Social Business Trust (SBT) have agreed to reinvestment in Challenge Partners, giving us 120 days of in-kind support to be provided by Bain. The investment will support our work to promote collaboration between schools and create programmes to facilitate school and trust improvement, leadership development, and share accredited great practice.
With this SBT support we plan to create a new five-year growth strategy, aiming to reach more schools, improving life chances for young people. We already have more than 500 partner schools and work with more than 100 trust partners, reaching 270,000 children and young people.
Lili Chahbazi, Bain, continues in her role of Investment Director, providing business advice to the Board and to our CEO, Dr Kate Chhatwal.
Since joining the SBT Portfolio in 2014, Challenge Partners has grown and increased their impact. Over the past year, Challenge Partners played a critical role in schools’ response to Covid19. This next investment round will support them to achieve a step-change in growth.
“Challenge Partners has benefited immensely from SBT support since 2014 and we were hugely grateful for the way corporate partners rallied round during the pandemic, even as they faced their own challenges. We are delighted that this new investment will bring substantial strategic support as we consider how to build on a successful first decade and widen and deepen our impact on tackling disadvantage in education and improving young people's life chances," said Dr Kate Chhatwal OBE, CEO, Challenge Partners
“We are very pleased to be reinvesting in Challenge Partners. Over the past eight years, following our first investment, we have seen the organisation grow, adapt and flourish. We are so proud to have been part of their success. We’re excited by what they’ve achieved in their tenth year and look forward to the next decade,” said Adele Blakebrough MBE, CEO, Social Business Trust
Challenge Partners is also one of the recipients of the 2021 Digital Impact Fund, supported by Permira.