How to create real impact, and still make a living?
It’s one of those questions that hang quietly in the background of a lot of meaningful work.
You want to create change. You want to build something that matters, something that helps people, shifts systems, and leaves a legacy. But at the end of the day, you still have to pay rent. You still have to support your team. You still have to build something that lasts.
So, is it really possible to do good and make a living?
Can you build impact and stay financially sustainable?
Or do you always have to choose?
That question is at the heart of so many NGO founders’ realities. And that is exactly the kind of question we ask on this episode of Unboxing the Future.
A few weeks ago, we asked Matthias Treutwein, co-founder of enpact, to dare to answer it.
We handed him our white box, the box of the future, and challenged him to pull out one card at a time, each bearing a question that would force honest reflection.
No scripts. No safe answers. Just the will to explore what the future of NGOs, impact entrepreneurship, and international cooperation between Europe and the Global South might really look like.
The result was an unfiltered and honest conversation, realistic about the challenges but still focused on all the optimistic possibilities and future paths.
Matthias walked us through the realities he has lived, the tension between mission and survival, the mistakes institutions keep making, and the real moments of impact that do not always fit into reports or KPIs.
Why we created Unboxing the Future and what Questions out of the Box is all about
We wanted to transform the way we talk about change and the future, bringing conversations back to where they belong, everyday lives and real people, making them more relatable and more connected to real-world action.
At Unboxing the Future, our aim is to break down topics that are impacting our everyday lives, making them understandable for all, so together we can navigate this world better and make more informed decisions.
Entertainment is our tool and secret sauce.
We know that when people are entertained, they are open.
When they are open, they listen.
When they listen, they reflect.
And when they reflect, they act.
That is why every Unboxing format, from the long-form talk show interviews to Questions out of the Box, is designed to break through the flat, AI-made tsunami of information fatigue and deliver digestible, actionable insights that stick with you long after the screen goes dark.
To make that happen, we developed a step-by-step system and a clear methodology that takes us from complexity to clarity.
It guides us to identify the right topics, uncover our guests’ superpowers, craft the questions that unlock their best insights, and use the right entertaining dynamics to transform heavy ideas into knowledge that people can understand and act on.
The combination of creating curiosity, asking the good questions, and building up the unique energy that makes people want to stay in the conversation is the key to helping them move forward with what they learned.
Two stories, one mission: rethinking impact
We set out to capture two perspectives on the same question from two different worlds of impact, entrepreneurship and democracy.
That is why we also recorded a Questions out of the Box episode with Alicia Combaz, founder and CEO of Make.org, an organization reshaping democracy and civic engagement across Europe, using AI as a main tool to give citizens a real voice in political decision-making.
enpact and Make.org operate in different spaces but have the same mission.
One focused on entrepreneurship and development, the other on democracy and participation.
Both are working to empower people, to shift systems, and to rethink how lasting impact can be built and sustained in an increasingly fast-changing world.
In their own ways, Matthias and Alicia are confronting the same core question we started with: can you create real impact, and still make a living?
And their answers share something vital, a belief that the answer is yes, as soon as we are willing to rethink how we do things.
Join us live: Unboxing at enpact on June 4
We also make these conversations happen live, with you, with all of us.
That is why we are hosting a special live Unboxing event at enpact HQ in Berlin on June 4, featuring Matthias Treutwein and Alicia Combaz.
But this will not be a passive panel discussion.
At Unboxing the Future, the audience leads the show.
You will get the chance to ask your own questions and shape the conversation in real time.
This is an open dialogue between builders, dreamers, and doers who are asking the hard questions about the systems we live and work within.
🗓️ Date: June 4, 2025
📍 Location: enpact HQ, Berlin
🎟️ RSVP here on Eventbrite
We would love to see you there.
Let’s unbox what’s next, together.
