23/09/2026
Recently our Director, Kathy Elliot, went on a road trip. Here is what she had to say about her experience.
"2,200 km by road.🛻
1,700 km by air. 🛫
Wagga. Mildura. Gold Coast. Brisbane.
The past two weeks have involved a lot of travel - working onsite with partners, running a workshop, meeting potential new partners, and spending time co-working, strategising and coaching with some of our team.
And somewhere amongst all those kilometres, I was reminded of something surprisingly simple:
It’s easier to listen well when we’re face to face.
There’s something about sitting across the table from someone that changes the conversation. It becomes softer. There’s more room for curiosity. More opportunity to ask the follow-up question. And it becomes about more than the work or the transaction.
Sometimes, the most important moments happen in the spaces around the work.
Like discovering during a workshop break that one of the delegates was the mother of someone I’d connected with at a previous event. A small-world moment that probably wouldn’t have happened on a screen.
Or the follow-up question during a workshop that led to an “ah-ha!” moment about an organisation’s work. The answer wasn’t on their website. It hadn’t really been articulated before. But it completely changed my understanding of how they support people in need — exactly the kind of insight we need if we’re going to help create a great fundraising campaign.
Online, I’m not sure either of those moments would have happened. We would have had an agenda, done the work, finished the call and clicked “Leave Meeting”.
Face to face, there was space.
Space to listen.
Space to notice.
Space to be curious.
Space for genuine connection.
I’ve arrived home tired, but somehow with a mind that feels more rested and less cluttered.
Which is probably a good thing, because now there’s plenty to do: conversations to continue, strategies to develop, campaigns to create, and all that listening and learning to distil into good work.
Excited for what comes next.
And, perhaps surprisingly after 3,900 km of travel, already looking forward to the next trip. 💛"