What Matters is a global initiative sustained by the independent, privately owned nonprofit CO-LAB for Future Economics, headquartered in Vienna.
Since our official inception in 2023 (and building on more than a decade of pre-fieldwork across industries and perspectives), What Matters has focused on regenerative community economy development in townships and within the informal economy. Long before we became an initiative, this work grew from years of listening, observing, working within a Western-dominated corporate economy, as well as alongside communities. We studied economic systems from multiple angles.
What stayed with each of us who are now part of What Matters was a simple but persistent realization: economies are deeply social practices. What Matters emerged from this understanding.
Today, What Matters brings together partners from different backgrounds, disciplines, and geographies, united by a shared vision: an economy that serves humanity. What connects us is not a single model or ideology, but a commitment to staying close to reality, asking hard and uncomfortable questions, and doing the slow, relational work that real transformation requires.
What Matters is not a project with a fixed endpoint. It is an evolving practice and a long-term commitment to shaping economic systems with care, courage, and intention.
We don’t have all the answers. But we hold space for the right, bold, messy, and necessary questions. Real transformation isn’t clean or linear. It’s relational, iterative, messy, and deeply human.
So, welcome to the questions, the people, the practice, and the daily work of reclaiming humanity in the economy.
Welcome to What Matters ❤️
Our Story
Philosophy
Our mission is Reclaiming Humanity in the Economy. We believe humans are not only participants in economic systems but also responsible creators of businesses, organizations, and the systems themselves.
We focus on township communities not out of a savior complex, but because that is where economic life actually happens and where we find the best conditions for an economy that serves humanity. Our work does not start with theory. It starts with people, relationships, and lived experience.
From the beginning, What Matters has rejected the logic of charity or traditional aid. We do not arrive with blueprints, ready-made solutions, or external funding. Instead, we work alongside communities that care about shaping their own future. We follow a co-creative economic approach that strengthens ownership, income, job opportunities, community impact, and above all, dignity.
Most importantly: What Matters is our lifestyle. We do not preach a paradigm; we apply everything we want to see change through our work to our own private and professional lives. Our philosophy: If we can do it, our partners can too.
Principles
Economies are human-made.
We shape them consciously.
Economies exist to serve people, communities, and our precious planet.
Co-creation over Instruction
We walk together. We design and build together. No top-down answers, but shared experience.Stewardship over Dependency
We strengthen self-reliance, capacity, and leadership, not reliance.Presence over Performance
We prioritize relationships, dialogue, and lived experience over blueprints, frameworks, or outputs. Silence is not an option.Transparency over Assumptions
Expectations, contributions, and questions are named clearly and honestly.Accountability over Perfection
We take responsibility without needing to “get it right.”Rootedness over Rush
We honor timing, seasons, and the pace of deep, relational change.Contribution over Credit
We honor each other’s roles, recognize shared work, and grow a collective pathway forward.Capital beyond Money
We value social, cultural, intellectual, spiritual, and environmental capital as much as financial capital.Unnegotiable Commitment to Humanity
We do not sell dreams, provide funding, or act as a charity. Our work is relational, iterative, and a long-term practice of and for reclaiming humanity in the economy.
Focus Areas
Community Economy Development
Building local, regenerative economies that unlock ownership, job opportunities, income, self-actualization, and dignity.Business & Financial Literacy
Equipping communities with practical skills for entrepreneurship, business operations, financial management, and resource stewardship.Emergent Community Leadership
Supporting leaders, connectors, and socio-economic fabric-weavers to guide change from within their communities.Inclusive Dialogue & Collaboration
Facilitating conversations across gender, age, race, and industries to strengthen mutual understanding, collective decision-making, and future-oriented policymaking.Socio-Economic Capacity Building
Developing skills, knowledge, and structures that increase resilience and agency.Bioregional Economy & Network Building
Linking communities across bioregions to strengthen shared economies, ecological stewardship, and value exchange.Advocacy & Voice Amplification
Bringing community insights and lived realities to policymakers, investors, and global networks.Relational & Co-Creation Practices
Building trust, relationships, and co-creative ways of working as a foundational skill in all community and local initiatives.Regenerative Investment & Capital Awareness
Promoting multiple forms of capital (social, intellectual, cultural, spiritual, environmental) in economic development, beyond financial returns.
Meet the Team.
One Vision. Diverse Backgrounds.
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NICOLE BASTIEN
Founder & Principal Partner
Vision, Capital & Community Economy
TransformationVienna, Austria
& Munich, Germany -
ANNEEN MAREE
Partner & Head of South Africa
Community Economy Development
& Regenerative EcosystemsBloemfontein, South Africa
-
KARAN SIKRI
Partner
Marketing & Communication
Business & Financial Literacy
Hamburg, Germany -
ANJA SCHERBE
Co-Founder at CO-LAB & Partner
Governance & ComplianceVienna Austria
& Germany
