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Social impact

Opencast is committed to being a purpose-led business that makes a positive impact on society. We are focused on doing the right thing for everyone, and this includes our people, our clients and our wider communities.

Our social impact approach is about living our values and delivering on our purpose to “make life better through the power of people and technology”. The aim of our social impact work is to meaningfully contribute to solving the collective challenges our society is facing.

Cover of the impact report showing an opencast team member smiling in conversation with another team member

Our commitment to transparency and impact

Our impact report is our opportunity to share openly how we are living our purpose and the difference we are making. As a certified B Corp, we believe in holding ourselves accountable to high standards of social and environmental performance. The 2024 report highlights progress across governance, our people, communities and the planet. It shows how we scaled pro and low bono programmes, strengthened employee voice and inclusion, and advanced our journey to net zero by 2040. It also sets out where we go next as we continue building a business that is human-centred, sustainable and responsibly future-focused.

Opencast’s social impact strategy

Our work focuses on three social impact pillars, which are informed by and aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and His Majesty's Government Social Value Model (HMG's SVM). They are underpinned by the values and principles of intersectionality and inclusion.

Better health and wellbeing

The right to health is a fundamental human right. It means everyone, regardless of identity or circumstance, has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Healthy populations are also the bedrock of peaceful, thriving societies.

Within this pillar, we have three focus areas:

Improving mental health and wellbeing, including loneliness.
Improving physical health and wellbeing, including substance abuse and dependency including drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Improving access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, rights, and services.

Fairer economy and society

There is an inequality in the uneven distribution of global wealth and income. This inequality leads to further disparities including lower literacy and educational attainment, worsening health outcomes, concentration of power and weakened democratic governance.

Within this pillar, we have three focus areas:

Improving access to decent work with equal pay for all, with particular emphasis on women, LGBTQIA+ people, people of colour, people with disabilities, young people under 24 years old and migrants.
Improving access to entrepreneurship for all, with particular emphasis on women, LGBTQIA+ people, people of colour, people with disabilities, young people under 24 years old and migrants.
Eliminating forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour.

Thriving places and planet

The global temperature has already risen 1.1ºC above the pre-industrial level, and the impacts of climate change are being felt everywhere but especially by the poorest and most marginalised communities.

Climate change is not the only negative environmental phenomenon making the world a more inhospitable place and threatening our survival: biodiversity loss and ecosystem destruction are pushing forward a mass extinction, increasing the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, displacing millions of people, increasing poverty and economic inequality, worsening people’s health and even causing armed conflicts.

Within this pillar, we have three focus areas:

Decoupling economic success from environmental destruction
Supporting healthy habitats and strong biodiversity
Achieving decarbonisation and Net Zero

How will we get there?

Opencast is determined to harness the power of digital technologies to collectively tackle the most serious global challenges and build healthier, happier lives, a fair economy, and support a thriving planet.

To achieve this, we must consider digital technologies in light of the values that drive the social, economic and political systems in which they exist. In turn, this means examining the power systems and structures that govern society.

We note three core beliefs we must challenge:

‘Digital technologies are neutral’ > needs to evolve into > ‘Digital technologies are purposeful’.
‘Every problem has a technological solution’ > needs to become > ‘Digital technologies are one of many potential tools to solve collective challenges’.
‘Digital technologies give people what they want’ > must evolve into > ‘Digital technologies do no harm’.

Our approach

Ways we can make an impact

We have identified three ways in which we believe Opencast is well positioned to contribute to meaningful positive change for people and planet.

Impact mindsets and behaviours

We will embody a social impact-led business to showcase the enormous potential for good that happens when private sector actors embrace doing the right thing for people and planet day to day.

Thought leadership and advocacy

We will help further the understanding of digital technologies’ potential for good by publishing thought products and engaging with governments, international organisations, civil society and our wider industry.

Service provision

In partnership with non-profits, governments, social enterprises and other impact-focused organisations, we will work in places, spaces and with communities that are underserved or excluded from the benefits of digital technologies to deliver direct impact.

Our initiatives

Opencast’s social impact initiatives are the ways in which we deliver and contribute solutions to collective problems society is facing. They align with our social impact pillars and fall into two categories: Communities and Beyond sustainability.

Communities

These are the ways we work with our communities. It’s a flexible offer we can adapt to collaborate on a wide range of social and environmental projects across multiple organisational and operational contexts. This initiative covers sharing expertise and providing services directly to purpose-led organisations:

People and skills
Funding
In kind support

People and skills
Funding
In kind support

People and skills
Funding
In kind support

Sustainability

We are committed to more sustainable working and contributing to a greener, cleaner, fairer future. These are the ways we’re working to integrate sustainability in all we do:

Sustainable by default
Our move to Net Zero

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Group of people standing together in front of a bright green Refuweegee sign.

Bright, multi‑coloured mural featuring flowers, hearts, cartoon characters and the words “Welcome,” “Home,” and “Refuweegee.”

Explore social impact initiatives

Why are we doing this?

Digital technologies can help us tackle the biggest collective challenges we face as a global community and have huge potential to bring about more accessible and fairer solutions for everyone, especially those who are excluded due to race, ethnicity, gender or disability.

However, when implemented poorly, these same technologies can also cause harm, reinforce the predominant social values and norms, or disproportionally impact systemically marginalised populations.

There are three key concerns:

Digital technologies created for maximising profits can negatively impact people’s health and wellbeing

Where business models and design choices are not aligned with user needs or an equitable approach, the following issues can arise:

An increase in harmful content, pervasive online bullying, harassment, and exploitation which is in turn leading to increased polarisation, radicalisation, and social isolation.
A loss of collective sense and decision-making, as people increasingly live in ‘information bubbles’ where misinformation and disinformation replace objective, evidence-based information flows. This erodes democratic governance and human rights.

Digital technologies are contributing to an extreme concentration of wealth and power

In a sector dominated by a few big players in high-income countries, the risk increases for economic inequality, oppression and exclusion. This includes:

Excluding people (either through a lack of access or digital literacy) from access to education, employment, public and business services and opportunities. Digital technologies can contribute to the marginalisation of people of colour, people living in poverty, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ people, and people with disabilities.
Increasing pressure of public services.
Limiting governments’ policy options, as technology businesses drive high percentages of GDP and governments are reticent to make choices that might impact their economic interests. This contributes to weakened democratic governance, worsening human rights violations and, in the worst cases, failed States.

Digital technologies are resource-intensive which can contribute to serious environmental harm

Technology requires a large amount of resources but this increases the environmental footprint of technology. In addition, the countries with these resources often face economic inequality. The challenges in this space include:

A need for the mining of minerals, high amounts of waste and high energy consumption. This contributes to the rapid breakdown of ecosystems and worsening health and wellbeing.
Economic inequality as countries rich in natural resources see the profits from their extraction syphoned off back to high-income countries through free trade and foreign investment agreements. This also leads to weakened democratic governance, and human rights violations on a global scale.
Huge flows of displaced people: 117.2 million people will be forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023, according to UNHCR's estimations.

Blog post

Tom Lawson standing on a stage under dramatic blue and purple lighting, wearing a light blue button‑up shirt. They are positioned near a lectern and microphone stand, holding their hands together as if mid‑talk. The dark background and spotlighting suggest a live presentation or speech at a professional event or conference.

Reflections on 2025: Challenge, change and growth at Opencast

Opencast’s Chief Executive Tom Lawson reflects on a year of challenge, change and growth, from tough decisions to renewed momentum and purpose-led progress.

Social Impact & Sustainability

People & Culture

Learning & Development

Blog post

Reflections on 2025: Challenge, change and growth at Opencast

Opencast’s Chief Executive Tom Lawson reflects on a year of challenge, change and growth, from tough decisions to renewed momentum and purpose-led progress.

Social Impact & Sustainability

People & Culture

Learning & Development

Blog post

A large, imaginative outdoor adventure playground surrounded by trees and greenery. The structure features wooden towers, bridges, slides, and climbing elements, designed with a fairytale theme inspired by oversized leaves, mushrooms, and whimsical pointed rooftops painted in green, red, and brown. A wide open path and grassy area run alongside the play space, with benches placed nearby. The bright blue sky and lush surroundings create a playful, storybook atmosphere.

More than just child’s play: partnering with The Alnwick Garden

Opencast joined forces last year with The Alnwick Garden to help it evaluate the impact of its showcase Lilidorei play project – and to develop an innovation framework to help Alnwick boost both its financial performance and impact. How did our agile approach to the project help? And what can others looking to innovate learn?

Social Impact & Sustainability

Two people seated side by side during an indoor discussion or panel event. One person is wearing a blue checkered shirt and is slightly turned toward the other, holding their hands together in their lap. The other person is wearing a red top with a white polka‑dot pattern. A dark backdrop and event signage are visible behind them, suggesting a professional talk or community discussion setting.

Blog post

More than just child’s play: partnering with The Alnwick Garden

Social Impact & Sustainability

Blog post

Two people seated at a table in a casual, modern indoor workspace, each working on an open laptop covered in colourful tech‑related stickers and logos. One laptop is black and heavily decorated with programming and developer community stickers, while the other is silver with stickers related to coding, JavaScript, and CSS. The person on the right is wearing a black T‑shirt and a black baseball cap, and the person on the left is wearing a dark striped top. Overhead pendant lights, exposed ceiling elements, and other people working in the background suggest a collaborative coworking space or tech meetup environment.

Opencast develops new collaborations with non-profits

The past year has seen Opencast discovering new ways to deliver positive social impact by deepening our connections with non-profit organisations. So how are we doing this? And what are we learning? As B Corp Month 2025 begins, our Social Impact Delivery lead shares our experience so far.

Social Impact & Sustainability

Photo of Alice Durand who has a bob cut wearing a blue jumper while smiling at the camera

Blog post

Opencast develops new collaborations with non-profits

Social Impact & Sustainability

Blog post

Reflections on 2025: Challenge, change and growth at Opencast

Opencast’s Chief Executive Tom Lawson reflects on a year of challenge, change and growth, from tough decisions to renewed momentum and purpose-led progress.

Social Impact & Sustainability

People & Culture

Learning & Development