Innovation and knowledge communities are increasingly used to tackle complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. From organizational innovation platforms to large international ecosystems, these communities bring together diverse actors to learn, collaborate, and co-create solutions. Yet assessing their value and impact remains methodologically challenging. In 2024, Key Impact conducted a global literature review, funded by the Hive - the Hub for Social Initiative

This post reflects on the evaluation of The Hive’s Accelerator, Israel’s flagship program for social entrepreneurship. Using a theory-based, developmental, and longitudinal evaluation design, the evaluation followed ventures over time to assess learning, sustainability, and scaling. Findings show strong contributions to entrepreneurs’ capacities and strategy, and demonstrate how adaptive, learning-oriented evaluation supported continuous program improvement.