Meaning-Making in Humanitarian Leadership

“In the end, what is it that matters? LOVE. People who care, who grieve for others, who try to help and do the best they can to help the world be a more just place. Thank you, In-Sight Collaborative, for allowing this space.” - 2025 Program Participant

As we prepare to kick off our eighth cohort of our humanitarian leadership program (formerly known as the mentorship program), here are some of the reasons why we are full of excitement for another transformative 10 weeks with humanitarian-minded people.

What is the Global Humanitarian Leadership Program?

The humanitarian sector is one of the most diverse and intersectional sectors in the world. Unfortunately, it is also wrought with colonial and supremacist mentalities that create a culture of exclusion in both humanitarian education initiatives and sector careers. Difficulty in accessing educational and career opportunities in the humanitarian sector leaves out vital perspectives and voices, oftentimes from those most impacted by humanitarian crisis, and perpetuates harmful practices and narratives within the global humanitarian response. ​

The amount of world-changing events we have witnessed unfolding in our lifetimes speaks volumes about the deepening systemic inequities and creation of new forms of marginalization. We see this in the emergence of the polycrisis, where acute humanitarian situations overlap with environmental degradation and economic instability. For instance, humanitarian responses have too often been driven by paternalistic models, institutional power imbalances, and extractive practices that fail to center the autonomy, expertise, and lived realities of displaced communities. Responses aimed at solving symptoms, rather than root causes, are being normalized at the cost of our humanity. Worryingly, our fear of dealing with the complexities of our reality leads us to trade our identity for ideologies, which further limits our worldview. Our imagination has been taken hostage by the status quo – this “business as usual” thinking. We need more people to question, dream, and create. We need to build a critical consciousness rooted in love. We aspire for a community that allows us to reclaim and contest popular meanings, symbols, and narratives around humanitarianism. 

Our program theory of change:

IF we create meaningful opportunities for learning, mutual aid, and organizing are accessible to aspiring and seasoned humanitarian professionals to create a more equitable aid system,

AND IF we identify and amplify organizations, entities, and movements that are addressing inequity or are lowering barriers of participation in the humanitarian sector, 

THEN more humanitarians from various backgrounds will be able to build coalitions, support communities of learning, and contribute to larger systemic change in the humanitarian sector in their everyday work and lives.

Meaning Making: Our Program Outcomes

Our humanitarian leadership program does not define success based on fixed intended outcomes, rather, we gage our success based on the holistic experiences of our participants and educators.

"When I first joined the program, I expected it to be like any other online training. However, it turned out to be something different. The flexibility, engagement, insightful content, and ease of staying on track, along with the incredible network, motivated me to attend as many sessions as possible. I particularly appreciated how the content is up-to-date, offering a well-balanced blend of theoretical knowledge and practical application. Thank you for creating such a human-centered experience." - 2024 Program Participant

Our switch to outcome harvesting in summer of 2025 gave us even deeper insights into the qualitative experiences of the participants. Almost all of our respondents had transformative experiences in being part of our co-learning space. One participant, who has been working at mid to senior-level positions in the philanthropy sector, shared this story about how the community created in the program helped them find their way to show up as they are: 

“[A fellow participant] and I was talking about this during our break out in last week's focus group how neither of us really felt like we fit in the traditional sense when we think about humanitarians in its most literal definition, but we were called to try to do something to make the space more humane anyway. I loved getting to bond with like-hearted people from all over, learn from those who are currently working with migrant populations, and understand that just by showing up, we were already causing positive ripple effects of change in the humanitarian sector.”

One particular participant broke down how certain weeks attributed to different skills developed and insights gained: “I developed a sense for myself thanks to the self-reflection exercises that were especially present in week 5 and 6. The picture of my inner parts and some reaction patterns I experienced in activism and mutual aid contexts have definitely sharpened. I also got great insights into the community of humanitarians and the motives people have to be part of this sector, as well as, into my own community in regard to the problem identification exercise in week 3.”

Another participant felt supported by their peers and benefitted from the different backgrounds of their co-learners: “We had diverse backgrounds and experiences that genuinely complemented each other. When I felt uneasy in areas, I would always hear something or speak to someone that could pick me back up.”

In addition to the thorough feedback from the outcome harvesting evaluation model, the program's midpoint creative project provided an additional medium for storytelling and expression from our participants. An archive of past creative projects can be explored in the interactive presentation below.

The rigidity of traditional leadership and education models robs us of powerful opportunities for creativity, self-expression, and humanity. Our program aims to provide a safe and expansive learning opportunity for the people who make up today's humanitarian response. We look forward to what this cohort brings to the co-learning space and what we can create together!