Title: The 360° Nutrition Leader: Leading from where you stand
Date: Monday, 30th November 2026
Venue: University of Namibia, Hage Geingob Campus, Windhoek
Abstract
It takes much more than scientific evidence to end hunger and malnutrition in Africa. Someone has to turn that evidence into action. Many nutrition professionals feel they cannot lead change because they do not hold a senior post, yet the vast majority of the influence in health and food systems runs through people without positional power.
This 60-minute (lunchtime) workshop presents leadership as a way of working, not a position. Using the 360° leader model, participants explore three directions of leadership: leading upwards (managers, funders, decision-makers), leading across (peers and partners in other sectors), and leading others (teams, students, communities).
The session is highly participatory, using pair discussion, small-group work and personal reflection. Every participant leaves with a practical leadership action plan and one leadership behaviour they commit to practising when they return home.
Rationale and fit with the conference theme
The conference theme, Ending Hunger and Malnutrition in All its Forms: From Evidence to Impact, depends on people who can move evidence into policy, programmes and practice. That step needs leadership at every level, not only at the top. A strong nutrition workforce needs leadership skills as well as technical skills. These are seldom taught in nutrition training. Nutrition is multisectoral and change often depends on people who influence across sectors and upwards to decision-makers without having authority over them. This workshop will be relevant at all levels: students, frontline practitioners, researchers and managers all face the same question: how do I make a difference from where I stand? The session adapts content ANLP has tested in its leadership programmes and in recent workshops at the South African Nutrition Congress.
Learning objectives
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Describe leadership as the ability to influence change, separate from formal position or title.
- Explain the four directions of 360° leadership (self, upwards, across, others) and give an example of each from nutrition practice.
- Identify one practical leadership action to apply in their own work.
Session Programme
The session runs as three activities framed by a short opening and close, with participants working for about two-thirds of the time.
Expected outcomes
- Every participant leaves with a practical leadership action plan they can use the following week.
- A broader understanding of leadership as influence, open to every nutrition professional.
- One written leadership action to practise, plus a peer accountability partner.
- Links with other nutrition professionals across countries and career stages.
- Awareness of ANLP and its alumni network as ongoing support for leadership growth.
Speaker’s/facilitators/moderators: R.C. Macleod, T. Modise, C. Taljaard-Krugell, C. Conradie
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