Impact UK: Raising the bar
We interviewed Grant Gordon as part of Impact UK: The sizing and the story of the impact economy.
Born into a whisky business rooted in community, Grant Gordon and his Ethos Foundation are committed to helping disadvantaged young children prepare for school in a bid to break cycles of family poverty.
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There are 700,000 children in London who live in poverty. Between now and 2035, Grant Gordon is looking to put a dent in that figure.
His upbringing in the family whisky business William Grant & Sons instilled in him the belief that wealth had a duty to look after its community.
What started with an examination of the challenges faced by disadvantaged families evolved into a philanthropic focus on the early years of childhood to break the cycle of poverty.
Success for us, would be seeing more children ready for school, socially, emotionally, and cognitively.
The Spark
I come from a family business background, and my late uncle, who was the chairman, felt very strongly that we owed something to the communities where we worked.
These communities were vital to us, not just commercially, but because we depended on them and wanted to see them thrive. Another key moment came when my father passed away in 2013. He had written, in his own hand, a short note outlining his wish to create the Charles Gordon Foundation to support children in their first thousand days, early years, from pregnancy through early childhood.
It was powerful. It made me stop and think, ‘Right—this is his vision. What do we do about it?’ That led to approaching NPC in 2017 to help us explore the early years space. It began a journey of learning and listening to others about how to make a real difference in early childhood.
The Choice
We had to decide: were we going to focus on advocacy or implementation?
We chose implementation—where the rubber hits the road in terms of really making systems change.
That led us to the concept of collective impact, how to make systems change locally by joining up services and community efforts.
During Covid-19, my wife and I decided to put more liquidity into the foundation to really step up our work. Our daughters said, ‘Dad, you take the lead on this,’ and that’s what led to the Ethos Foundation becoming a spend-down foundation, deciding to give all our capital by 2035.
We want to help society reach a point where giving children the best start in life is seen as a shared responsibility, not just a family’s burden.
The Impact
Success for us would be seeing more children ready for school, socially, emotionally, and cognitively.
We believe that’s the best way of breaking cycles of poverty in families.
We know from research, from Professor James Heckman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics, that the best social return on investment comes from early childhood. It’s called the Heckman Equation. That’s a powerful validation of what we’re doing. It’s still early days, and we may not see the full impact for years, but if we can help society value early years more highly, strengthen implementation on the ground, and improve coordination of services, then we’ll have made meaningful change.
The Future
We’ve committed to spending our resources by 2035. By then, the capital we have will be fully deployed.
We want to make an impact now, not leave it for future generations to decide what to do with.
We’re expanding into advocacy, not just implementation, to help shift public and policy understanding of how vital the early years are.
Ultimately, we want to help society reach a point where it truly values giving children the best start in life, where it’s seen as a shared responsibility, not just a family’s burden.
Emotional ROI
When we made the decision to spend down, it felt liberating. It was like something lifted off my shoulders. It simplified things and gave us clarity.
It also felt good that our children were so comfortable with it. They’re grown up, with families of their own, and it was meaningful to know they supported me taking this forward. It was a nice moment for us as a family.
Working in this space feels very close to home, it’s about our society, our nation, our children. Some philanthropists choose to work overseas, but for me, it’s important to address these deep-seated issues here in the UK.
A healthy society can’t be one where a third of children live in poverty.
Giving Forward
Take your time. Learn, listen and absorb. Gather knowledge before acting.
Don’t rush in. Go and talk to experts, talk to people who’ve done it before. It’s incredibly valuable to work with advisors and organisations like NPC or Dartington, to be informed by evidence and data.
Remember that impact in some areas, like early years, takes time. You might not see the results yourself, but that doesn’t make it any less worthwhile.
Read the full Impact UK report
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