Ambitious Impact

Background

Ambitious Impact, also known as Charity Entrepeneurship, was founded in 2016 as a project of the Charity Science Foundation of Canada. By late 2021, Ambitious Impact had become a stand-alone group based in London, England. ¹

The group has the goal of creating new charities and to apply the principles of entrepreneurship to the nonprofit sector. The group is based heavily on the principles of effective altruism. ¹

Effective altruism is defined as “a philosophy and social movement that uses evidence and reason to identify the most effective ways to help others.” ²

Among the principles of effective altruism are “scope sensitivity,” or “prioritizing actions that benefit more lives over actions that benefit fewer”; “impartiality,” or assisting “those who need it most without giving extra weight to people who are similar to us or geographically close”; a “scout mindset,” or helping others more effectively by working together to “think clearly and orient toward truth, rather than defending our existing ideas”; and “recognition of tradeoffs.” ³

Supported Charities

In 2021, Ambitious Impact incubated the Shrimp Welfare Project, a U.K.-based animal rights group that focuses on improving the welfare of farmed shrimp. ⁴ Among the programs the group offers are providing electrical stunners to aquaculture operations at minimal to no cost to reduce the suffering of shrimp while they are being harvested. ⁵

In 2021, Ambitious Impact incubated the Center for Alcohol Policy Solutions, a Canada-based anti-alcohol charity that advocates for increased taxation of alcohol with the goal of reducing alcohol-related deaths, generating more revenue for governments, and reducing the negative externalities associated with alcohol. ^{4  6}

In 2024, Ambitious Impact incubated FarmKind, a U.S.-based animal rights charity that funnels funds to groups opposed to modern animal agriculture. ⁴ The group does not directly promote veganism, but it does promote environmentalist and animal rights group-approved alternatives to animal-based protein, including lab-grown meat and plant-based meat substitutes. ⁷

In 2025, Ambitious Impact incubated Scale Welfare, a multinational-based animal rights charity that focuses on improving the welfare of farmed fish in Southeast Asia. ⁴ Its largest project is piloting an improved ice slurry method of slaughter for farmed tilapia, which reduces the suffering of the fish in the Philippines, and the group is working on a project in Vietnam to intervene on behalf of farmed pangasius fish. ⁸

Leadership

As of August 2026, Samantha Kagel was the CEO of Ambitious Impact and has held the role since December 2025. Previously, she was the chief program officer of the group’s Charity Entrepreneurship program. Before joining Ambitious Impact, she was a nonprofit management consultant and worked for Google and Disney. ¹

Aidan Alexander is the chief operating officer of Ambitious Impact. He is the co-founder of the animal rights donation platform FarmKind, which was incubated by Ambitious Impact. ¹

The trustee board includes Thomas Billington, the co-founder of the Fish Welfare Initiative; Karolina Sarek, a co-founder of Ambitious Impact and the chair of the EA Animal Welfare Fund; Akhil Bansal, a doctor; Joey Savoie, a co-founder of Ambitious Impact and Elevate Philanthropy; Patrick Stadler, a co-founder of New Incentives and a co-founder and managing director of Pour Demain; and Andres Jimenez Zorrilla, the chief executive officer and co-founder of the Shrimp Welfare Project. ¹

Finances

As of the 2025 financial disclosure filed with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Ambitious Impact had a total income of £4,327,287 ($5,866,070.26) and total expenditures of £3,953,275 ($5,359,059.59). ⁹

Ambitious Impact supports its incubated charities through a fiscal sponsorship arrangement with the Players Philanthropy Fund. ¹

Ambitious Impact has received support for its incubated charities and as a group from Open Philanthropy, GiveWell, and numerous other funders, especially those with ties to the animal rights movement. ⁴