Across Africa, civic leaders carry enormous responsibility. They defend communities, sustain democratic life, and respond to urgent social challenges.

Yet many leaders do this work under conditions of shrinking civic space, institutional fragility, and growing financial uncertainty. In such an environment, leadership often becomes trapped in constant crisis response rather than the deliberate work of building resilient institutions.

The Civic Leadership Institute was established in response to this reality.

CLI exists to walk with civic leaders in the action zone, strengthen the institution of civic leadership, and build a sanctuary for a community of civic leaders who accompany one another in the difficult work of serving society.

Through a series of reflections with civic leaders, we identified seven shifts that the civic leadership ecosystem must not only embrace, but actively catalyse: