The Agency Fund

The Agency Fund is a US-based nonprofit innovation lab that works at the intersection of human agency, human development and social mobility. It applies research from the science of human agency, social psychology and development economics to help people navigate challenges, update beliefs and expectations, and make decisions that shape their futures. The organisation operates as a funder-doer, combining grantmaking with the active building of its own projects.

Its work takes three main forms. It pools resources from multiple donors into pooled funds; it builds agency-focused projects and interventions and invests in ideas and organisations doing the same; and it mobilises partnerships across the nonprofit, policy, academic and industry sectors to cultivate public knowledge and systemic impact. Technical interests span software, AI and R&D at the intersection of human agency, development and social mobility.

The team is small, global and interdisciplinary, and the organisation is based in the United States with an international reach. Its stated position is that all people deserve to live with agency and dignity, and its stated aims are to discover innovations, accelerate promising interventions and build public knowledge in the field.