Leadership
Growth happens when we step beyond our own perspectives.
Strengthen your skills through our five-month international leadership development programme.
Transformative Leadership in Action is for people who want to navigate complexity, collaborate across differences and create meaningful change.
Bring your professional experience. Learn alongside people with different perspectives and lived experiences.
Work with a refugee-led organisation on a real-world project shaped by its priorities.
We bring together people from the private sector, academia, non-profit organisations, public institutions and civil society. You don't need previous experience in the refugee or humanitarian sector – just curiosity and a willingness to learn from others.
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11 January – 27 June 2027
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Blended learning
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Residential experience in Malaysia or Indonesia
How you will grow
Learn across differences
Strengthen your ability to build trust, communicate across differences and work effectively with people whose experiences and perspectives differ from your own.
Strengthen your professional profile
Build transferable skills in cross-sector collaboration, project management and inclusive leadership. Expand your professional network and gain experience that you can bring into your current or future roles.
Put learning into practice
Work with a refugee-led organisation on a real-world project shaped by a priority it has identified. Apply leadership and project management skills through collaborative problem-solving, cross-cultural teamwork and turning ideas into action.
Bring your learning back
Through coaching, peer exchange and reflection, explore how to apply new approaches in your personal context, team and organisation.
Develop your leadership
Strengthen your self-awareness, adaptability and confidence to lead through complexity, uncertainty and change. Develop transferable leadership skills that can support your professional growth and prepare you for new responsibilities and opportunities.
The learning journey
1. Connect
Build relationships and establish a foundation for working together.
Key skills: Active listening, facilitation, consultation and perspective-taking.
2. Understand
Explore the context, strengths and priorities of the refugee-led organisation.
Key skills: Contextual analysis, needs assessment and cross-cultural understanding.
3. Co-create
Develop a project around a real, organisation-defined priority.
Key skills: Co-design, creative thinking and collaborative problem-solving.
4. Act & adapt
Put ideas into practice, reflect and adjust.
Key skills: Project planning, resource mobilisation, partnership-building and navigating uncertainty and change.
5. Take it forward
Use coaching, peer learning and a personal action plan to bring learning into your own leadership practice.
Key skills: Self-awareness, emotional intelligence, collaborative leadership and strategic thinking.
A different kind of learning community
Everyone brings something. Everyone learns something.
Refugee leaders bring lived experience, community knowledge and deep understanding of the contexts in which they work.
Participants from business, civil society and other professional backgrounds bring their own expertise, networks and perspectives.
Together, participants combine their different strengths and perspectives to explore new approaches and respond to shared challenges.
Who is Transformative Leadership in Action for?
For organisations and companies
Transformative Leadership in Action offers an opportunity to:
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Give staff the opportunity to learn across sectors and engage with people whose experiences and perspectives differ from their own.
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Invest in practical learning that employees can apply directly in their roles and working relationships.
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Strengthen team ability to navigate diversity, work across cultures and build effective relationships.
For individuals
Transformative Leadership in Action is for people who are curious, reflective and open to new perspectives. It is particularly suited to those who want to strengthen their leadership, question their assumptions and learn to collaborate across professional, cultural and lived experiences.
Whether you are looking to progress in your current role, take on new responsibilities or broaden your career opportunities, Transformative Leadership in Action offers a structured professional development experience. You will strengthen transferable leadership skills, gain hands-on project experience and build connections with professionals from different sectors and backgrounds.
Format: Blended learning, combining online activities with a two-week residential experience.
Online learning: Self-paced activities, group work, live sessions, coaching and peer exchange.
Weekly commitment: Approximately 12 hours per week during online learning periods.
Residential commitment: Approximately 40 hours per week during the two-week residential.
Residential locations and dates:
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Malaysia: 22 March – 4 April 2027
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Indonesia: 5–18 April 2027
Each participant takes part in one residential session only – either in Malaysia or Indonesia. The residential location depends on the location of the refugee-led partner organisation and the participant's availability.
Certificate of completion
Participants who successfully complete the programme will receive a certificate of completion from Same Skies. The certificate recognises participation in an intensive, five-month international leadership development programme combining facilitated learning, coaching, peer exchange and applied project work.
Fees and financial support
Transformative Leadership in Action uses a cross-subsidy model to make the programme accessible to participants with different financial resources. Fees depend on who funds participation, with organisations and companies contributing more to help create opportunities for those with fewer resources.
Programme fees:
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Individual / self-funded: USD 3,000
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NGO / non-profit sponsored: USD 4,500
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Corporate / private sector sponsored: USD 6,000
Fees cover programme participation only. Travel, accommodation, visas and most meals are not included.
Reduced fees and limited financial support may be available for participants who would otherwise be unable to take part. Group arrangements may also be possible.
Download our detailed programme description for more information.
From leadership learning to refugee-led organisations
Transformative Leadership in Action connects leadership development with practical collaboration. The programme has helped bring refugee-led initiatives into being, turning shared learning, diverse expertise and refugee-led priorities into action.
Two refugee-led organisations – Refugee Network Center and Jakarta Bersatu Project – were founded through previous editions of the programme. Read about them on our Partners page.
Our approach
Same Skies combines expertise in leadership development with long-standing experience working alongside refugee-led organisations and leaders across Southeast Asia. Our experience in leadership training, coaching and capacity strengthening informs the programme, bringing practical insight into inclusive leadership, cross-cultural collaboration and working in complex contexts.
Interested in joining or sponsoring participants?
Contact Same Skies to discuss the application process, financial support or group participation.