2025 Q1 Report
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Peter Brietbart
Fund Manager
Lily Yu
Fund Manager
The disruption to international aid in early 2025 highlighted the vulnerability of essential mental health and wellbeing services to volatility in large public funding systems, with low- and middle-income countries often most exposed. In this context, Bloom’s role as a nimble, evidence-informed funder is increasingly important.
Full managers’ insights
An unexpected start to the year
A series of rapid policy changes by the Trump administration—including an immediate pause on U.S. foreign assistance, widespread stop-work orders issued by the U.S. State Department, and a sharp reduction in operational capacity at USAID—created sudden funding and operational disruption across the sector.
For implementing organisations, including several Bloom grantees, this translated into interrupted reimbursements, programme suspensions, staffing pressures, and short-term risks to service continuity.
Collectively, these developments have increased uncertainty and financial strain across the global aid ecosystem and are expected to continue affecting delivery capacity through 2025.
Why Bloom’s Work Matters
The disruption to international aid in early 2025 highlighted the vulnerability of essential mental health and wellbeing services to volatility in large public funding systems, with low- and middle-income countries often most exposed. In this context, Bloom’s role as a nimble, evidence-informed funder is increasingly important.
Bloom can respond quickly, target resources toward interventions with strong evidence of impact, and help stabilise delivery, measurement, and learning during periods of uncertainty.
Bloom also plays a critical ecosystem role by promoting cost-effectiveness, WELLBY-based impact measurement, and transparency, supporting more strategic allocation of philanthropic capital at a time when resources are constrained. Through co-funding, shared evidence standards, and coordination with other funders, Bloom helps reduce fragmentation and sustain momentum behind effective interventions. In response to the current environment, Bloom has refined its strategy to emphasise deeper coordination and crowding-in of aligned donors, selective use of time-bound bridge funding to preserve delivery capacity, and continued investment in policy-level and systems interventions where wellbeing gains can be achieved at scale.
Grants
In Q1, Bloom made three strategic grants to advance evidence-based mental health and wellbeing across Asia and the UK.
First, we supported the National University of Singapore to deliver the Global Mental Health in Asia 2025 symposium—the first convening of its kind dedicated to accelerating rigorous, evidence-led mental health innovation across the region.
Second, we co-funded a grant with Agency Fund to J-PAL South Asia, supporting a research project led by Esther Duflo at MIT. The study examines community-based mental health interventions for older women experiencing depression in Tamil Nadu, India.
Beyond clinical outcomes, the research will measure changes in life satisfaction and assess potential spillover effects on family members—strengthening the evidence base for scalable, wellbeing-focused policy.
Finally, we renewed our grant to World Wellbeing Movement (WWM) to advance the integration of wellbeing research into UK public policy and to build on recent progress reactivating the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics. Further details on all three grants are available in the Grants section.
Ecosystem building
Bloom launched its inaugural Bloom Wellbeing Fellowship in February, alongside the Global Mental Health in Asia Symposium. The Fellowship is an online, certification-based training programme designed for early-career researchers, NGO leaders, and policymakers, equipping participants with rigorous foundations in impact measurement through a wellbeing lens. The curriculum was developed by the Happier Lives Institute, drawing on best-in-class methodologies for assessing cost-effectiveness and wellbeing outcomes.
As part of this collaboration, Bloom also supported 10 early-career researchers and policymakers from low- and middle-income countries to attend the Symposium. This enabled participants to engage directly with cutting-edge evidence on cost-effective mental health interventions and to strengthen their capacity to integrate wellbeing measurement into programmes and public policy.
Through initiatives like the Bloom Wellbeing Fellowship, Bloom is helping to build the next generation of evidence-informed leaders in global mental health.
NEW GrantEEs
One of Bloom’s core priorities this year has been to deepen collaboration and expand the community working on evidence-based wellbeing. In pursuit of this goal, we partnered with Agency Fund and the National University of Singapore to pool resources, align expertise, and strengthen the evidence-based wellbeing ecosystem across regions.
We also renewed our grant to the World Wellbeing Movement, recognising strong early traction in their efforts to reinvigorate the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics and to advance the integration of wellbeing into UK public policy.
J-PAL
Based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai, J-PAL South Asia is one of the regional hubs of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a global research centre that designs and evaluates anti-poverty and development programs using rigorous methods.
This grant supports research on community-based mental health interventions for elderly women with depression in Tamil Nadu, India. The project will also assess life satisfaction and explore potential spillover effects on family members.
The project is led by Professor Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT’s Department of Economics, and co-founder and co-director of J-PAL.
This is a matched co-funding initiative with the Agency Fund.
World Wellbeing Movement
The World Wellbeing Movement (WWM) is a UK charity dedicated to placing wellbeing at the heart of decision-making in business and public policy.
This grant renewal will support WWM’s ongoing work, including the establishment of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Wellbeing Economics to embed wellbeing evidence into UK policymaking.
Global Mental Health In Asia 2025 Symposium
The SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute at the National University of Singapore hosted the Global Mental Health in Asia Symposium—the first event of its kind to promote evidence-based mental health innovations across the region.
Through the Bloom Wellbeing Fund, travel fellowships were awarded to selected researchers and NGO leaders from low- and middle-income countries in Asia. Participants also received access to an online certification course developed by the Happier Lives Institute on measuring wellbeing and wellbeing metrics.
Grantee Updates
Strongminds
StrongMinds remains on track to achieve its 2025 target of delivering depression treatment to approximately 580,000 individuals across Uganda, Zambia, and partner countries. This builds on a highly successful 2024, during which the organisation exceeded its annual target by 27%, reaching 426,642 individuals—82% of whom were women and girls. Services were delivered through StrongMinds’ country offices in Uganda and Zambia, and via partnerships in Kenya, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
StrongMinds continued to deepen its integration with government systems. In 2024, more than half of all clients (233,185) were reached through public health and education services, reflecting effective collaboration with government ministries. The organisation trained an additional 300 Community Health Workers in Uganda and Zambia in Interpersonal Therapy for Groups (IPT-G), bringing the total number of government-affiliated volunteers delivering therapy to approximately 1,700. In parallel, StrongMinds supported the delivery of mental health programming in 267 schools in Uganda and launched its first in-school therapy pilots in Zambia, reaching nine schools. Operational efficiencies and scale contributed to a reduction in cost per patient from USD 30 to USD 23 by year-end.
In 2025, a core strategic priority is the expansion of StrongMinds’ Model District approach in Uganda. The pilot, launched in Masaka District in 2024, was designed to test district-level cost-sharing and government ownership of implementation. Early results were promising: district governments mobilised in-kind contributions and assumed responsibility for volunteer training, supervision, and programme delivery in both community and school settings. Building on this momentum, three additional districts—Buikwe, Bushenyi, and Masaka City—are scheduled to adopt the model in 2025, with further expansion planned for 2027.
StrongMinds is also preparing to launch a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) in Uganda to rigorously evaluate its six-week group talk therapy model. Following extensive pressure-testing in 2024, the organisation elected to pursue a two-phase research strategy. A pilot RCT in 2025 will finalise study design, refine measurement tools, and test secondary wellbeing outcomes. Subject to sufficient funding, a full-scale RCT is planned for early 2026 in partnership with IDinsight as Principal Investigator, with results expected in 2027. This approach is intended to strengthen the robustness of the evidence base and maximise the likelihood of generating policy-relevant findings.
Friendship Bench
Following the launch of the Friendship Bench handover strategy to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in October 2024, the organisation has continued to engage government stakeholders at national, provincial, district, and community levels to strengthen plans for integration and long-term scale within public systems.
Implementation within the MoHCC during the first two quarters of 2025 was, however, significantly affected by the USAID funding freeze. The disruption constrained several MoHCC partner organisations—particularly those supporting the AIDS and TB Unit—and had knock-on effects for the mental health department, as portions of these funds had been allocated to broader health-system strengthening. As a result, elements of the co-creation and handover process were necessarily rephased, with key activities now extending into Q3 and Q4 of 2025.
In parallel, the organisation has strengthened delivery of its programme to ensure continuity of services amid system-level uncertainty and to mitigate the impact of the abrupt withdrawal of external funding. This adaptive approach is intended to preserve service quality in the short term while maintaining momentum toward sustainable government ownership over the medium to long term.
Vida Plena
Over the past three months, Vida Plena has advanced its engagement with public sector partners to support government-led delivery of evidence-based mental health services.
Following the 2024 pilot with the Quito Department of Health, Vida Plena expanded the initiative by training an additional 20 mental health outreach staff, bringing the total to 29. Outreach workers are now facilitating structured group interventions under Vida Plena’s clinical supervision, representing a shift from one-off workshops and referrals toward ongoing service delivery. The Department has formally incorporated Vida Plena’s model into its 2025 institutional indicators, with participating staff expected to allocate approximately 50% of their time to group facilitation. The Patronato Municipal San José has also joined the initiative, with five staff members trained.
In parallel, Vida Plena has initiated a collaboration with the Provincial Government of Imbabura, working with the department for older adults to deliver group-based mental health support to elderly populations across the province.
During this period, Vida Plena experienced an external funding disruption following the termination of the USAID-funded PODER Project, resulting in an estimated USD 52,000 budget gap for 2025. Three additional group cycles were completed prior to project closure. The organisation has used reserves to avoid staff reductions but has paused several planned hires, including a government partnerships coordinator, pending further funding clarity.
Looking ahead, Vida Plena is prioritising financial sustainability while maintaining core delivery. A Director of Operations is being onboarded to strengthen organisational capacity and ensure continuity during a planned maternity leave of a co-founder. Planned activities for the next quarter include publication of the 2024 Impact Report, participation in a national mental health conference hosted by the Catholic University of Ecuador, and initial development of a Learning & Innovation Lab focused on programme quality improvement.
Same Same collective
Same Same set a target of engaging 200,000 new users over the grant period and has reached 59,848 users to date (approximately 30% of target). User growth accelerated in early 2025, with an average monthly growth rate of ~19.7% between January and April. Under a conservative growth assumption of 10% per month, cumulative users are projected to exceed the original target by the end of the grant period. However, user acquisition costs are rising in South Africa, and the programme has not yet launched in Nigeria, meaning these projections remain provisional and will be updated as additional market data becomes available. Current performance insights are drawn primarily from the Zimbabwe deployment, which has undergone more recent iteration.
A key learning for scale has been the importance of engagement incentives. The programme aimed to increase completion rates among qualifying users to 25%; the most effective delivery model currently achieves 41% completion. The introduction of a modest airtime incentive was associated with a large increase in completion rates (41% for incentivised users versus 5% for non-incentivised users). Testing of incentive levels between USD 1 and USD 6 showed that higher incentives produced only marginal gains, while a USD 1 incentive delivered the strongest cost-efficiency, with a total programme cost of approximately USD 3.20 per completed course. This finding has direct implications for scale, indicating that relatively small incentives can materially improve engagement without substantially increasing unit costs. Work is ongoing to strengthen demographic data collection, particularly to better understand reach among LGBTQI+ users, while maintaining appropriate safeguards around consent and data sensitivity.
Mental health outcomes were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) among users in Zimbabwe. Of 21,748 users acquired, 2,653 (12%) completed both baseline and endline assessments. Among these users, the average reduction in depression symptoms was 2.31 points over a two-week period. Thirty-six percent recorded a reduction of five points or more, and 45% of those who improved moved into the “not depressed” category. Importantly, the airtime incentive was associated not only with higher completion but also stronger outcomes: 62% of incentivised users experienced reductions in PHQ-8 scores, compared to 55% of non-incentivised users. While causality cannot yet be established, this suggests that improved engagement may translate into greater therapeutic benefit, reinforcing the case for incentives as a scalable design feature.
Finally, a condensed “3-Day Challenge” version of the AFFIRM programme was piloted to test whether a more time-bound and structured format could improve outcomes. While overall completion rates were lower than the full programme, users who completed the challenge demonstrated substantially stronger results, with an average 5.11-point reduction in PHQ scores—more than double the average observed in the standard intervention. These results highlight a potential trade-off between reach and depth of impact and suggest that alternative formats may be effective for specific user segments. Any further investment in this model would require more rigorous testing, including randomised assignment and targeted recruitment, to assess whether the observed gains are driven by selection effects or genuine differences in effectiveness.
World Wellbeing Movement
The organisation also made good progress toward reinvigorating the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics, contacting over 150 parliamentarians and securing 17 confirmed members, representing a significant step forward in cross-party engagement on wellbeing economics.
WWM further contributed to UK policy development by submitting written evidence to the UK Business and Trade Committee as part of its inquiry into the Employment Rights Bill. The submission set out four key recommendations, including the adoption of science-based employee wellbeing measurement by businesses, reflecting WWM’s focus on employee wellbeing as a driver of population-level wellbeing. Internationally, WWM provided guidance to the United Nations through the UN Expert Group on Wellbeing Measurement, which reports to the UN General Assembly. WWM’s co-founder, Professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, convened a task team on subjective wellbeing and co-authored a paper with the organisation’s Head of Policy & Public Affairs outlining the practical advantages of subjective wellbeing measures. The paper aims to ensure subjective wellbeing is embedded within the UN’s forthcoming Framework for Sustainable and Inclusive Wellbeing and reflected in public policy at both UN and member-state levels.
Wellbeing Ecosystem and Development
This quarter, Bloom’s ecosystem-building and field-development work was strongly centred on Asia, reflecting the region’s growing momentum and the opportunity to shape the next phase of evidence-informed wellbeing funding.
In February, Bloom launched its inaugural Bloom Wellbeing Fellowship alongside the Global Mental Health in Asia Symposium. The Fellowship is an online, certification-based training programme designed for early-career researchers, NGO leaders, and policymakers, equipping participants with rigorous foundations in impact measurement through a wellbeing lens. The curriculum was developed by the Happier Lives Institute, drawing on best-in-class methodologies for cost-effectiveness analysis and wellbeing measurement.
Bloom supported 10 early-career researchers and policymakers from low- and middle-income countries to attend the Symposium, enabling direct engagement with cutting-edge evidence on cost-effective mental health interventions.
Together, the Fellowship and Symposium marked a meaningful step toward building a pipeline of evidence-focused leaders in global mental health across the region.
Bloom was also invited by Agency Fund and Tech4Dev to participate in a workshop in Bangalore, India, focused on the implications of artificial intelligence for international development. Bloom’s co-founder Peter participated in a funder panel alongside the Veddis Foundation, contributing perspectives on how funders can responsibly engage with emerging technologies while maintaining a focus on evidence and wellbeing outcomes.
While in India, Peter visited Bloom grantee Sangath in Goa, providing an opportunity to engage directly with on-the-ground delivery and deepen the partnership.
Further reflections and insights from these activities are available in the blog articles linked below.
AI for Doing Good: Lessons from the Frontlines of Global Development
Data, Pragmatism, and Care: Why Sangath’s Model is Remarkable