Philanthropy Australia has unveiled the Philanthropy Compass 2025: a pivotal guide designed to support courageous, adaptive, and values-based leadership across the philanthropic and not-for-profit sectors.

Emerging from the insights of over 450 leaders who gathered at the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025 in Canberra, the Compass distils key themes and lessons from a time of rapid social and environmental change.

Under the Summit’s banner “Leadership for Our Times,” participants engaged in keynotes, panels, and roundtables exploring how philanthropy can mobilise its unique influence, capital, and networks to create a more sustainable and equitable future. The Compass captures those learnings — a collective reflection of the sector’s collaborative spirit and determination to act with empathy, courage, and clarity.

Philanthropy Australia’s Deputy CEO, Sarah Hardy, emphasised the Compass as both a record and a catalyst: “It’s a timely offering… sparking ideas and conversations about the kind of leadership we need in these times.” This evolving resource aims to guide ongoing conversations and practices leading into the Philanthropy Australia Conference 2026, helping shape a shared vision for positive, systemic change.