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“Leadership means knowing your place — and serving it.” When Nicholas Drew talks about leadership, he means it literally. Not leadership as an abstract quality to be cultivated, but leadership as a practice rooted in place — in the specific geography, community and complexity of where you come from and who you are accountable to. […]

Students Leading Change Through the Design Out Racism Challenge  A group of students in New South Wales have taken on one of society’s most complex challenges — and shown what ethical leadership can look like in action.  Through the Design Out Racism Challenge, a pilot initiative delivered by the Menzies Leadership Foundation in partnership with The Ethics

“We’re not the leaders of tomorrow — we’re leading now.” When Elina Forsyth talks about human rights, she is not speaking in the abstract language of conventions and frameworks. She is speaking about voice — the fundamental right of every person to be heard in the decisions that shape their life, and the persistent reality

Can a new national initiative help rebuild the norms of respect, dialogue and trust that hold communities together? In recent years, many Australians have sensed a shift in the tone of public conversation. Debates that once unfolded with a degree of mutual respect increasingly feel sharper, louder and more divisive. Social media has amplified disagreement,

Leadership today is not faltering because capable people are absent.It is faltering because the mandate to lead can no longer be assumed. Across institutions, organisations, and public life, leaders increasingly discover that authority — once conferred by role, expertise, or election — no longer guarantees consent. Decisions are questioned before they are implemented. Intentions are

Across Australia, communities are beginning to ask a different question about economic development.  Rather than waiting for solutions to arrive from elsewhere, what happens when communities themselves shape their economic future — investing in local assets, mobilising local leadership and building institutions that reflect shared values?  In Mount Alexander Shire in central Victoria, this question

In February 2026, researchers and practitioners contributed to an important global conversation about the future of education leadership.  At the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI) in Qatar — one of the world’s leading conferences on education systems improvement — Dr Kerry Elliott, Menzies Senior Research Fellow at the ANU Leadership & Complexity Lab, and Willie Thompson, Founder of

Across Northern Australia, a powerful leadership movement is quietly gaining momentum.  Indigenous women are building enterprises that strengthen families, sustain culture and create new pathways for community leadership. These businesses may begin small — often as side ventures grounded in local knowledge, cultural practice or community need — but their influence extends far beyond economic participation.  They are shaping

For much of the past century, leadership has been built around a simple assumption: that with enough information, authority and expertise, leaders could understand the system they were responsible for and steer it in the right direction. But the systems shaping our lives today no longer behave that way. Climate disruption, technological acceleration, geopolitical uncertainty

“Good data is important — but purpose gives it direction.” When Andreas Zakhari speaks about cities, he does not begin with spreadsheets or economic models. He begins with people — the families navigating broken infrastructure, the communities underserved by planning decisions made far from where they live, and the persistent gap between what data can