FOR THOSE WORKING ON COMPLEX PROBLEMS WITH NO CLEAR SOLUTIONS

Acumen has been changing the way the world tackles poverty for more than 20 years. Over that time we’ve gathered valuable insights and skills that we’ve taught and shared through our leadership programs around the world. We have synthesized our top lessons for designing inclusive systems, and are excited to make these lessons available specifically for leaders in Southeast Asia.

This program facilitates deep introspection around your leadership purpose and journey, cohort building with like-minded leaders across the region, and an exploration of leadership concepts that are especially useful for those trying to tackle the complex problems of poverty and inequality.

You’ll learn how to see a problem more clearly, understand how to engage powerful stakeholders, explore your personal philosophy on what it takes to build a good and just society, and more.

The experience is further enriched through a diverse cohort. Change will require leadership from all areas of our economy. You'll join leaders from the social enterprise, nonprofit, corporate, and public sectors to explore what it takes to build a more inclusive economy for your community and all of Southeast Asia.

GRADUATE INTO THE ACUMEN FOUNDRY

Upon completing the 11-week program, participants are admitted to The Foundry.

Foundry members have exclusive access to:

• Events to learn and connect with fellow foundry members
• Professional development opportunities that may include pro-bono consulting services and professional leadership coaching
• Experts within the Acumen Ecosystem for mentorship or advisory sessions
• Referrals to affiliated leadership programs and platforms
• Access to funding and grants offered ad hoc by other organisations or through referrals within the Acumen network

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Participants come from all walks of life. They are building radical new solutions that ensure economic prosperity is shared by all. Solutions range across new business models that serve the poor, corporate initiatives to disrupt traditional industries, innovative public sector programs, and nonprofit livelihood solutions.

Participants are typically on one of the following paths:

• Social Entrepreneur. Scaling innovative business models that use market-based solutions to tackle poverty and inequality
• Public Sector Leader. Leveraging the government machinery to create a more inclusive economy
• Nonprofit Leader. Building solutions to ensure those most in need are equitably included in the economy
• Corporate Intrapreneur. Driving initiatives within large corporations to create inclusive and sustainable corporations

To be eligible for this program, you should:

• Currently live in one of the following SEA countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Timor-Leste, or Brunei
• Demonstrate a long term commitment to tackling issues related to poverty and economic inequality, including more than 5 years of work experience in the sector
• Be in a position of leadership where you work, meaning you have the capacity to influence change
• Demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to challenge yourself to grow as a leader
• Live in a place with telephone and internet coverage so that you can actively participate in an online learning environment
• Have the ability to read and write texts of medium complexity in English and basic handling of social platforms (e.g. Whatsapp)

11-WEEK SCHEDULE

Module 1: Who’s in This Journey with Me?

• Examine your identities, values, and choices that have shaped your journeys till now.
• Connect with peers and begin to build trust and togetherness for the journey ahead.

Module 2: How do we Move Beyond an ‘Either/Or’?

• Diagnose and identify moments when values are in tension.
• Learn to engage in difficult conversations and manage systems of values in tension using tools and frameworks.

Module 3: What is the Work of Leadership?

• Understand the concept of "getting on the balcony" and how it relates to the exercise of adaptive leadership
• Distinguish between technical and adaptive work when leading change
• Identify and examine your own leadership challenge

Module 4: How Do We Mobilize People Around An Adaptive Challenge?

• Understand why people support, resist, benefit, or lose when you lead adaptive change
• Define stakeholders and factions critical to your adaptive challenge.
• Understand how discomfort can be a proxy for progress towards change

Module 5: What is Our Leadership Choice?

• Expand and apply your understanding of leadership and authority

• Define action steps to make progress on your leadership challenge with the support of your peers

Module 6: How Do We Put Humanity at the Center of Our Work?

• Think deeply and ask critical questions about the ideas of humanity and universal dignity

Module 7: Our role in the system we seek to change

•  Examine the role that you play in the system you seek to change

Module 8: Why is Understanding Identity Essential for Leadership Today?

• Understand the role of identities in having conversations across lines of difference

Module 9: What are the Values we Hold in Tension to Build a Just Society?

• Deliberate on the nature of humanity and the systems needed for humans to flourish.

Module 10: So, Are You Ready to Lead?

• Re-ground in your purpose as a leader
• Imagine what our system could look like if we renew our sense of responsibility to go beyond ourselves

Module 11: Celebrating Our Journey Together

• Reflect on and celebrate your Accelerator experience

• Learn about next steps and what being a member of the Foundry means
• As a cohort, decide how you intend to continue your journeys together as Foundry members

FAQs