From Commitments to Change: CIF at the Clinton Global Initiative

When the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convened world leaders, corporate leaders, innovators, and impact funders in New York City this year, one theme was particularly strong: the need for scalable, equitable pathways for health innovation to solve the world’s greatest health challenges .

The Catalytic Impact Foundation (CIF) joined CGI as a 2025 Commitment Maker, pledging to scale CIF’s regenerative philanthropy model, mobilizing additional catalytic capital to help underfunded solutions reach patients faster. CIF’s work will primarily focus on three high-impact areas—women’s (and maternal) health, children’s health and rare disease, and brain & mental health—all sectors where transformational science often stalls in the early stages of development due to a lack of funding. 

At the event, CIF President Rachel Butler underscored the Foundation’s mission: “We exist to close the gap between what’s possible, and an accessible solution for patients. That takes capital, collaboration, and often the courage to move first.”

By 2030, CIF aims to:

• Fuel 60 new investments moving lifesaving ideas to market

• Match 30 mentors to guide transformative growth

• Train 40 executives to become change-making leaders

• Save 3 million lives through breakthrough innovations

• Improve 150 million+ lives by expanding access to critical solutions

CGI and CIF Collaboration

CIF’s collaboration with CGI signals the growing recognition that catalytic capital—the type of early, risk-tolerant, and systems-aware funding CIF deploys—is essential to scaling solutions where traditional markets hesitate to invest. It also aligns with CGI’s long-standing goal of supporting commitment makers to achieve measurable, global outcomes. Since its launch, more than 4,000 CGI commitments have improved the lives of more than 500 million people worldwide.

As CIF continues its CGI collaboration, the Foundation will publish updates on commitment progress, key partnerships, and lessons learned—helping other impact-focused funders replicate what works.

“CIF was founded on the principle of regenerative philanthropy (and coined the phrase!) — funding forward, using today’s returns to power tomorrow’s innovations,” said Rick Lipkin, Founder. “By working alongside the CGI community and global partners, we can build ecosystems for innovation that bring lifesaving solutions to patients in critical need.”