Collective leadership for systems change

A 4-month deep dive into Collective Leadership for Systems Change for people who are wanting to take the next step in understanding their system to be more effective in the long-term intergenerational work of change. This is for people working in big or small organisations, in cross-sector collaborations, working on local priorities, issues of national importance or looking for where their next step is in working for systemic change, so all people and Country thrive.   

Why Collective Leadership for Systems Change?

Many of us are seeing now more than ever that the challenges we face today need us to work skillfully in complexity, and with our collective power and agency for effective change on complex issues, in communities, organisations and collaborations so all people and Country can thrive.  

Leading change in ways that transform the systems we are a part of requires us to continually stretch and grow; expanding our capacity for transforming deep narratives, mental models and working across difference, and consciously scaling our relationships, and practices for material change.  

Collaboration for Impact is piloting a new offering to help people grow collective leadership knowledge, practices and networks  to shift core obstacles to equitable systems. This includes  strengthening capabilities in movement building, systems innovation  and distributed leadership approaches. This course builds from our experience working with a diversity of systems change actors over the last decade in community, early childhood, government, philanthropy, collaborations with First Nations and other multicultural Australians, and community-led collaborations. It draws on CFI’s broader knowledge, practice and engagement in systems leadership circles nationally and globally.   

Leading change in ways that transform the systems we are a part of requires us to continually stretch and grow. CFI’s Collective Leadership for Systems Change course has been developed to help people grow their knowledge and skills, expand networks and sustain the spark to lead in ways that are not yet the norm, but are what’s needed for material change to occur locally, regionally and nationally. 

Hear from our alumni

“I am starting to recognise the impact of myself as a system, in the ability for me to positively contribute to change within different systems. Getting better at recognising assumptions and considering different ways to understand and engage with these and challenges/opportunities. Techniques to open space to have different types of conversations, reflections, and identify shared actions.” Participant (CFI Systems Learning Program) 

“We have seen the outcomes of training make a pivotal change to both the authority and leadership seen in individual participants on their return and in the collective collaboration of participants as a result. Most significantly, I have seen a major shift in the leadership in our First Nations group as a result, and in the participation of our local government partner in stepping into the work in ways and on topics that previously there has been reluctance.” —  Systems Learning Program Participant

Course Details

Course Outcomes

What you'll learn

A 4-month deep dive into Collective Leadership for Systems Change for people from organisational teams, community and other place-based collaborations, and cross-sector collaborations engaged in social change so all people and Country thrive.

Through this course you will build a collective leadership practice, network and knowledge that focuses efforts on leading change together and shifting core underlying obstacles to equity  in your systems . This includes:

• Working with power and agency, diverse perspectives and polarities, and mental models of self and system.
• Building your collective leadership practice, knowledge and network for leading change together.
• Commitment to working across boundaries and difference to co-create emerging futures
• Identifying patterns and experimenting with shifting these to support collective purpose.
• Systems thinking theory and tools to adapt to your own context
• Practices and methods of collective systems leadership to apply to your context.

The course is curated and facilitated to surface habitual ways of thinking; encourage diverse perspectives, different worldviews and experiences challenging mental models of self and system. Reflective practices are applied to integrate thinking, feeling and acting in more adaptive ways to support development personally and collectively.

Participants will also focus on what they can realise together that can’t be done individually, through building a foundation of trust, relationships and shared knowledge for collective learning. From our experience, we notice participants are then able to:

• Understand how their system operates, the boundaries and influencing factors
• Diagnose, design and test practical strategies for collective leadership on systemic challenges
• Generate together, and with others, faster with an improved ability to hear each other
• Participate in a network to share and learn together and build practices to apply to their contexts.

Learning Outcomes

Through this course, you will develop: 

• Skills and confidence to diagnose, design and test practical strategies for collective leadership on systemic challenges 
• A deeper understanding of how your systems operate, boundaries and influencing factors 
• An understanding and willingness to mindfully and purposefully engage the practice of collective leadership to influence and impact across your system 
• The commitment to working across difference and boundaries to co-create the emerging future. 

 The intended outcomes are: 

• Cultivate collective leadership to enable learning, trust-building and empowered action among stakeholders who share a common goal.   
• Practices and strategies for collective models of systems change  to develop alignment and mobilize action among stakeholders in the system, both within and between organizations and communities. 
• An understanding of the complex systems shaping the challenge to be addressed, allowing for more effective and longer lasting progress.   

Team cohorts strengthen learning outcomes. Having participants (2 +) from the same collaboration or organisation enables a shared understanding of the key principles and concepts of the program. It supports you to collectively apply new behaviours and lessons once back in your community, organisation and group. 

Cohort: Is this for me? 

Collective Leadership for Systems Change will work well for you if: 

• You feel urgency for working differently to address systemic challenges affecting equity and inclusion in Australia
• You experiment to create innovative ways to tackle complex challenges and find opportunities
• You have authority and capacity to create conditions for readiness in your own system, and ability to work collaboratively with other organisations and networks, or already are
• You are seeking to learn more about  collective leadership and applyit to a live challenge  in your systems
• You value continuous learning individually and collectively
• You learn well in experiential settings with practical and applied learning methods.

Collective learning strengthens application of outcomes. Having participants (2 +) from the same collaboration enables a shared understanding of the key principles and concepts of the program. It supports you to collectively apply new behaviours and lessons once back in your community, organisations and groups. 

Who else will be on the course? 

We aim for a group of around sixteen people, representing: 

• A wide diversity of worldviews, lived experience, and perspectives
• A range of contexts – community, organisations, non-profit, government, philanthropy, and other enablers of change
• A variety of challenges being experienced in social change and building a system for equity and connectedness

Learning Process

How we convene & facilitate

Our online sessions emphasise interactive facilitated learning. For example,  

• Time to build the group connection and brave space for learning. 
• Discussion of concepts and reflection in different group configurations: full group, smaller groups and pairs. 
• Methods for peer learning from one another, and the whole group. 
• Group configurations to support discussion and dialogue, and use of powerpoint where it aids learning.  
• Examples from experience to demonstrate frameworks and concepts  
• Time to practice, apply concepts and frameworks. 
• You engage in content and practices to the extent that it supports your learning and contributes to the groups collective learning.  

 We seek to create brave spaces for participants to support you and the groups learning together. We acknowledge as facilitators we are also part of the learning system and hold power and responsibility in our role. One responsibility is to keep you and the group on a productive learning edge, which requires a combination of heat, different perspectives and space for reflection and integration. We do this with heart, care and good intent for learning together.

Length and Time commitment

Date and time 

The Collective Leadership for Systems Change is an online course. It includes a Welcome & Orientation session (1.5 hours), four workshops (4.5 hours), a mid-point Group Check-in (1.5 hours) and a final Group Check-in (1.5 hours) one month after the last workshop day.  

1 x Welcome & Orientation – Online (Zoom) 

• Thursday 17 July 2025, 11am to 12.30pm AEST   

4 x Workshops – Online (Zoom) 

• Thursday 7 August 2025, 11am to 3.30pm AEST  
• Thursday 14 August 2025, 11am to 3.30pm AEST  
• Thursday 11 September 2025, 11am to 3.30pm AEST  
• Thursday 18 September 2025, 11am to 3.30pm AEST  

1 x mid-point group check in – Online (Zoom) 

• Thursday 28 August 2025, 11am to 2.30pm AEST  

1 x group check in – Online (Zoom) 

• Thursday 9 October, 11am to 2.30pm AEST 

 If the dates don’t work for you for this round, express your interest and we’ll email you about future courses.  

Time commitment between sessions 

Participants will be required to set aside approximately 2 hours between sessions for preparation and personal reflection. The course has been designed based on this commitment to learning between sessions. We will provide further references during the sessions for those who want to dive deeper.   

 When we come together online will be jumping straight in, and our main expectation is that you have prepared and are fully present.  

Accessibility and Technology

The program will be hosted on Zoom. Participants will be required to download Zoom and Chrome in order to be able to participate. 

We encourage all participants to use their video throughout. Internet access is required to participate. 

We recommend participants use a desktop/ laptop whilst participating (rather than a mobile phone). 

Participants will be given access to CFIs Learning Management Systems where workshop materials and resources will be made available. 

Investment

Price per person:  

CFI and our partners contribute to reduce the fee. Participant contribution:  $2600 +GST 

Please read the Learning Program: Terms and Conditions before purchase. 

Please contact us at learning@cfi.org.au for package offers, large group discounts and tailored sessions for your organisation.  

Co-facilitators

Practice Lead, Collective Leadership

Angela Rutter

Born in Rabaul, PNG of Scottish, English and Irish ancestry, Angela is living on border country of Djarra, Wurundjeri and Taunguraung lands. She is a values led engagement, civic leadership and social change practitioner.

She brings with her experience working across non-profit organisations, social enterprises, councils, corporate, government and political parties to create civic leadership capacity. She has over 15 years’ experience in civic leadership design, development & facilitation, and working with people, teams, & groups for collective leadership.

At CFI Angela leads design and delivery of our Collective Leadership courses and other Leadership initiatives such as The Apiary.

Program Manager

Muktasree Chakma

Muktasree is a distinguished advocate for women’s rights, sexual orientation, and indigenous peoples' rights with over 22 years of experience. An award-winning journalist, feminist, rights activist, and researcher with a law background, she founded Supporting People and Rebuilding Communities (SPaRC), an indigenous women-led organisation in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts. She is a Core Group Member of Sangat, A Feminist Network, and serves on the board of Action Aid Bangladesh. Muktasree works to reshape the philanthropic, feminist, rights, and development sectors through indigenous and feminist viewpoints.

Her contributions extended to organisations like South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) and the UN Women Bangladesh Civil Society Advisory Group. She has lectured at Asian University for Women and worked as a consultant and journalist with international agencies and leading Bangladeshi newspapers. Muktasree is the first indigenous woman from Bangladesh to receive numerous awards, including the UNICEF Meena Media Award and fellowships from the UN OHCHR among others.

At CFI Muktasree manages a range of movement and field building projects including our learning courses.

Practice Lead, Collaborative Governance 

Rodney Greene

Rodney is an experienced practitioner and leader in place-based and community-led systems change. Most notable, he helped establish Burnie Works, a place-based collective impact initiative in northwest Tasmania and has grown the work there to be a national leader in place-based approaches. During that time, he has supported several other communities and initiatives across Tasmania.

At CFI Rodney leads our work with partners to apply and learn from governance models that support collaboration and shared decision making, including recently with Maranguka, Rockhampton, and the Tasmanian Department of Health.