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Emerging Social Purpose Leaders Program
The University of Melbourne
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Are you an emerging leader in the social purpose space, excited to equip yourself with the skills to achieve social impact and financial sustainability?
Why us?
The opportunity:
Why you might love this opp:
Develop your business and leadership skills as an emerging leader in not-for-profit and other social purpose organisations. Generous scholarships available.
Program dates: 20 Jul - 6 Oct 2026
This immersive 12-week program has been designed to equip not-for-profit and other social purpose leaders who have little or no prior business management training, with the knowledge and skills to lead to achieve social impact and financial sustainability.
Please note that generous scholarships are available for this program. All eligible applicants will be automatically considered. Scholarship deadline is 20 May 2026.
The Program is designed around the principles of action-learning. Participants learn through a combination of classroom-based sessions and application of this knowledge to issues and challenges they are encountering in their workplaces.
This structure sees participants attending three blocks of two-day residential (classroom) learning, followed by four weeks of a work-application and reflection, all supported by a work-based mentor and coaching by MBS.
The Program’s three residential blocks led by expert academics from Melbourne Business School and industry experts. These residential learning blocks cover essential topics such as: social purpose strategy; social impact systems thinking and measurement; stakeholder management and communication; leading people; financial fundamentals; and social purpose governance.
An integral part of the program is action planning – participants are required to develop actionable plans during each block to apply their learning in their workplace, with the support of their workplace mentor and MBS coach.
Key criteria:
Who Should Attend Emerging Social Purpose Leaders?
- Line, program and project managers - In medium and large not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises with little or no prior management experience.
- CEOs and General Managers - In smaller not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises with fewer than five full time equivalent staff.
Scholarships on offer:
- CSL Community Impact Scholarships: The CSL Community Impact Scholarships are the result of a partnership between CSL and MBS. In 2026, there are up to eight CSL Community Impact Scholarships available for the Emerging Social Purpose Leaders Program.
- WISE Employment Community Scholarships: The WISE Employment Community Scholarships are the result of a partnership between WISE Employment and MBS. In 2025, there are 18 WISE Employment Community Scholarships available for the Emerging Social Purpose Leaders Program.
How to apply:
Follow the link for more information and please cite Ripple Opportunities in your application.
Oh look! A legend is here reading some fine print! At Ripple our mission is to democratise access to purpose-driven opportunities. As a small team that curates hundreds of opportunities each week we do our best to share all the key information and juicy details. We often link out to the original listing and can't guarantee all details are included on our page, or the full accuracy as application windows and role descriptions may be changed by companies with short notice. If you're unsure of any details or closing dates, it's best to reach out to the organisation directly.