How your organisation can lead long-term change in practice.
Managing long-term change involves more than just scaling programmes. It’s about shifting power, leadership, and culture.
Exploring how to lead long-term change in practice, this masterclass will draw on the experience of Tea Leaf Trust in Sri Lanka, which has transitioned from a founder-led organisation to one increasingly led by young people from the communities it serves. This transition has involved multiple phases of change across leadership, governance, staffing, and funding – including moments that were reactive, decisions that were intentional, and attempts that did not work.
Established models of organisational growth and change often describe what should happen, rather than what actually holds an organisation together while change is in motion. This masterclass will introduce you to a simple, practical way of understanding change over time, using stages of growth, key inflection points, and the interaction between values, funding, and relationships. You will explore how leadership pathways are built, how founder transition is managed in practice, how funding can enable or distort change, and how culture is protected – or lost – during periods of growth.
Set within the wider context of disruption across the development and fundraising sector, the session will address how your organisation can move towards long-term sustainability without losing your identity or becoming driven solely by funding pressures.
Learning outcomes
- Map your organisation’s stage of growth and identify key inflection points where change is needed
- Apply practical approaches to leadership transition and power-sharing, including managing founder influence, building internal leadership pathways, and maintaining accountability and performance
- Assess how funding and sustainability strategies interact with values and culture, and apply approaches that support long-term resilience without compromising organisational identity