A one-day masterclass with ImpactInstitute, led by Dr Tim Tompson, Dr Leanne Sobel (Snowmelt Expert Collaborator), Paula Cowan (impactInstitute), Royden Howie (ImpactInstitute). Sydney, Wednesday 30 September 2026. Limited seats.
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The challenges facing impact organisations today are rarely simple, and in the rapidly changing environment, it is hard to keep abreast of the change and adapt as needed. What has worked well in the past may not be delivering the impact you hope for, and looming technological shifts, including AI and communication strategies need to shift. 
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The best thing to do is to pause, take stock, and assess where your situation is and how the social impact landscape is shifting. To understand what capabilities and approaches to adjust and where to focus your resources to capture the greatest opportunities that will support and enhance your impact going forward.
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This masterclass is a chance to step back from the day-to-day and examine the challenges and potential shifts from several angles. This will allow participants to assess the challenges and opportunities presented by AI, review the shifts in the funding landscape, review current impact programs, and develop new initiatives, measurement approaches, and communication strategies. This is a strategic reset in which we will bring a systems perspective to understanding your specific context and the situation in front of you right now. 
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Bring a problem you are working on
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Come with something real: a program you are designing, a delivery model that is under pressure, a funding challenge, a new strategic direction, a decision about what happens next, or something that simply isn’t working as well as it should.
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This workshop is designed so that leaders and teams may come to workshop current challenges and set out a plan and strategic directions to move forward. The problem you bring into the workshop does not need to be neatly defined. In fact, working out what the problem and potential avenues for new directions in what the workshop is designed for.
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You don't need to be the person with formal authority to change it. People closest to the work often see things that aren't visible in strategy documents or organisational plans. We support you in developing communication strategies to inform your leadership of the opportunity in front of you.
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Why a systems perspective will help you navigate your work
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Systems thinking helps us understand the structures and conditions shaping what is happening. Looking at people and relationships helps us understand what sits behind behaviour and why change can be difficult, even when the solution seems obvious. Strategy asks what the organisation can realistically choose to do.
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Dr Tim Tompson and Dr Leanne Sobel have drawn on their extensive experience working with a systems perspective to support organisations to facilitate productive strategic change. They have developed a model that shows impact leaders and managers how to see the systems clearly and in which management spaces they are most effectively able to make change. They are organised around four dimensions of management: strategy and identity, governance, relationships, and ways of working. These four dimensions of management identify the spaces to focus analysis and to draw out key risks, issues and opportunities and, most importantly, a model that allows managers to ask better questions.
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In reviewing social impact activities and initiatives, we ask our partners to review what is currently happening. The interesting part is when the four dimensions of management show that the different perspectives don't align and what that tells you about the problem at hand.
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In the afternoon, ImpactInstitute will bring the focus back to impact and measurement: what evidence would tell you whether a change is working, and who needs to have confidence in that evidence?
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What you'll leave with
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This isn't a day designed to solve everything at once. It is a day to clarify the problem and provide sufficient space to identify strategic opportunities and leverage points to continue making a positive social impact. The first part of the day will set the scene for how you can then most effectively measure the impact and communicate your success to build a cycle of positive change. You will leave with a better understanding of what is driving the issue, where you have genuine influence, what might be getting in the way, and what a useful next step could look like.
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Most importantly, you'll have spent time thinking about the work rather than simply doing more of it.
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When: Wednesday 30 September 2026, 9:00am to 5:00pm AEST

Where: ImpactInstitute, 495 Victoria Ave, Chatswood NSW 2067

‍Who it is for: CEOs, founders, board members, C-suite executives, and impact leaders. Individuals or teams. No technical background needed.

‍Facilitators: Dr Tim Tompson (Snowmelt), Dr Leanne Sobel (Snowmelt Expert Collaborator), Paula Cowan (impactInstitute), Royden Howie (ImpactInstitute)

‍Investment: $895 + GST general admission. $695 + GST for ACNC-registered not-for-profits.‍

Capacity: 12 participants

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Pre-work questions go out beforehand to sharpen what you bring, so the morning is not spent arriving at it.
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Register for the ImpactLab Masterclass

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