Session Description

In a time of polycrises – climate and environmental crises, entrenched economic inequalities, and social injustices – and severe cuts to global aid funding, philanthropy is strategically situated to play a catalytic leadership role. It is vital that philanthropic leaders are provided with space and support to reflect on the ways in which they can rise to these challenges.​

Philanthropic leadership is dynamic and may be examined at different levels – leadership within organisations, leadership in the sector, leadership in society and more. The most effective leaders are often forged from challenging environments, their qualities shaped through adversity. This session explores how leaders navigate adversity and ‘failure’ to find innovative solutions to the volatile and uncertain issues of our time. Collectively, this session will help us reimagine what kind of leadership it would require to foster a self-reliant local and regional philanthropic ecosystem able to sustain the investment that is needed to disrupt complex systems of exclusion, inequality and injustice.​

The speakers will upend the stereotype of who is a community leader and how leadership is practiced in the pursuit of social change. They will highlight the merits of cultivating diverse and varied leaders within communities, who may not hold formal titles but nonetheless play vital roles in mobilising and collectivising efforts. They will share their personal stories of change, and the inflection points that changed the trajectories of their journeys— underscoring the importance of investing in both the community leaders as well as the enabling environments that allow them to thrive. By shifting our understanding of what it means to be a leader, we can explore unconventional and potentially transformative pathways towards effective and sustainable societal development.

3 Key Takeaways​

1. Appreciate the importance of diverse types of leaders and how they show up in society, especially for those who are not stereotypically chosen as representatives of their communities or funded as such — e.g. women in male-dominated traditions, Indigenous leaders within mainstream spaces, youth leaders, etc.​
2. Exploring what personal and institutional changes can be made to develop, support and invest in a wider, more heterogenous, more impactful pool of leaders who reflect the diversity in our communities.​
3. ‘Don’t let perfect become the enemy of good enough’ — in the context of philanthropy and leadership, not letting the focus on perfect results and impact dissuade positive experimentation, which could lead to innovation.