School Holidays are over, and it isn’t just the kids who are headed back to school, but The Huddle’s CEO as well.
“I spent a week at Harvard Business School learning and collaborating with other not for profit leaders from around the world,” Cameron McLeod told North Media.
“The program was about how CEO’s and not for profit leaders scale the work they’re doing for impact and change in the world.
“There were 160 people from 40 countries, all CEO’s of not-for-profits working on a huge array of issues; be that unemployment, homelessness, suicide … it was a really broad cross section of people focusing on complex issues.
“Though the Huddle’s focus is on improving education and employment outcomes, it was really impressive to see the range of passions, programs, and companies that were doing equally important work.”
Though no participant in the program was alike, they all had a common cause.
“The class really reminded us of the importance of relationships, trust, and collective impact,” McLeod reflected.
“We all share a common purpose, and have similar skills. But it’s how we work together in a collaborative way that allows each of us to do the things that we do, really well.
“We need to work together, and share ideas in order to create the necessary change that we want to see in our communities.
“We’re all working to create better environments, particularly for those that are underrepresented, so having so many different minds and experiences together for a week of learning … it was amazing.”
The week long intensive program, designed to maximize education outcomes.
“What Harvard did really well is gear everything towards learning and ask really great questions,” McLeod continued.
“There’s an art to asking questions that allow people to see different possibilities, open up our imaginations, and be more creative in our thought process.”
Though surrounded by great initiatives and programs, The Huddle stood out.
“Something that really caught my attention during my time at Harvard and travels around the United States is the importance of the role that sport can play away from the competition.
“Sport is really at the heart of who The Huddle is, in our relationship with the North Melbourne Football Club, but also in the ways that we’re using the influence and power of sport to impact the communities around us.
“There are other sports and not-for-profits from around the world that want to collaborate with The Huddle because they can see the benefits and effectiveness in the ways that we support the young people, both in our backyard here in Melbourne but also broader Australia and potentially beyond.”
Though the program was just a week, the impact will be lasting.
“I’m excited to take what I’ve learned at Harvard, in the United States, and from the other not for profits and CEO’s and really focus in on ways that we can improve and expand on our work.”
