Leading with hope
Liz Gillies, CEO, Menzies Leadership Foundation
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Liz Gillies, CEO of the Menzies Leadership Foundation, walked away from the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025 feeling the urgency of the polycrisis but also buoyed by a 'wellspring of capability and imagination', and a belief that leadership can still shift our trajectory. Here, she offers her reflections and provides a strong call to action for the future.
Read more
Catch up on the Philanthropy Leadership Summit breakout sessions
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
From First Nations leadership to community-led solutions and the rise of AI, among a plethora of other topics from our ‘Deeper dive into real life leadership’ breakout sessions – our facilitators share their reflections.
How a leadership program creates catalytic connections across sectors
Katherine Ellis, CEO, Leadership Victoria
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Fellows of the Williamson Community Leadership Program commit to ‘always take the call’ from another Fellow. This creates a web of influence that spans business, government and civil society lasting decades. Katherine Ellis, CEO of Leadership Victoria, which runs the program, says that investment in leadership is an ‘impact accelerator’.
The Canva mission: ‘We want our giving to grow as fast as the company is growing’
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Tech company Canva’s unique approach to corporate giving is baked into its business model – to provide its visual communication platform free to educators and not-for-profits. That mission has just passed some remarkable milestones. More than 100 million teachers and students, and 870,000 NFPs in 190 countries now benefit, a gift valued at $1.5bn annually. On top of this, the Canva Foundation gave out $50m+ last year. Head of Social Impact, Robyn King, says there is much more to come.
Impact-driven networks – this is how philanthropy can ‘fund the glue’
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Julia Gillard’s call to action was possibly the most oft-repeated at the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025. This Q&A with Darius Polok, Managing Director of the International Alumni Center (iac Berlin), who spoke at the event, delves into how philanthropy can invest in supporting the community networks and ecosystems necessary to achieve systems change. However, this will require shifts in perspective and practice.
Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon: How can we lead with ‘commanding hope’?
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 8 Aug 2025
Globally renowned complex systems expert, Canadian Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon, kicked off the main event at the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025 by unpacking the polycrisis. Speaking to Giving News beforehand, he said that leadership for our times involves helping people to be more comfortable with uncertainty and understand that it ‘creates possibilities for novel breakthroughs’.
Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025 – In pictures!
Fri, 8 Aug 2025
What an incredible few days we had in Canberra! Browse through these moments that capture the passion of our speakers, the engagement of our audience, and the collaborative spirit that made our Leadership Summit truly special.
