Mission Inspired Leadership #1

Session 1: ENGAGE AND COLLABORATE – in the Catholic social care ecosystem 

Facilitator: Lawrie Hallinan

The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of social and education services in Australia. When compared to more centralised approaches in the social care sector, working in the Catholic social services ecosystem offers more opportunity to innovate and collaborate. We will explore the challenges too; Church leadership styles and priorities are diverse and there are. Where and what might be the opportunities and structures that are unique to the Catholic sector? How might Catholic social care thrive in a broader social service sector made up of faith-based, secular, charitable and for-profit providers who sometimes operate in competition with each other? This workshop will equip you to develop a broader understanding of the Church’s social mission, and equip you to best navigate complexity and work across organisational boundaries for the common good.

Lawrie Hallinan is Executive Director of the Association for Ministerial Public Juridic Persons, Non-Executive Director and Chair of Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT), Chair of the Australian Jesuits’ Care for our Common Home Committee, and has a background of leadership within the wider social and disability services sector.

the ‘Mission Inspired Leadership’ program to broaden board members, executive-level staff, and middle managers’ understanding of the Catholic sector and the social mission that drives the everyday work that we do. It is about orientation and connection, challenging us all to put our decision making through a mission lens, and also broadening our awareness of where our organisations sit within the Catholic community.

The Mission Inspired Leadership is a Professional Development Program of four online evening workshops for leaders, board directors and expert practitioners in Catholic social services that will assist them:

• Engage the Catholic social services ecosystem – to further mission collaboratively
• Explore Catholic social teaching as a creative framework – for services and advocacy
• Connect critical decision-making to organisational purpose – with shared principles
• Discover new ways of delivering social impact – sustainably with integrity
• Build connection with peers – in a social, spiritually enriching shared-learning environment.

This program is for staff and board members who are new to the sector, and for those who want to expand their horizons and understanding of core concepts and inspiration for our shared work on the margins.

We have five wonderful facilitators this year, each who will bring unique insight – but also will bring to the fore the knowledge in the (virtual) room. All information about them,  the program and registration is here: https://css.org.au/mission-inspired-leadership-program-2023/