Scholar insights – three questions

We ask our scholarship winners from not-for-profit organisations three questions to help not-for-profit staff in their roles. Hear insights from Zac Lewis, CEO at Western Chances and Ben Vasiliou, CEO of Youth Projects.

Zac Lewis was a scholarship recipient of the Kaplan Business School Master of Business Administration in 2019, and Ben Vasiliou was a scholarship recipient of Stanford Australia Foundation Scholarships, Stanford Australia Foundation (2019), he recently graduated from the Executive Education in Social Entrepreneurship Program at Stanford University (USA).

Q1. What is a great resource or article you’d like to share with other not-for-profit leaders?

Zac Lewis – “I often listen to the Inside Social Innovation podcast, from the team at the Stanford Social Invocation Review, which explores social innovation through interviews with social and business leaders. I find it so fascinating to see how other leaders from varied sectors deal with their big challenges and find innovative and impactful solutions”.

Ben Vasiliou – First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy – This is important for any leader. It’s not about us. It’s about our first followers and their capacity to influence the wider team.

Q2. What do you think makes a great leader in the not-for-profit sector?

Zac Lewis – “The not-for-profit sector is ever-evolving and Covid has really impacted that. So, I think leaders must have a clear vision and a mission of what they want to achieve, but they also have to be able to steer their organisation through any uncertainty. So being true to your mission and what it is that you want to achieve in the community is so paramount, but you have to be flexible, adaptable and agile“.

Ben Vasiliou – “Innovating in the social economy is much more than problem-solving. It takes an insatiable appetite to change the world. Being a leader actually takes courage. You’ve got to take on tough conversations, you’ve got to tackle tough problems. You can’t be shy and you can’t be cowardly. You need to be able to confront some serious challenges. So I think being able to understand that you don’t need to be the be-all and end-all, but you need to be courageous, you need to be inspiring and you need to be bloody confident.”

Q3. What did you find most valuable in your studies?

Zac Lewis – “I found the course (Kaplan Business School MBA Scholarship) to be exactly what I was looking for. The MBA brought relevant content, theory and real-world practice together in a learning environment that was both challenging and enriching. It helped me to think about and develop my own leadership style and really gave me the confidence and belief in myself to be a leader and CEO.

Learning from other students was also really valuable. It’s easy to get caught up in your own ways of thinking, influenced by your own working history, and new perspectives can really shake you out of the assumptions that you’re making.

Ben Vasiliou – “I’ve always felt that knowledge is power and the program (Executive Education in Social Entrepreneurship Program at Stanford University, USA) didn’t disappoint – I learnt so much. But for me the most valuable thing I took away was the network I made from the study… the breakout sessions, the morning teas, the dinners. I’m still connected to all those people on a WhatsApp group and it’s fantastic.”

“Being a leader actually takes courage. You’ve got to take on tough conversations, you’ve got to tackle tough problems. You can’t be shy and you can’t be cowardly. You need to be able to confront some serious challenges.”

Ben Vasiliou

Zac Lewis is the CEO at Western Chances. Zac was a scholarship recipient of the Kaplan Business School Master of Business Administration in 2019.

Ben Vasiliou is the CEO of Youth Projects. Ben was a scholarship recipient of Stanford Australia Foundation Scholarships, Stanford Australia Foundation (2019), he recently graduated from the Executive Education in Social Entrepreneurship Program at Stanford University (USA).

---