Day 1 of the HB Tanzania Global Leadership Summit 2025
Leadership in our world is an increasingly complex domain. Most of us recognise that no matter how hard we work, it’s tricky to stay on top of an ever-changing external context. Some things may feel predictable others far less so. Leaders must, by necessity, straddle this complex line – staying above the line, we are curious, growth minded, warm, engaging, inclusive, constructive, opportunity minded. Below the line, we (like everyone) feel degrees of fear, threatened, worried, defensive, tired, and overwhelmed. When we are in this space, the world is something to be fought with.
For the founders and the Board of Homeward Bound, making the shift from Antarctica to Tanzania for this world changing global initiative, was exactly this sort of juggle.
Why shift from Antarctica? Even though we did a great deal to offset our carbon footprint, we were inexorably part of the tourism impact on this last precious reserve. Even though we bore witness to the change, and as activists for a sustainable future, seeking to build the skill and will of leadership to protect Antarctica, we could not escape the change.
For 2 years we investigated alternatives that could give us a small margin of what Antarctica provided. Finally, after investigating in some depth at least four alternatives, we settled on Tanzania, in Africa. This is a place known to many, home to the famous Serengeti. As part of Africa, it is home to the multiple ‘dispersals’ of modern Homo Sapiens, estimated to have emerged some 260,000 to 300,000 years ago.
Today, bacteria, ants and humans are the leading contenders for ‘most successful species’ on the planet, depending on what criteria we are using. And of the three, whilst many species have, over geological time, changed our environment, the changes caused by humans in a relatively short period of time, are unprecedented.
This is what Homeward Bound thinks about and somewhere in this complex consideration is how, where and to what extent the practice of leadership is helping or hindering our future.
65 women with a STEMM background and the global guiding coalition supporting them are gathering in Tanzania. They will consider our place as leaders and the actions we can take to continue advancing a constructive and hope filled picture of our shared future.
For the last three weeks this has been touch and go as this normally peaceful nation has battled very differing perspectives on the recent election. Now, as we write, we are arriving into Arusha, a major city in northeastern Tanzania, located in East Africa.
In the midst of local change and global complexity, we will draw breath, combine our experience and expertise, and together chart a series of pathways forward.
Without this courage and shared passion for the planet, what guides us in our choices? Stepping back is inevitable – stepping forward is a must.
Learn More
Homeward Bound was created by Fabian Dattner, and its origins are deeply connected to Dattner Group’s Compass flagship program. You can learn more about the Homeward Bound origin story here.
Not every woman can join Homeward Bound, but every woman can access the leadership foundations that shaped it. Compass is the program where these ideas were first formed and refined – a practical, transformational experience designed to strengthen courage, clarity and impact.
If the spirit of Homeward Bound resonates with you, explore our upcoming March Compass program to see how you can begin this journey in your own context.
