A leader who delegates more. A team taking greater responsibility. An organisation turning its challenges into opportunities to learn. And, beyond all this, a community of peers that continues to grow.
These are some of the changes emerging from 18 months of the Canopy Alumni Initiative, which continues to support the cohort of 17 leaders from 10 organisations working for forests and communities across Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of Congo and DRC that made up the Canopy Leadership programme. On 23 September, the group came together to mark the end of the first phase of the Alumni Initiative.
The closing ceremony was a chance to reflect on what the programme has enabled, and on how leadership development can translate into changes in the way people lead, work together and strengthen their organisations.
From individual change to stronger teams and organisations
The Canopy Alumni Initiative builds on the strengths of the Canopy leadership programme, by combining individual coaching, peer learning, online learning, an in-person retreat and opportunities to put learning into practice. The focus is on three connected levels: leadership of self, leadership of teams and organisations, and leadership through collaboration and influence.
For Jean-Pierre Ibucwa Lipanda of TRAFFED in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the programme challenged his understanding of what it means to lead:
“I understood that my skills only have value if they serve to lift others up. […] By breaking the monopoly of authority, I established shared power and exchanges between equals.”
For Lilian Laurin Barros of Comptoir Juridique Junior (CJJ) in the Republic of Congo, this shift has translated into a more deliberate approach to delegation and accountability, with colleagues taking greater ownership of their work:
“Colleagues are taking more initiative, proposing solutions and feeling more responsible for the results.”
These are relatively simple changes in leadership behaviour, but they can have significant implications for how organisations function: who makes decisions, where responsibility sits, and whether teams have the confidence and space to take initiative.
For Floribert Masani of Réseau CREF, in DRC, the programme also helped create a stronger sense of shared responsibility and purpose within the team:
“We feel more fulfilled because we believe we are contributing to the development of our team members by giving them more and more responsibility in implementing projects.”
Canopy alumni gather at the in-person workshop in Kribi
From a cohort to a community
The Alumni Initiative is designed to make these changes more sustainable by connecting leaders beyond their individual organisations.
Across the cohort, leaders have built relationships based on trust and shared experience. They have exchanged approaches, challenged one another’s thinking and supported each other through common organisational and leadership challenges. The result is a community of practice spanning countries, organisations and different areas of work across the Congo Basin.
This continued connection is an important part of the model. Alumni are not simply recipients of further training: they are also a source of experience and support for one another, and will contribute to the next Canopy Leadership cohort through mentoring and peer exchange.
Phase 2 will build on this foundation, creating further opportunities for alumni to learn from each other, share experience and apply their collective knowledge to the challenges facing organisations working for forests and communities.
A huge thank you to everyone who contributes to making this initiative a reality: the alumni, coaches, facilitators, and the Well Grounded and Maliasili teams, whose partnership is at the heart of this work.
We would also like to extend our particular thanks to the Arcus Foundation, whose continued financial support is essential to strengthening this Alumni community and, more broadly, to delivering the Canopy Leadership Programme.