Wednesday 25th March 2026
System Shift Collaborative
Sydney Collider
Yirranma Place, 262 Liverpool St,
Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia
Welcome to the 2026 gathering of the International Funder Collaborative, convened by System Shift. We call these convenings Colliders because they are designed to bring people, ideas, experiences and insights together into a creative, generative collision.
The System Shift International Collaborative, which is gathering in Sydney this week, has a clutch of ambitious foundations from Australia, the UK and Denmark at its core; but it is also part of a much wider international community of system-shifting organisations and inspiring practitioners from around the world.
We, at System Shift, believe that going ‘upstream’ can be a powerful way to create much deeper systems change. Preventative approaches can be central to shifting the systemic, underlying conditions which create unfairness and injustice, harm and pain.
Yet despite the compelling rationale for getting in early, it can prove very difficult to do in practice, especially when there are a complex array of services optimised to respond to problems downstream. So how can we go upstream more effectively?
We will spend this morning learning from people doing pioneering work across different fields - from justice and gender-based violence, to health and early years. We will explore common challenges around the economics, culture and politics of prevention, to ask how we might set ourselves on a more ambitious trajectory for the future.
Speakers
Attendees
Going Upstream: investing in more effective preventative strategies
Wednesday 25th March
09.00 - 09.25
Arrival
Tea, coffee and breakfast
09.25 -09.30
Acknowledgement of Country
09.30 - 09.45
Welcome to the day
Kristy Muir, CEO, Paul Ramsay Foundation
Charlie Leadbeater, Executive Director, System Shift
We have long known that prevention is better than cure. So why do well intentioned efforts at prevention often fail to get traction in the wider system?
09:45 - 10:20
Session 1:
The view from Alice Springs - Tyson and Jessica Carmody in Conversation
We will start the day in conversation with Tyson and Jessica Carmody who are pioneering a different way for Aboriginal men to find out who they are and what they could become amidst a world of systems which seem designed to thwart and fail them. The Carmody’s story, born out of Alice Springs, should have a universal resonance.
King’s Narrative, an award-winning Aboriginal Business dedicated to supporting Aboriginal men to be the authors of their own stories. The organisation focuses on health, wellbeing, leadership, and economic development while centring culture and Aboriginal ways of knowing and being.
Tyson Carmody, Managing Director, Kings Narrative
Jessica Carmody, Business Manager, Kings Narrative
Charlie Leadbeater, Executive Director, System Shift (chair)
10:20 - 11:20
Session 2: Preventative Practices: Supporting Families
One of the most compelling cases for going upstream is in order to support families with young children to give them the best possible start in life. Investment in the first few years of life generates huge gains across society in terms of better health, well being and life chances. In this session we will hear from three different approaches focused on building relationships with families so they can set their own goals, shifting the resources of whole systems to serve them better.
Angie Tangaere, Kaitohu Tangata Whenua, Auckland Co-design Lab
Aimee Hadrup, Manager, Tamariki Wellbeing, The Southern Initiative
Chris Vanstone, Co-CEO, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)
Sarah Blackwood, Director, Ethos Foundation, UK (respondent)
Celia Hannon, Executive Director, System Shift (chair)
11:20 - 11:40
Break
11:40 - 12.30
Session 3:
Preventative Systems: justice, employment and health
How do you reshape entire systems - health, justice, employment - by going upstream, and how do you do that when there is immense pressure on public services to deliver against urgent priorities in the here-and-now? In this session we will hear from three people working at the intersection of preventative and reactive systems.
Jonathon Hunyor, CEO Justice and Equity Centre
Kristy Masella, Managing Director, Aboriginal Employment Strategy
Nadia Mastersson, Head, Australian Prevention Partnership Centre
Britt Wendelboe, Programme Director, TrygFonden, Denmark (respondent)
Alex Martin, Chief of Staff, Paul Ramsay Foundation (chair)
12.30 - 13.15
Session 4:
Going Forwards and Backwards: dispatches from the front line of shifting culture and mindsets
Prevention involves long-term work, for long-term returns. Progress is uneven. Gains can never be taken for granted. Persistence is crucial. New institutional policies, plans and strategies can spark a cultural backlash, especially on social media. In this session we will hear from two people working to shift the culture around prevention - across the domains of public health and the prevention of violence against women. How do we prevent progress from being undermined or compromised?
Anna Peeters, CEO, VicHealth
Patty Kinnersly, CEO, Our Watch
Anand Shukla, CEO, Henry Smith Foundation, UK (respondent)
Lenda Oshalem, Executive Director, Advocacy and Engagement, Minderoo Foundation (chair)
13.15 - 14:00
Lunch
14:00
Departure
Location
Yirranma Place, 262 Liverpool St,
Darlinghurst
Visit here for more information on how to get to Yirranma Place (includes closest parking station, public transport etc. Note that there is no parking onsite)
Upon arrival report to reception.