Introducing the SARI Foundation Institute for Work, Careers and Longevity 

A landmark gift from an anonymous alumnus and longtime supporter has enabled the creation of the SARI Foundation Institute for Work, Careers and Longevity which officially launched in September 2026. It is London Business School’s first endowed research institute, addressing crucial questions about the future of work and bringing people together to better understand how to navigate working lives that may span six decades. 

Academic Co-Directors Professors Lynda Gratton and Herminia Ibarra will lead the Institute. Lynda Gratton is Professor of Management Practice and one of the world’s leading thinkers on the future of work, with research that has shaped global thinking on longevity, organisations and careers. Herminia Ibarra is the Charles Handy Chair in Organisational Behaviour and Professor of Organisational Behaviour and is internationally recognised for her work on career transitions, leadership and professional reinvention, drawing on more than 25 years of research and teaching at Harvard, INSEAD and LBS. Together, their work has influenced leaders, organisations and policymakers around the world. Their ideas have also reached a global audience through widely acclaimed books, including The 100-Year Life, co-authored by Lynda and Andrew Scott and translated into more than 20 languages, and Herminia’s Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career, translated into 10 languages. 

What has driven the need for an institute? Everyone knows that working lives are getting longer, but many aren’t ready for what that means. This is where the SARI Institute comes in, with useful academic research to fundamentally guide and reshape society’s approach to longer life spans, with benefits extending beyond business. It is unique in its broad-spectrum approach: examining individuals navigating non-linear careers, organisations redesigning talent systems, and institutions shaping labour markets. It also connects decision-makers, bringing an organisational, strategic and leadership lens that the longevity field so badly needs. 

Professor Gratton says,