Leadership and Performance in Advocacy, Policy Influence & Partnerships Training Course

Advocacy and partnership work has become central to how NGOs, development agencies, business associations and public bodies pursue their missions, yet it is often led by people promoted for their technical or campaigning ability rather than their management experience. Senior leaders are expected to show funders and boards that influence work is focused, well run and producing change, even though policy outcomes are slow, shared with others and shaped by politics outside anyone's control.

The Leadership and Performance in Advocacy, Policy Influence & Partnerships Training Course addresses that leadership gap. It begins with setting an influence agenda grounded in evidence and political context, then turns to building and leading high-performing advocacy teams, steering coalitions and multi-stakeholder partnerships, and handling the ethical, legal and reputational questions that arise when organisations engage with government. The second half concentrates on performance: choosing meaningful indicators, monitoring progress towards policy change, reviewing partner contributions, learning from setbacks and communicating results credibly.

Teaching relies on leadership case discussions, a simulated coalition negotiation and practical work on the advocacy portfolios participants manage. Each participant leaves with a leadership action plan and a performance framework for the influence and partnership work they oversee.

On completing the programme, participants will be able to:

• Set an organisational influence agenda using political economy analysis and stakeholder power mapping.
• Translate advocacy strategy into team objectives, workplans and individual performance expectations.
• Lead coalitions and multi-stakeholder partnerships with clear governance, roles and decision rules.
• Negotiate shared positions with partners, allies and government counterparts while protecting organisational independence.
• Manage the political, reputational and ethical risks of advocacy and lobbying activity.
• Design indicators and monitoring routines that capture progress towards policy change.
• Evaluate advocacy and partnership performance using outcome harvesting and contribution analysis.
• Communicate influence results credibly to boards, funders and partners.

This programme is intended for senior people who direct, or are accountable for, influence work, such as:

• Executive directors and country directors of NGOs and civil society organisations
• Heads of advocacy, policy and campaigns
• Partnership and alliance managers in development agencies and foundations
• Government relations and public affairs directors in the private sector
• Chief executives and policy leads of business and professional associations
• Coalition and network coordinators
• Senior programme directors in UN agencies and international NGOs
• Public sector officials leading intergovernmental or stakeholder engagement
• Board members of advocacy-focused organisations

By the close of the week, each participant holds:

• A one-page influence agenda that ranks policy priorities by importance and winnability.
• A power and stakeholder map for a live advocacy issue in their organisation.
• A team performance framework linking advocacy objectives to individual roles.
• A coalition charter template covering governance, decision-making and exit terms.
• A partnership scorecard for reviewing contributions and relationship health.
• An advocacy risk register with mitigation steps for political and reputational exposure.
• A board-ready reporting format that presents influence results and attribution honestly.
• A personal leadership development plan for the next twelve months.

The programme runs as a senior leadership forum in which participants test ideas against their own portfolios. It draws on:

• Facilitated case discussions of advocacy campaigns and partnerships from Africa and elsewhere
• A coalition negotiation simulation with conflicting partner interests
• Peer consulting sessions on live leadership challenges that participants bring
• Practical workshops on power mapping, performance frameworks and partner scorecards
• Structured reflection and individual leadership feedback
• Short inputs from facilitators with senior advocacy and partnership experience

A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy is awarded to each participant who attends the full programme and contributes to the simulation, peer consulting and workshop exercises.

The influence agenda, performance framework and leadership plan developed during the week can be presented to boards or line managers as evidence of applied professional development.