse worldviews and the priorities of Global South social change actors.
The Actors -
Who should be creating this Better World Agenda?
Universities and philanthropic institutions have a unique and key role in creating, and delivering, a Better World Agenda. Both institutions have long been central to expanding knowledge, nurturing leadership, testing new approaches, and advancing ideas that shape societies. And their incentives allow for experimentation that States and Markets often cannot.
But despite this potential, they also carry legacies, habits and institutional structures that can stifle action and innovation. And when they come together, they often collaborate around transactional funding arrangements rather than exploring the full spectrum of what each can offer: deep research capacity, networks of influence, proximity to communities, catalytic investment, and the ability to convene diverse actors.
In our volatile times, universities and philanthropic institutions are being called to redefine their roles - to become more agile, future-oriented, and responsive to the world’s most urgent challenges. Now is the time for both institutions to step up - to rest, reimagine and redefine their roles, and co-evolve together toward mutual transformation.
The Action
We’re bringing together a group of carefully selected senior leaders from universities across the Global North and South, and leading philanthropic institutions worldwide to gather at the University of Toronto on 22 & 23 June 2026.
Together we will:
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Examine whether existing institutional models are fit for purpose
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Explore how philanthropy and universities can individually and jointly reset
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Surface new modes of collaboration that go beyond transactional partnerships
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Engage in shared learning, with special attention to South–North exchange
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Map the contours of a forward-looking Better World Agenda
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Build the relationships to make future collaboration, innovation and tangible action.
This event is a starting point - a first step in charting an actionable course towards more equitable, inclusive, and future-fit systems. We don’t intend to create a finished blueprint for a Better World Agenda - rather this is an invitation to build one together aligning values, incentives, and expertise across sectors. Following the event, we’ll be hosting further meetings, working groups and opportunities to connect and co-create the ‘Agenda’ with us.
The first gathering in Toronto
This convening is a preparatory step - a space for universities and philanthropy to pause and re-examine their modes of engagement, learning, innovation, and resourcing in service of communities. Only by doing this internal work of introspecting and resetting institutional practices and relationships can we approach communities with the respect, openness, and shared responsibility they deserve.
Preparing for that next step of community-centered collaboration is one of the central goals of the meeting in Toronto. The Better World Agenda begins with institutional reckoning, but moves forward with the intention to co-create with communities in ways that are just, transformative, and enduring.