PROGRAM — DAY 1

View the pdf program

This file includes room allocations.

From 8:00

REGISTRATION OPENS

Get checked in and grab your lanyard at registration in person — or login online to start your time at Progress 2026.

The creche, coffee cart, pop-up bookstore and quiet room will all open from 8:00am.

9:00 — 10:30

OPENING PLENARY

PLENARY • IN PERSON + ONLINE

WELCOME TO PROGRESS 2026

Welcome to Country | Thane Garvey-Gannaway, Jamila Rizvi (Progress 2026 emcee), Ngarra Murray (First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria), Tamika Sadler (Common Threads), Wil Stracke (Victorian Trades Hall Council), Mohamed Alharbi (Zohran For NYC) and Kirsty Albion (Australian Progress)

10:30 — 11:15

MORNING TEA

11:15 — 12:15

MORNING BREAKOUTS

IN CONVERSATION
IN PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

FROM SCROLLING TO THE STREET: INSIDE MAMDANI’S BREAKOUT ORGANIC SOCIAL STRATEGY

Gabriella Zutrau (MoveOn / Zohran for NYC) USA
Larah Kennedy (Quiip)

  • How do you turn likes, comments, and DMs into real-world momentum?

    Learn this and more from the architect behind Zohran's social media chatbot infrastructure – one of the most exciting recent organic social strategies around.

    Gabriella Zutrau – digital strategy advisor to organisations like MoveOn and Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign – will unpack how online communities can grow fast and turn online energy into offline action.

    From cracking organic social reach to building chatbot infrastructure that actually works, Gabriella will join Larah Kennedy from Quipp to share honest reflections from the field, and plenty of inspiration to level up your digital engagement.

IN CONVERSATION
IN PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

FEMINIST APPROACHES TO CHANGE-MAKING

Crystal Simeoni (The Nawi Collective) | Kenya
Noorulain Masood (Center for Social Innovation for Developing Countries) | Pakistan
Michelle Higelin (ActionAid Australia)

  • Feminist movements are reshaping how change happens, from energy transition and climate justice in Pakistan to economic justice campaigns across the African continent. These approaches centre lived experience, collective power and care, while challenging extractive systems at their roots. This session draws on real case studies to explore how feminist organising shifts strategy, leadership and outcomes. We’ll examine what makes these approaches effective in different political contexts and what lessons they offer movements working on climate, energy and economic justice. You will leave with practical insights to strengthen your own change-making practice.

PANEL
IN PERSON • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: WHAT WORKS AGAINST DISINFORMATION

Paul Costello (German Marshall Fund of the United States — Cities) | Germany
Jordy Nijenhuis (Dare to be Grey) | Netherlands
Ika Trijsburg (ANU Institute for Infrastructure in Society)
Elena Yi-Ching Ho (Research + Action)

  • Disinformation doesn’t stop at borders – and neither do the solutions to tackling it. This panel will zoom out to examine how mis- and disinformation are shaping democratic life here and overseas, and then zoom back in on what’s actually working to counter it.

    Bringing together organisers, researchers, and democracy practitioners from across the globe, learn real-world strategies, hard-won lessons, and emerging ideas for protecting trust, participation, and democratic resilience.

    Expect sharp insights, practical takeaways, and an honest conversation about what it takes to meet today’s challenges – from local communities to global movements.

PANEL
IN PERSON + ONLINE

PEOPLE OVER PROFIT: CREATIVE STRATEGIES FOR HOLDING COMPANIES TO ACCOUNT

David Tran (Oxfam Australia)
Freya Dinshaw (Human Rights Law Centre)
Nina Gbor (Eco Styles and Swap in the City)
Ramila Chanisheff (Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women's Association)
Christopher Patz (Documentary filmmaker)

  •  Communities around the world are fighting back against corporate power, using innovative and creative strategies to hold brands to account and drive change in corporate practices. This panel explores how different advocacy strategies to combat fast fashion industries - such as law reform, narrative shift, accountability measures and community power - are working to demand the products we use every day are made in a way that supports people and the planet.

SKILL WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON

TOGETHER FOR TREATY: SPARK CONVERSATIONS

Tamika Sadler (Together for Treaty / Common Threads)
Alex Hill (Together for Treaty / Common Threads)
Other speakers to be announced

  •  The Victorian Treaty process and truth-telling efforts are at a critical stage, and strong public backing will shape what comes next. Building that support takes a clear strategy, confident messaging and a genuine partnership between First Nations leaders and allies. This practical workshop will unpack the campaign to back Treaty and truth-telling, sharing lessons on organising, narrative and coalition-building. We’ll explore how to engage different audiences, respond to opposition, and mobilise supporters in ways that strengthen, not overshadow, First Nations leadership. Open to First Nations participants and allies, this session offers practical tools to show up well and build lasting support.

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON

THE ECONOMY WE COULD HAVE

Katherine Trebeck (The Next Economy)
Josh Devine (Regen Melbourne)

  • Australia’s economy appears strong on the surface, but rising inequality, insecure work and ecological breakdown reveal deep structural problems. The Economy We Could Have shows these challenges are not inevitable – they’re the result of economic choices shaped by power and values, and they can be changed. This workshop will explore what a wellbeing economy looks like in practice, and how upstream economic change can address today’s crises at their roots. Drawing on real-world case studies, we’ll identify practical pathways towards systemic change that prioritises dignity, fairness, connection and ecological care. Leave with tools to connect big-picture vision with everyday strategy, strengthen winning narratives, build alliances, and drive change.

PANEL
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

BEYOND POLICE AND PRISONS: WHEN CARE GETS CUT

Lauren Caulfield (FlatOut)
Sanmati Verma (Human Rights Law Centre)
Crystal McKinnon (University of Melbourne) (Chair)

  • Public money tells a story. When governments cut funding to family violence, housing, mental health and drug and alcohol services - while pouring more into police and prisons - communities are left to carry the consequences. This is the ‘organised abandonment’ that sets the scene for mass incarceration. This session brings together advocates from housing, family violence and migrant justice sectors to unpack how carceral responses are expanding as social supports shrink, what that means for the people most affected, and why we need to push for investment in care, prevention and community safety. This session is open to all but assumes a level of knowledge about abolitionist thinking and concepts, and will be run as a conversation between the chair and panellists.

PANEL
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

FROM IDEAS TO IMPACT: WHAT’S DRIVING POLICY CHANGE AND WHAT’S NEXT

Jo Scard (Fifty Acres)
Andrew Hudson (Centre for Policy Development)
Wesa Chau (Per Capita)
Alison Pennington (The McKell Institute)

  • Progressive policy ideas are aplenty. What’s less common is seeing these ideas through to fruition – from concept to strategy, conversations in the bubble to mainstream discourse, and finally, from idea to real change. Join policy leaders from the Centre for Policy Development, McKell Institute and Per Capita to unpack what’s actually driving policy impact right now. Drawing on recent wins and hard lessons, the conversation will explore how research, narrative, organising and political strategy intersect, and where they can fall apart. We’ll hear from policy leaders on opportunities for change they see in the short and medium term, plus plans for how we get there, together. 

SKILL WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON

VIDEO MASTERCLASS FOR COMMS TEAMS (WHO DIDN’T GO TO FILM SCHOOL)

Tom Maclachlan (Chop Chop)

  • Campaign videos often stall not because the idea is bad, but because time is tight, decisions are hard, and teams are juggling too much at once.

    This session is for communications and campaign teams who know video matters, but feel stuck getting one over the line. Together, we’ll work through a simple, repeatable process to unblock a stalled video, clarify the message, and align on what success looks like. Leave with a clear brief, a draft script, and a realistic plan to move one campaign video forward, along with tools you can use when the next project gets stuck.

SKILL WORKSHOP
ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

A RACE CLASS GENDER NARRATIVE FOR FIGHTING FASCISTS

Anat Shenker-Osorio (ASO Communications)

  • What if the way we talk about politics could actually change what’s possible? Anat Shenker-Osorio joins us from the US for this online exclusive to show us how. Learn what’s working against the far right in the US, what’s failing, and what Australia needs to understand to avoid repeating the same mistakes. You’ll learn principles of persuasion, race class gender messaging architecture proven to cut through against the far right, as well as real world examples of what’s shifting persuadable audiences in the moment we’re in, and what to avoid so we don’t accidentally strengthen opposition narratives.

12:15 — 1:15

LUNCH AND SIDE EVENTS

SIDE EVENT • IN PERSON

Polling Strategy: Winning Campaigns and Influencing Policy

Hosted by Yabbr

  • Join Yabbr and Climate 200 Executive Director Byron Fay, and Co-convenor Katie Hook to explore how strategic polling shapes campaigns sharpens lobbying efforts and turns public opinion into real policy change.

    Lunch provided in room - skip the queue for catering and join this conversation.

Sign up for Lunchtime events

1:15 — 2:30

AFTERNOON PLENARY

PLENARY • IN PERSON + ONLINE

Hugh de Krester (Australian Human Rights Commission), Kassie Hartendorp (ActionStation — Aotearoa), Sarah Schwartz (Jewish Council of Australia), Siobhan O’Donoghue (Uplift — Ireland), Eloise Brook (Australian Professional Association for Trans Health) and Efraim Leonard (Bijak Memantau — Indonesia)

2:30 — 3:30

EARLY AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS

PANEL
IN-PERSON ONLY

INSIDE AUSTRALIA’S CHANGING POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

Ben Raue (The Tally Room)
Gautam Raju (Movember)
Jamila Rizvi (Future Women / Progress emcee)
Dr Amanda Cahill (Founder and CEO, The Next Economy)

  • Australia’s political landscape is shifting. Support for the major parties is weakening, the right parties have fragmented and support for One Nation is surging. New political divides are emerging across age, gender and place. This panel will unpack what’s driving these trends and why they’re gaining ground now. We’ll look at where major parties are losing support, how grievance and identity are being mobilised in politics, and what the data tells us about who is moving where. We’ll also focus on what comes next: What does an effective progressive response look like? How do we counter exclusionary politics without amplifying it, and rebuild a politics rooted in dignity, belonging and democratic participation?

IN CONVERSATION
IN PERSON + ONLINE

AFTER AMERICA

Emma Shortis (The Australia Institute)
Mat Tinkler (Save the Children Australia)

  • With US politics less stable and predictable than ever before, how do we uphold human rights, international law and global cooperation? In a moment of democratic strain and geopolitical uncertainty, this conversation explores the future of global cooperation and Australia’s role within it. It also examines how civil society can help defend core democratic principles while pushing to reform and strengthen global institutions so they better serve people and the planet.

FISHBOWL
IN-PERSON ONLY •
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

GEN Z IS NOT WAITING: BUILDING THE NEXT WAVE OF POWER

Vishal Prasad (Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change) | Fiji
Efraim Leonard (Bijak Memantau) | Indonesia
Grace Vegesana (Australian Youth Climate Coalition)
Mijica Lus

  • The world as we know it is crumbling, and another is being birthed through its cracks - and it's young people who will lead our reimagined future. The next wave of power is already building, with Gen Z organisers reshaping how change happens. From digital-first mobilisation to values-driven leadership and new forms of collective action, young leaders are adapting to political and cultural conditions that look very different from a decade ago. This interactive fishbowl panel puts Gen Z voices at the centre. Young organisers will kick off the conversation, then open the space for Gen Z audience members to share experiences. Other generations are invited to listen, learn and reflect. Expect an honest discussion about how power is shifting, and what movements must do to grow with it.

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

FUNDRAISING POWER-UPS

Tom Maitland (Filament Analytics)
Scott Sanders (Creative Freedom)
Kevin Rassool (High Impact Athletes)

  • As we all feel the pressure of tightening budgets and the online erosion of trust, fundraising can sometimes feel like navigating a high-stakes challenge on hard mode. This session is about finding your power-ups – those hidden high-leverage strategies that help your mission reach the next level without exhausting your resources. Join a panel of technology explorers and fundraising leaders as we navigate modern generosity. We'll discuss the role of AI in this context, how data opens your strategy map, and how nimble tactical shifts level you up faster than big budgets or big brands. These power-ups aren't theoretical. We'll send you home with proven tactics to amplify your voice, broaden your reach, and help your organisation raise more in a shifting landscape.

PANEL
IN-PERSON ONLY

FROM SERVICE DELIVERY TO ADVOCACY

Aroha Nisbett (Guide Dogs NSW/ACT)
Alice Salomon (Uniting NSW.ACT)
Anita Tang (Australian Progress)

  • Service providers see the human cost of broken systems every day. But meeting immediate need is not enough if the policies and structures creating that need remain untouched. This session explores why and how service organisations can build power through campaigning and advocacy. We’ll unpack what it takes to shift from service delivery alone to combining services with systems change, including the internal work required to align boards, staff and strategy. Drawing on real examples, we’ll examine the risks, tensions and rewards of stepping into public advocacy. You’ll leave with a clearer case for change and practical insights into turning frontline experience into lasting impact.

IN CONVERSATION
IN-PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

RELATIONSHIPS, NOT JUST REACH: LESSONS IN CONSTITUENCY ORGANISING

Mohamed Alharbi (Zohran for NYC) | USA
Amy Gordon (Climate Justice Coalition)

  •  Reaching beyond our usual base requires more than translation and turnout. It takes deep, constituency-focused organising rooted in trust, culture and long-term relationships.

    This session shares lessons from the field campaign that engaged South Asian and Muslim communities in the Mamdani campaign. We’ll explore how organisers built credibility, navigated identity and faith, developed local leadership, and connected community concerns to a broader political project - and won!

PANEL
IN-PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

LESSONS IN SOLIDARITY: COLLABORATION ACROSS CLIMATE AND DISABILITY MOVEMENTS

El Gibbs (Writer and disability advocate)
Emma Bacon (Sweltering Cities)
Kera Sherwood-O’Regan (Activate Agency) | Aotearoa
Jason Boberg (Activate Agency) | Aotearoa

  • Disabled people are among those most impacted by climate change. Both the disability advocacy and climate advocacy movements have long been home to some of the most innovative problem solvers.

    This session explores what becomes possible when climate and disability movements collaborate as equals, ensuring that those most affected are not only included, but centred in designing the future of climate justice campaigning. Through shared lessons and examples of collaboration, we’ll examine how movements can learn from each other, strengthen collective power, and build solutions that are more just, resilient and effective for everyone.

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON ONLY •
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

SEEING THE WHOLE TERRAIN: MAPPING FOR CAMPAIGN READINESS

Kristin Gillies (For Purpose NZ) | Aotearoa
Zenaida Beatson (For Purpose NZ) | Aotearoa
Anna Jackson (For Purpose NZ) | Aotearoa

  • Campaigns often launch at speed, under pressure, with high stakes. When strategy isn’t settled or teams aren’t aligned, cracks show fast: unclear asks, hidden power dynamics, internal tension and burnout. This workshop offers space to take stock and get ready to move forward together. Using a collaborative, game-like process, you’ll map your campaign across five core dimensions: strategy, story, power, alignment and capacity. Working in small teams, you’ll identify what’s strong, what’s stretched, and what foundations need attention. Designed to support healthier teams and more sustainable campaigning, this session will help to build shared understanding, navigate internal tensions, and strengthen the internal practice needed to win.

IN CONVERSATION
ONLINE ONLY •
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

SHIFTING THE NARRATIVE: FINDING THE MESSAGES THAT SHAPE PUBLIC DISCOURSE

Fenya Fischler (European Jews for Palestine & Another Jewish Voice)
Rylee Ahnen (Home Forward)
Selah Torralba

  • Messages that move persuadables don’t just happen, they require methodical research, testing, and careful implementation. Last year, comms experts from 10 countries joined a Global Messaging Program to learn best practice approaches to persuasive communications from messaging expert, Anat Shenker-Osorio. Learn from graduates Fenya Fischler (Global Narrative Hive) on messages that successfully counter antisemitism as a form of racism, grounding it as part of antiracist movements, and build solidarity and connections with other racialised communities. Selah Torralba will share insights on messaging to cut through and build support for immigrant and refugee rights in Tennessee, and Rylee Ahnen will share his messaging lessons from the intersection of his work on public education and workers rights.

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

MOVING FROM DIVERSITY BUZZWORDS TO ACTIONABLE ANTI-RACISM

Noura Mansour (Democracy in Colour)
Will Potter (Tomorrow Movement)
Jordy Silverstein (Historian & writer)
Rita Jabri Markwell (Australian Muslim Advocacy Network)
Rand Khatib (BDS Youth)

  • Building racial justice into our work takes more than values statements or good intentions." It requires skills that shape how we organise, make decisions, and show up in moments of conflict and change. We’ll build a shared understanding of how systemic racism operates, then focus on practical tools for challenging it, from identifying harm in workplace and campaign practices, to responding constructively when racism shows up. Leave with concrete actions you can apply, and greater confidence to practise racial justice in real-world settings.

PANEL + DISCUSSION
ONLINE ONLY

SEEING LIVED EXPERIENCE LEADERSHIP BEYOND A SEAT AT THE TABLE

Kate May (Health Communicator & Advocate) (Moderator)
Nina Carr (Independent disability advocate)
Diana Connell (Lived experience leader and co-design practitioner)
Dylan McBurney (Peer Research Assistant, Murdoch Children's Research Institute)

  • Too often in our movements and organisations, lived experience advocates are invited for consultation rather than collaboration, without decision-making power, or confined within inequitable power imbalances. Learn from lived experience advocates across social, health and disability sectors what ethical, intentional and effective engagement looks like in practice. Pressure-test your own organisation’s approach and leave with tools to embed lived experience leadership in policy, governance and advocacy, without tokenism or extractive practice.

SIDE EVENT
IN PERSON ONLY

SPEED ADVICE

Limited places available

  • How to talk to government with Jo Scard (Founder and CEO, Fifty Acres)

  • How to use corporate partnerships and advocacy to accelerate positive change with Jane Kern (Head of Impact Management) and Cheyne McKee (Head of Corporate Affairs) (Bank Australia)

  • Pitching to the media with Nick Cassella (Economic Media Centre)

  • Taking your next step in advocacy and campaigning with Holly Hammond (Commons Social Change Library)

Sign up here for speed advice.

  • Sit down and grab some advice on your campaign or area of work from a range of experts. Think speed dating - but for expertise sharing and advice giving! Sign ups coming soon, places will be limited.

IN CONVERSATION
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

JUSTICE FOR TANYA DAY AND THE CAMPAIGN TO DECRIMINALISE PUBLIC INTOXICATION IN VICTORIA

Apryl Day (Dhadjowa Foundation)
Nerita Waight (VALS)
Monique Hurley (Human Rights Law Centre)
Crystal McKinnon (University of Melbourne)

  • Due to the tireless advocacy of Aboriginal communities alongside the family of proud Yorta Yorta woman, mother, grandmother and advocate Aunty Tanya Day following her death in police custody in 2017, Victoria decriminalised dangerous and discriminatory laws that criminalised public drunkenness in 2023. Victoria is the first and only state to meaningfully transition away from a legal response to public intoxication to a public health one. From grassroots community engagement to petitions, from the coronial inquest into Aunty Tanya’s death to talks with the state’s chief lawmaker, this session brings together those who worked at the forefront of this landmark reform, including Aunty Tanya’s daughter Apryl Day, to unpack and reflect on the campaign that led to public intoxication finally being decriminalised in Victoria over 30 years after the reform was recommended by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

3:30 — 4:00

AFTERNOON TEA

4:00 — 5:00

LATE AFTERNOON BREAKOUTS

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON ONLY

FROM FRAGMENTED TO FOCUSED: BUILDING A STRONGER MOVEMENT RESPONSE TO DISINFORMATION

Saffron Zomer (Australian Democracy Network)
Jackie Turner (Trans Justice Project)
Chris Cooper (Research + Action)

  • Mis- and disinformation are reshaping public debate and weakening democratic participation, and movements are still figuring out how to respond at the scale and speed required. While important work is underway, our efforts are uneven, fragmented, and often reactive.

    This session takes stock of where the movement response to mis- and disinformation is at right now. Together with leaders working across research, organising and campaigning, we’ll outline the ecosystem approach that is needed to be impactful, map the current landscape, surface what’s working, and name the gaps and weaknesses that are holding us back.

PANEL
IN-PERSON + ONLINE

WHY AUSTRALIA NEEDS A HUMAN RIGHTS ACT

Daney Faddoul (Human Rights Law Centre)
Sophie Cusworth (Women With Disabilities Australia)
Nikita White (Amnesty International)
Paul Yiallouros (Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation) (Moderator)

  • Australia remains one of the few liberal democracies without a federal human rights law that makes government decisions, laws and services accountable to everyday rights like housing, health, education and freedom from discrimination. In this session, we’ll unpack where momentum for a Human Rights Act currently sits in federal and state politics, look at the gaps and contradictions in existing law, and workshop strategies for turning ideas into real legislative progress. Join advocates for a grounded conversation about what it will take to make a Human Rights Act possible in the upcoming term(s) of government. 

PANEL
IN-PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

IS DIGITAL CAMPAIGNING DEAD?

Paul Ferris (GetUp)
Ricardo Borges Martins (Quid) | Brazil
Siobhan O’Donoghue (Uplift) | Ireland
Sofia Madden (Watershed) (Moderator)

  • The way we engage online is changing fast. Email lists are shrinking, social media algorithms elevate hostile content, and misinformation is rampant. While some of us are struggling to cut through in this fragmented digital landscape, others are seeing promising results. This global panel brings together leaders from Uplift (Ireland), Quid (Brazil), and GetUp (Australia) to compare models, share real-world experiences, and explore what’s actually working in their contexts. Together, unpack trends, strategies, and innovations that Australian organisations can adopt to keep building people power through digital channels in 2026 and beyond.

PANEL
IN-PERSON ONLY

TALKING TO THE MEDIA ON YOUR TERMS

Kristin O'Connell (Antipoverty Centre)
Bee Charika (Vixen)
Jinghua Qian (Economic Media Centre) (Moderator)
Emma Bennison (Disability Advocacy Network Australia)

  • Sharing your story with the media can be powerful yet fraught: lived experience spokespeople are often mined for trauma without the opportunity to set the agenda. How can you speak your truth on your own terms when talking to journalists? This panel of advocates will share practical strategies for maintaining agency over your story. Warning: This session will discuss heavy topics, including how the media reports on murder. The primary audience for this session is spokespeople with lived experience, but we also welcome campaigners and comms staff who want to learn about best practice and duty of care when working with lived experience spokespeople.

PANEL
IN PERSON + ONLINE

RESISTING TOOLS THAT SILENCE: SPEAKING UP AGAINST INJUSTICE

Caitlin Reiger (Human Rights Law Centre) (Moderator)
Regina Featherstone (Human Rights Law Centre)
Anastasia Radievska (Australian Democracy Network)
Tarneen Onus-Browne (Common Threads) (via pre-record)
Matt Kunkel (Migrant Workers Centre)

  • Across democracies, governments and powerful interests are refining legal tools to silence critics, strategic lawsuits designed to intimidate advocates and whistleblowers, to anti-protest and anti-strike laws that restrict our collective right to organise and take action. This panel unpacks how these tactics work in practice, why they’re spreading, and what they mean for advocates, whistleblowers and frontline organisers. Hear from campaigners who are fighting back, and leave with a clearer understanding of how movements can defend the right to speak truth to power

SKILL WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKER

LEARN, ADAPT, WIN: LESSONS FROM AOTEAROA

Kassie Hartendorp (ActionStation Aotearoa) | NZ
Rangimarie Sophie Jolley (Action Station)

  • When foundational rights come under attack, movements need clarity, strategy and strong pathways to win. In this session, Māori activists will share how they developed a clear critical path to defend Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) in the face of coordinated attacks. First Nations advocates and organisers will then reflect on how those lessons are travelling, and what it takes to adapt successful strategies across different political and cultural contexts. The conversation will focus on movement strategy, decision-making under pressure, and how we share lessons across borders to build campaigns capable of winning big when it matters most.

WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON + ONLINE • INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS

ORGANISING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Joe Todd (Movement Research Unit) | UK
Noorulain Masood (Center for Social Innovation for Developing Countries) | Pakistan

  • What does it mean to build an organising organisation, not just run campaigns? This session explores how an organising mindset can shape structure, culture and impact from the inside out. Drawing on case studies from the Centre for Social Innovation in Developing Countries (Pakistan)  and Movement Research Unit (UK), Noorulain Masood and Joe Todd will share how they’ve embedded core organising principles such as relationships, trust, leadership development and clear structure into their organisations, and how that has fuelled growth and impact. Through conversation and guided reflection, you’ll consider how to apply an organising mindset in their own teams to build stronger, more durable power.

SKILL WORKSHOP
IN-PERSON ONLY

PASSING THE MESSAGE STICK IN PRACTICE

Amelia Telford (Common Threads / Australian Progress)
Eleanor Glenn (Common Cause Australia)
Apryl Day (Dhadjowa Foundation)

  • How we talk about self-determination and justice matters. Too often, campaigns fall back on deficit stories that centre harm rather than strength, and lose persuadable audiences in the process. This workshop unpacks the Passing the Message Stick framework, a multi-year research project that shows messages grounded in First Nations strength and leadership shift public opinion and build broader support for self-determination. Hearing from case studies, we’ll explore how the framework has been applied in practice and share tools to strengthen your messaging.

SIDE EVENT
IN PERSON ONLY

SPEED ADVICE

Limited places available.

  • Working with brands to amplify your campaign with Hilary McAllister (Ben & Jerry’s)

  • Building support with values & frames with Mark Chenery and Gemma Pitcher (Common Cause)

  • Mini-coaching sessions with Eleisha Mullane

  • Getting your policy idea in front of decision-makers with Lucy Skelton

Sign up here for speed advice.

  • Sit down and grab some advice on your campaign or area of work from a range of experts. Think speed dating - but for expertise sharing and advice giving! Sign ups coming soon, places will be limited.

‍ ‍FROM 5:15 ‍ ‍

PROGRESS 2026 PARTY

Hosted at The Boatbuilders Yard.

Come party with a thousand of your new change-maker friends.

Special guest DJ. 👀

Check out day 2