Adaptive Leadership: Raising the Bar for Social Impact Leadership

We believe that leadership in the social impact space is about more than just managing teams - it's about influencing ecosystems. Great leaders shape not only their organizations but set the tone for the entire sector, creating cultures of trust, inclusion, and purpose.

This year, we were honoured to return for the second time to the HKU-UBS Sustainable and Social Innovation Leadership Programme (SSILP) to facilitate an interactive session on Leadership Exploration and Adaptability with the 2025 fellows, on 11 April.

The session, led by our founder, Zamira Monteiro, focused on helping fellows reflect on their leadership trajectories and identify the skills needed to tackle the real challenges facing the social impact sector. Through forward-looking exercises, participants envisioned their growth over the next decade, setting the foundation for their development as leaders.

Fellows also engaged in scenario-based discussions to tackle complex, real-world leadership challenges. The session emphasized cultivating an adaptive mindset while maintaining strong connections within the broader ecosystem - because leadership in this space requires staying grounded and collaborative, not operating in silos.

The social impact sector is often celebrated for its compassion and purpose, but it's equally important to address the unspoken challenges - power dynamics, unhealthy competitiveness, microaggressions, and even toxic positivity. By creating space for these critical conversations, we can inspire emerging leaders to lead with intention, and build healthier, more resilient organizational cultures.

We're proud to have supported the next generation of social impact leaders once again this year. Here's to raising the bar for leadership in social impact - together.

Our Collaborators

About HKU-UBS SSILP

The HKU-UBS Sustainable and Social Innovation Leadership Programme (SSILP) is co-led by the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong and investment bank UBS. Their main mission is to nurture nonprofit practitioners to pave their ways to build Hong Kong as the Philanthropy Powerhouse in Asia.