Reflections on the 2024 National Leadership Forum

At the end of August, DUSA Gold member Jorja Brown and Chloe Cook attended the 2024 National Leadership Forum in Canberra with funding assistance from Deakin University’s Community Bank.

The National Leadership Forum ‘brings together young leaders from across Australia and the Pacific to explore and expand their leadership through the lens of values, compassion, and connection’. Jorja and Chloe have kindly agreed to share their experience of attending the Forum with us.

“We returned to the National Leadership Forum in 2024 after an invaluable experience last year. This event was established in 1997 and is one of Australia’s foremost leadership development initiatives, gathering young Australians eager to explore their values and leadership journeys. We were two of eight Returning Delegates from the previous 2023 delegate cohort. To be a Returning Delegate, we had to re-apply to the Forum. This application asked us why we wanted to come back, what we thought of our first experience and a few other questions. We both wanted to return because we felt we had more to learn from this amazing experience. The four days go so quickly, so being given the chance to return allowed us to slow down and take it all in.

The Forum provides a unique opportunity for emerging leaders to delve into the principles underlying their actions, fostering a community devoted to service and encouragement. It’s a pivotal space for engaging with fellow leaders, discussing ideas and beliefs, and defining identity beyond titles.

The National Leadership Forum focuses on the concept of ‘Servant Leadership’. This is the idea that we serve for others, not for ourselves. They ask the delegates the profound question, “Are you a servant who leads, or a leader who serves?” We both aspire to be a servant who leads – someone who engages in leadership solely for the benefit of others, not for self-validation. Servant leadership often manifests in small, unseen acts of service to others. Part of our experience as Returning Delegates was helping behind the scenes to set up some of the activities as well as engaging the group of 185+ delegates with skits and thought-provoking questions.

We were both funded by the Community Bank at Deakin University to attend this year, though previously we were funded by other organisations. Some faculties also help fund students for this event, so it is worth looking into. To gain funding we filled out forms and asked around.

To all the young people reading this, we encourage you to look into the National Leadership Forum. Explore what this event is about. We suspect many of you who take the time to do so may doubt your value or belonging at such an event. But you are exactly the people we hope to see there next year. You are the people we want to serve."