This year, CHL marks 15 years since a conversation between two people sparked something that would go on to reach humanitarian workers all over the world.
Back in 2011, aid worker Stephen McDonald from Save the Children Australia sat down with Deakin’s Associate Professor Phil Connors. What came out of that meeting — sketched out, quite literally, on a napkin — was the idea that field experience and academic rigour belong in the same room. That idea became the founding proposition of the Centre for Humanitarian Leadership.
Fifteen years later, that proposition has grown into practical, evidence-based leadership training that has reached thousands of humanitarian workers across the globe, many of them working in some of the toughest crisis contexts on earth. Save the Children Australia’s Group CEO, Mat Tinkler, points to staff in places like Gaza, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan as proof of what that training makes possible — the confidence to make hard calls in the field, every day.
None of this growth has happened alone. Seed funding from the Australian Aid Program, expertise from partners like World Vision and Oxfam, and a landmark investment of more than USD $7 million from the IKEA Foundation all helped take CHL’s work global, including through the Graduate Certificate of Humanitarian Leadership.
But 2025 tested both CHL and the wider sector. As government funding continues to shrink, disruptions like the USAID funding freeze affected close to 100 students and participants across West and Central Africa and Haiti. CHL Director Professor Mary Ana McGlasson says the Centre’s next chapter depends more than ever on the generosity of philanthropic partners willing to invest in the leaders already working at the community level.
As CHL looks ahead to the next 15 years, we’re calling on new partners and donors to help us expand our reach and keep building the leadership capability of humanitarian workers worldwide.
Read the full story on Deakin’s website → From napkin sketch to global impact: Deakin marks 15 years supporting humanitarian leaders worldwide
