In a Nutshell

A selection of global news on steward ownership! Informed by everybody from Purpose and the steward ownership ecosystem to bring you up to speed across different categories.

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Newsletter

SO Monthly Brief: October 2026

SO Monthly Brief:
October 2026

A selection of global news on steward ownership

Informed by everybody from PURPOSE and the SO ecosystem to bring you up to speed across different categories.

Editor of this edition: Annika, Purpose Foundation

Hello ! 👋

Over the past few weeks, we did something really fun: we ran a pilot Masterclass on steward ownership with participants from India to Europe (sorry everyone west-wards and folks in Australia and NZ, you were still sleeping at our meeting times), learning with and from each other and diving really deep into the nitty gritty details of steward ownership. One question we discussed sparked a lot of energy: who are the thinkers, entrepreneurs and voices from your region who you’d like to see speaking at SO:27, the global conference on steward ownership? And wow, did the suggestions pour in, from indigenous forethinkers or a direct descendant of Gandhi to Ugandan entrepreneurs and North American philosophers. Lots of names for us to follow up on.

Now we’d like to ask you the same question: which influential voice would you like to see take a stance on steward ownership? Hit reply to share your ideas.

To spark your thoughts, take a look at the news below to catch a glimpse into this wonderfully varied world, the world of steward ownership.

SO topics of this monthly brief:

1. Events in October

3. Aligned Financing

5. Research

2. Companies

4. Around the World

6. Policy & Legal

Must read 👉 Analysis on Anthropic's IPO filing through the lens of steward ownership

1. SO Events in November

9-12 Nov, Lisbon

Web Summit

Maike from Purpose Foundation is speaking about ownership and AI at Web Summit, one of the biggest tech conferences. More Info

13 Nov, Oxford + online

“What is Your Organisation for?”

Join the launch seminar of the Skoll Centre for their new report. Panelists include Achim from PURPOSE® and Mark Hand. Free online and in person. More Info

17 Nov, Brussels

2nd Day of SO Belgium

Steward-owned is bringing the Belgian steward ownership ecosystem together. More Info

19-20 Nov, Amsterdam

Corporate Rebels Summit

350 international leaders get together at the annual in-person gathering of the Rebel Cells network, with Lisa from PURPOSE® speaking about steward ownership. More Info

2. Companies & SO

Learnings around companies, entrepreneurial perspectives and transitions into steward ownership

Anthropic: The world’s leading AI lab has filed for its IPO. The founders are supposed to become “stewards”, whilst the Trust is to continue overseeing the mission. But have these promises actually been implemented in a binding way? And what does the Trust’s mysterious “sunset time” mean? Our perspective through the SO lens.

Also Swiss cloud provider Infomaniak goes public – after it has announced its new steward ownership structure a few months ago. In our new blog post we take a look at its new structure.

How to give a company to its employees and still keep its mission first? Our new case study shows how bio verlag, a German publishing house, aligns steward ownership and employee ownership in practice.

New case study: Sumthing, a Dutch impact-tech company. Can a government fund and a bank invest in a steward-owned startup?

The global medtech company Coloplast, listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange, transferred the majority of its voting rights to a foundation, thereby adopting steward ownership principles.

Ben Cohen’s insight that “separate the money from the power” helps to keep a company independent was a highlight of our SO:25 conference. Now we spoke at length with “Impact Insider” about the Ben & Jerry’s case and Ben’s battle to buy back his company.

3. SO Aligned Financing

Knowledge around aligned capital, developments in investment and approaches towards steward ownership aligned financing

At the Academy Training Day of the Innovative Finance Initiative impact investing practitioners worked through real challenges in small cohorts, including Impact Exits and how to fund finance steward ownership.

In the webinar “Purpose-Driven Financing”, Mikel García-Prieto (Somos Stewards, former CEO of Triodos Bank) and impact investor Ebru Kaya discussed how money can serve entrepreneurship and which rules and alternatives are reshaping finance.

Before SOFA, the Steward Ownership Festival in Amsterdam, over 60 investors met to share learnings and ideas around steward ownership aligned financing.

4. SO Around the World

Steward ownership around the globe, regional updates and more

The Dutch steward ownership ecosystem came together: around 500 people gathered at SOFA in Amsterdam, hosted by We Are Stewards, with also many partners from the international network.

In the “ANZ Steward Ownership Forum”, organised by Right Lane Australia, we explored steward ownership’s relevance with Prof. Steen Thomson, Michael Rosenvold, Russel Scott and many more, connecting global perspectives with local experiences in Australia and New Zealand.

Let’s talk ownership: Mark Hand of The Stakehold launched “Ownership on Purpose”, a weekly newsletter exploring how different ownership models and approaches to business – from steward ownership to purpose trusts, foundations and B Corps – can put purpose into practice.

At Oslo Innovation Week, TEND hosted an event on steward ownership exploring how ownership structures can help businesses remain independent, purpose-driven and resilient over time. Lilly from Purpose Foundation joined online, and introduced steward ownership, followed by a lively discussion.

Yoak’s new Field Guide + Map on Business Design for Systemic Change draws on 40+ founders, funders and advisers, showing how UK businesses are rethinking ownership, governance and capital, with steward ownership as an integral part of it.

5. SO in Research & Academia

The latest published articles, news on research groups and new insights

The Center for Enterprise Foundations at Copenhagen Business School hosted an insightful webinar on Rolex. Key takeaway: foundation ownership lets Rolex pursue a long-term strategy. Its stability and continuity in its products has helped build a very strong brand.

As part of SOFA, the Hogeschool van Amsterdam hosted the first Dutch academic conference on steward ownership. It traced steward ownership to its ancient roots and brought it back to the future by exploring it as an emerging academic field.

Cathy Hwang (University of Virginia) and Dorothy S. Lund (Columbia University) offer a novel “purposeful enterprise” theory to explain the puzzling success and proliferation of nonprofit enterprise.

The European Academy of Management (EURAM) will hold its next conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from June 22 to 25, 2027. A group of scholars is inviting researchers working on steward ownership to contribute to the session “Sufficiency and Post-Growth as New Business Paradigms.”

6. SO in Policy & Legal

How policy and law are catching up with steward ownership

The vote by the European Parliament’s JURI Committee on the proposed amendments to the new legal framework for ‘EU Inc.’ has been postponed. However, a result is expected in the next few days. The committee is expected to take a positive stance on the discussed steward ownership option.

Before you go, allow me a few personal words.

Where I live, the leaves are turning red and yellow, and we’re entering that time of year when things naturally slow down and turn a little more inward. It comes at the right moment. This summer and fall have been full on, with so much happening around steward ownership worldwide.

Every week we hear from people who want to get involved: how they can contribute, how they can bring steward ownership to their own regions.

And it’s happening close to home, too. Just this morning at the school gate, I gave another parent my usual cryptic description of what I do. She paused and asked, “Oh, are you working on steward ownership?”

I’m deeply grateful to see where our topic stands in 2026.

So if the season is slowing you down too, here’s a small invitation: light a candle, make yourself a hot tea (or a cold drink, depending on where in the world you’re reading this), and spend a few minutes with one of my all-time favorite case studies. A glimpse into how a lighthouse from the mental health sector is combining self-organization with steward ownership: BuurtzorgT.

See you in December for the next monthly brief,

Annika & the whole team 👋

This brief comes from the Purpose Foundation, but is only possible through the knowledge and input of many: our shared work on steward ownership across PURPOSE and our collaborations across the ecosystem with all of you. We hope it's useful to everyone moving steward ownership forward.

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Last updated: 12 November 2026

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