We are co-creators of transformative experiences
Grounded in curiosity, trust and integrity, we are passionate about helping people and organizations thrive.
Our Team
The people powering our transformative experiences.
Our Partners
Working with purpose-driven social impact organizations to inspire change.
Our Impact
How our experiences are having an impact on the people and organizations we work with.
Founder’s Story
It was the transformational experience of our founder, Matthew, when he was volunteering with a small livelihood-supporting organization in Mexico in 2001 that sparked the idea of Emerging World.
Having spent several weeks fully immersed in a new culture, working on a business challenge that forced him to challenge long-held assumptions and shift how he saw the world, he sat on the step of the small office where he’d been working from in Puerto Escondido and reflected on the power of the experience he’d just been through.
What if it would be possible to get the people with the best business skills to use them to support social impact organizations around the world?
How can we ensure that those experiences prove to be powerful and positively transformational experiences for the people who participate and the organizations they work for?
Those themes of social impact still run strong in Emerging World’s work all these years later. And yet we now embrace an even wider understanding of transformation; one in which personal and organizational transformation combine to help build a better future for all of us.
Our Journey
Our journey has never been linear. It has been shaped by challenge, curiosity and a belief that real transformation happens when people step beyond the familiar and engage with what is real.
From a single experience in 2001 to a global community working across sectors and geographies, each chapter has deepened our understanding of how learning, contribution and reflection combine to create lasting change.
2001
The Spark
An experience in Mexico plants the seed.
Our founder, Matthew, sees the potential for something different: placing corporate professionals alongside social impact organizations to create mutual value. The idea of learning through real challenge begins.
2004
A Business is Born
Emerging World is formally incorporated (originally trading as ‘Adopt-a-Business’).
After months of bootstrapping and business planning, the first foundations are laid for what would help shape a global movement in immersive people development and employee engagement.
2005
Proving the Concept
Our first international experiences send high-potential leaders from a UK financial services organisation to work with disability-focused organisations in Southern India.
The impact is clear — for participants and partners alike. The model works.
2010
Growing Through Adversity
The global financial crisis challenges assumptions across industries.
We respond by innovating — expanding internationally and designing experiences for individuals and teams across five continents.
Constraint becomes catalyst.
2011
Becoming Emerging World
As our work matures and wins industry recognition, we reposition and rename the business.
‘Emerging World’ reflects who we are becoming — a company focused not just on experiences, but on the systems in which people operate.
2014
Demonstrating Long-Term Impact
On our 10th anniversary, we publish our first long-term impact study.
The findings confirm what we have observed: experiences create sustained shifts in leadership capability, engagement and career progression.
Over the next decade, we continue to invest in industry-wide impact research — grounding transformation in evidence.
2020
Reinventing Through the Pandemic
Travel stops. Our work doesn’t.
We design virtual experiences that bring the outside world in — proving that real challenge, disciplined reflection and transformation can happen without crossing borders.
As travel returns, we integrate learning from both formats to design hybrid experiences that offer the best of both worlds.
2024
20 Years of Community
We mark our 20th anniversary by bringing our global community together in a co-created virtual experience.
In a time of global economic uncertainty, we once again lean into collaboration and innovation — shaping the future together.
2026
A Clearer Focus on Transformation
Two decades of learning crystallise into a sharper articulation of our purpose: designing Transformational Experiences that enable people and organisations to thrive in demanding times.
Our brand and website evolve to reflect this clarity — signalling the next chapter of our journey.
Our Principles
Our principles describe how we work every day.
They guide how we design experiences, how we partner and how we show up — especially when things are complex or uncertain.
Stay Curious
We stay open.
We are continuous learners — always seeking new knowledge, perspectives and experiences. Curiosity keeps us questioning assumptions, refining our thinking and evolving our practice.
It fuels our innovation and ensures we never mistake expertise for certainty.
Design for Impact
We design for shift.
Everything we create must move people — from one level of understanding to another. From comfort to stretch. From insight to action.
Impact is not an afterthought. It is the intention behind every experience.
Earn and Extend Trust
We build confidence — and extend it.
Our clients trust us to guide leaders beyond their comfort zones with care and discipline. In return, we trust our team, our partners and the process we have refined over years of practice.
Trust creates the safety required for transformation.
Lead with Humanity
We lead with empathy.
At the heart of our work are relationships. We listen deeply, seek to understand and recognise the complexity of the people and systems we work within.
Our humanity allows us to see from multiple perspectives — and to design experiences that resonate on more than one level.
