Leadership Programme for Leaders of Community Organisations

Sept 4 - Nov 14, 2026: Part-time Online

Empowering Leaders to Drive Positive Change

About the Programme:
Our Leadership Programme is designed by and specifically for not-for-profit and community leaders, equipping you with the tools, confidence, and strategies to lead your organisations in today’s dynamic and evolving environment. Whether you're new to leadership or looking to take your skills to the next level, this programme will help you become a more intentional, impactful, and inspiring leader.

Why Enrol in This Programme?
Leadership in community organisations is both rewarding and challenging. More than ever In today’s complex landscape, leaders must adapt to change, foster collaboration, and cultivate inclusive environments while maintaining a clear vision and purpose. This programme will provide you with:
- Practical Leadership Skills: Learn essential leadership strategies and frameworks that you can apply directly to your role.
- Personal Development: Gain clarity on your own leadership style, values,and philosophy, helping you lead with authenticity and confidence.
- Community Impact: Understand how to create lasting change by building strong, values-driven organisations and collaborating effectively across sectors.
- Supportive Networks: Connect with other like-minded leaders, share insights, and build a community of support that will continue well beyond the programme.

What You Will Learn
Over the course of this programme, we will cover:
Leading Self
- Develop a resilient mindset for leading in complex community contexts.
- Create a personal leadership strategy and philosophy that aligns with your vision and values.
- Explore the impact of personal biases on leadership and how to overcome them.
- Learn to bridge the gap between theory and practice, applying leadership principles in real situations.
- Gain the skills to give and receive constructive feedback and embrace lifelong learning.
Leading Others
- Explore coaching techniques to empower and inspire your team.
- Understand diverse leadership styles and how to work effectively across cultures.
- Use inquiry-based approaches to lead with curiosity, creativity, and impact.
Leading Organisations
- Learn to lead community organisations with a clear focus on culture, values, and organisational effectiveness.
- Apply organisational theory to assess and improve your own organisation.
- Lead teams with clarity and purpose, fostering inclusive environments where everyone thrives.
- Understand how to integrate Te Tiriti principles into leadership and organisational practices.
- Champion diversity, inclusion, and equity in all aspects of your leadership.
Leading Communities
- Discover how community organisations generate social capital and contribute to community well-being.
- Explore the vital role of civil society in creating positive change.
- Navigate the current challenges facing community leaders and learn how to lead through them.
- Build collaborations between organisations to amplify impact and strengthen community ties.

Who Should Enrol?
This programme is ideal for leaders of small to medium-sized community
organisations, including those who:
- Are passionate about creating positive change in their communities.
- Want to strengthen their leadership capabilities and drive organisational effectiveness.
- Are looking for tools and strategies to lead with greater impact and confidence.
- Seek to build meaningful connections with other leaders and learn from shared experiences.

Programme Structure & Format
- Duration: 10 weeks (part time) - approximately 30 hours of learning time across the 10 weeks
- Delivery Mode: Online - we will email the platform login details closer to the time
- Format: Interactive workshops, group discussions, case studies, and hands-on leadership exercises.
- Additional Support: Ongoing mentorship and peer support throughout the programme.

The Teaching team:

Sandy Thompson ONZM

Sandy has spent more than thirty years alongside people who lead community organisations, and she still believes the same thing she started with: strong communities need strong, values-based leadership.

Before helping to establish LEAD, Sandy led the Unitec Graduate Diploma in Not for Profit Management teaching team, following ten years as founding leader of the National Association for OSCAR. She has worked with boards and leaders across social services, faith-based, environmental, arts and migrant organisations, and has led organisation development work throughout the Pacific.

What participants notice about Sandy is that she has usually been in the situation you are describing. She is practical about the realities of small budgets, tired boards and complex change, and generous with the frameworks and thinking that help make sense of it. Her writing on leadership, management and organisational sustainability grew out of her Master's in Social Practice (Community Development) and out of years of listening to leaders in the sector.

On this programme, Sandy will help you connect leadership theory to the organisation you actually work in, and to the leader you want to become.

Hilary Star Foged

Hilary's gift is helping people recognise the skill and wisdom they already carry. She is warm, encouraging and quietly challenging, and she has a long history of advocacy alongside young people, children and women.

A nurse by background, Hilary spent twenty years working with government and non-government organisations from a community development perspective, and was part of the New Zealand and Pacific teaching team for the Unitec programme for ten years. She holds a Certificate of Adult Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Educational Leadership and Management.

At LEAD, Hilary facilitates workshops and coaches leaders across the country. She is a skilled facilitator of Te Tiriti workshops, working with participants on the history and significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, what its principles mean in day to day organisational practice, and how to build genuine relationships and accountability in partnership with Māori.

On this programme, Hilary will draw out your thinking, offer honest feedback on your reflections, and help you leave with a leadership development plan that fits who you are.

Don't Miss Out!
This is a unique opportunity to invest in your leadership and your organisation. Join us and be part of a supportive community of leaders working to create lasting, positive change in their communities.

Schedule Details: FLYER SCHEDULE IS HERE

For more information or questions, please contact us at sandy@lead.org.nz. We look forward to seeing you in the programme!

Please note - Our online learning platform MOODLE course will be available from Sept 4 but for the first 2 weeks participants are working on line in their own time. The first online face to face session is TBC

Lead with Purpose. Lead with Confidence. Lead with Impact.

Dates: Sept 4 - Nov 14, 2026, (part-time, approx 30 hours of learning)
Cost: $595+gst. $500 for the second and subsequent people from the same organisation.

Use the Promo code: SECOND for the 2nd and subsequent person

Empower your Leadership - Empower your Community

T&C's:

Refunds are available on all our LEAD workshops up until 7 days prior to the start date of the event. A $50 admin fee may apply if short notice.
All workshops attendees agree to appear in video and photography for LEAD promotional material, unless you let us know otherwise.

Contact the host of Leading & Managing Community Organisations: Sept 4 - Nov 14, part-time online training