Last year, some small social enterprises entered Majra’s inaugural Sustainable Impact Challenge with big dreams and limited resources. By the time they left, everything had changed. Some firms that were struggling to raise capital walked away with new funding offers and opportunities to expand their market potential.
That transformation is precisely why the challenge is back. Launched to spotlight credible and scalable CSR and sustainability projects, the initiative has quickly positioned itself as a national platform for change makers across education, health, environment, culture, technology and sports.
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“We want to ensure that the best projects are highlighted and that their stories are shared,” said Sarah Shaw, CEO of Majra — National CSR Fund. “That is how we amplify impact. When we followed up with last year’s winners to understand how they deployed their prize funds, we saw a strong commitment to expanding their impact and increasing their visibility across the UAE market.”
Designed to recognise and elevate high-impact initiatives, the challenge offers cash prizes alongside an additional support package through Marfa’a Majra, helping participating projects strengthen their operations, expand their impact, and increase their visibility.
Increased interest
In its first cycle, the Sustainable Impact Challenge received 228 submissions from across the UAE’s social enterprise landscape. Last year, a company that “rescues” imperfect fruits and vegetables and a startup that uses drones to plant trees were some of the winners.
This year, Majra expects to double that figure.
“We saw a significant gap in understanding the breadth and quality of CSR and Sustainability projects operating in the UAE, and more importantly, identifying which initiatives are verified, validated, and capable of delivering measurable Impact,” Sarah explained.
The response inspired a significant upgrade. Prize money has increased, with the top three winners now sharing Dh2 million.
Majra’s pilot programme — Marfa Majra (translation: harbour or Port of Majra) — delivered 10x results for participating founders, proving that financial support paired with ecosystem integration creates exponential impact.
Public voting and evaluation
The Sustainable Impact Challenge 2026 is currently in its public voting phase, which remains open until June 30. Members of the public across the UAE are encouraged to support the projects they believe are delivering credible and measurable impact by casting their votes through Majra’s dedicated voting platform.
Following this, the top 100 projects based on public votes will advance to the next phase, where a technical committee will conduct a rigorous evidence-based assessment. The evaluation process will identify the top 20 recognition recipients and ultimately select the three winning projects.
Priority is given to initiatives delivering impact in education, health, environment, culture, technology, and sports sectors aligned with the UAE’s national priorities. “What I like about the Sustainable Impact Challenge is that it combines public engagement with credible scientific evaluation,” Sarah said.
To ensure broader participation and create opportunities for new innovators, the top three winners from the previous edition are not eligible to compete in this year’s challenge.
Impact
For Sarah, recognition now outweighs the cash prize. Her long-term vision is to create an “impact map” of the UAE. “If you are a CEO sitting in Singapore or London and you want to contribute to the UAE’s development journey, I want you to be able to identify the projects creating the greatest impact and connect directly with them,” she said.
Ultimately, she hopes the challenge becomes “a national mechanism to accelerate high-quality, scalable impact projects” while strengthening the country’s sustainable impact ecosystem.
Source: Khaleej Times