Champions: 2029 Plan - Outline Numbers
The following details are draft only and for discussion
The figures, in outline
What follows is an outline, not a forecast. The figures are decisions taken for planning purposes — they set the shape and the order of magnitude, and they will change as the movement meets reality.
Year one is planned in detail. Year two follows closely. Years three onward are illustrative: the facts on the ground will have moved long before then. What matters at this stage is the architecture — that the pieces fit, that the money works, and that the obligations can be met.
This plan is proposed by Glen Ford, who in 2003 walked away from a twenty-year corporate career to support the Aegis Trust, and in particular the Kigali Genocide Memorial — then an idea and a vision. He became part of the team that, twenty years later, has:
- Established the UK National Holocaust Centre & Museum as an independent and self-funded institution, reaching over 20,000 British schoolchildren each year.
- Established the Kigali Genocide Memorial and its peace and values education programme. The Memorial is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site with over 100,000 visitors a year, and its education programme reaches 2.5 million Rwandan children each year, mainstreamed within the Rwandan education system.
Within that, Glen:
- Secured $13 million of international government funding in 2013 for the Memorial.
- From 2016, helped grow visitor income at the Memorial from $200,000 a year to $1.5 million a year — including the Humanity Badges, which alone generate $150,000 a year.
- In 2024, helped develop the partnership with Million Peacemakers, now focused on reaching 250 million young people globally by 2035.
- In 2025, started the Champions Movement, proving the model in the US with healthcare professionals in Chicago and a pilot programme with US college students — demonstrating that humanity is a performance multiplier.
Overall
What goes in, what comes out, and what is owed at the end.
The objective is to create a self-funding, self-scaling movement, built on the premise that humanity is the performance multiplier — that trust is the foundation for thriving communities, and that trust both unlocks and creates value.
The part that needs explaining is young people. The Champions Pathway focuses on employability by building trustworthiness and connecting talent to opportunity. That is what creates economy.
The Humanity Trust Coin provides the long-term investment the payback model needs in order to work.
The shape of itRoughly $1.25m of capital and philanthropy starts the movement. By the end of 2029 it has reached more than a million people, established a permanent fund for survivors, and repaid every subscriber in full. From 2030 it carries no debt and funds itself.
Pillar by pillar
Outline volumes, and the one or two assumptions each pillar rests on.
Champions Pathway
- One place is funded by one Humanity Trust Coin at $100. That price holds across the plan.
- The Pathway carries no revenue of its own. It is funded by the Coin and by surplus from the other pillars.
- The 2029 volume is only reachable through partner networks delivering under licence — Champions trains the trainers.
The assumption that carries itThat the licensing agreements exist. They need to be signed in 2027, not 2029. This is the single most load-bearing assumption in the plan.
Champions Professionals
- Priced per company, not per head — around 20 places each.
- 70% gross margin, held across the plan.
- Held flat in 2029 on purpose. It needs senior people, who cannot be hired to a commemoration timetable.
The assumption that carries itThat the taster converts to full price in 2028. This is the engine — if it underperforms, the Pathway is what shrinks. It builds on Chicago, where one client generated $250,000 in a first year.
Champions Circles
- Cost is close to nil. The Champions are already trained; the meetings are their own.
- Each Champion convenes once, not annually. Any model that compounds yearly is wrong — it produces more Rwandans than exist.
The assumption that carries itThe 1-in-3 conversion rate, which is untested. It is also the number the whole million turns on, so it should be measured in 2027 with the first cohort, while it is still cheap to be wrong.
Champions Academy
- Membership at $100 a year, self-funding from the first year.
- Chapters are hosted by universities and museums in partnership, so the centre does not carry the cost of growth.
The assumption that carries itA twentyfold jump between 2028 and 2029. That is a commemoration-year number, and it depends on the chapters being signed the year before.
Champions Badges
- Base price $10; the commemorative edition prices higher.
- Builds on a proven line — the Kigali Genocide Memorial badges, running at $150,000 a year on an 80% margin.
- From 2030, $4.90 of every $10 badge goes to the Champions Fund for survivors. Constitutional, not discretionary.
The assumption that carries itVolume. 100,000 badges is many times the proven Kigali base, and it assumes international channels that do not yet exist. Champions Fund: $750,000 in 2029, then around $490,000 a year, permanently.
Be a Champion
- Funded by sponsorship and by surpluses generated in the earlier years.
- Reach depends on media and youth-network partners, not on Champions' own delivery.
The assumption that carries itRelationships that are not yet agreements. Nothing else in this plan depends on it — it is upside, and it is costed as such.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.
Trust is the bridge.
For more information contact Glen Ford at glen@35champions.com