What does it really mean to flourish?

A Global Look at Well-Being—and Our Role in It

Flourishing isn’t just about financial success. It’s about living a life that is good in every sense—physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and materially. That’s the heart of a new landmark study, the Global Flourishing Study, which surveyed over 200,000 people in 22 countries across six continents. Its goal? To understand what flourishing looks like worldwide—and what helps people move toward it.

At Hope Ventures, we talk often about flourishing. It’s a key part of our vision: to help individuals and families climb out of poverty and into fullness of life that Christ intends. But what does that look like in real terms?

According to the study, flourishing involves six key areas:

• Health (physical and mental)

• Happiness (life satisfaction and emotional well-being)

• Meaning and Purpose

• Character (including delayed gratification and acting for the common good)

• Relationships

• Financial Security

What’s striking is that people in underserved communities—often those we walk alongside—report strong levels of meaning, character, and relational strength, even when facing financial or physical hardship. In fact, countries like the Philippines, Nigeria, and Kenya reported some of the highest overall flourishing scores, driven by factors like purpose, relationships, and spiritual resilience.

But here’s the sobering part: the study shows a clear connection between childhood adversity—such as poverty, poor health, or feeling like an outsider—and lower levels of adult flourishing. Abuse, lack of access to education, and financial instability in early life are deeply linked to adult outcomes. These findings remind us why our work matters so much.

At Hope Ventures, we’re not simply trying to solve poverty with quick fixes. We’re building a pathway to lasting transformation—one that affirms people’s worth, nurtures their capacity, and equips them to flourish across all domains of life. We do this through business training, mentoring, and community—grounded in the belief that flourishing isn’t a Western idea, but a human one. A God-given one.

The Global Flourishing Study also found that those who regularly attend religious services—particularly weekly or more—reported significantly higher levels of flourishing. This affirms what we see in our work: spiritual well-being, when rooted in community and purpose, is a powerful contributor to holistic thriving.

We know flourishing won’t look the same in every culture or context. But we also know this: when people are empowered to build a future with dignity, when they are surrounded by supportive community, and when they rediscover their God-given potential, lives change.

And through it all, we believe it is Jesus who brings true and lasting flourishing—transforming hearts, families, and communities from the inside out.

Let’s keep raising up thriving businesses in underserved communities—together.