Who we are
We are the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. We strengthen people’s skills and capabilities through learning, working with people in the humanitarian sector and beyond to prepare for and respond to crises.
We are a sector-facing team within Save the Children. We benefit from the knowledge and experience brought by 100 years of responding to crises while still retaining our independence. This allows us to complement Save the Children’s work, supporting more humanitarians, working with anyone with an interest in creating positive change, and exploring new innovations in learning.
But it’s not really about us. We help organisations in the humanitarian sector and beyond to amplify their reach, share their knowledge and build their networks. Our combined impact – collectively developing people’s skills to respond to crises – is infinitely stronger through working together.

Our Mission
Our mission is to enable people to prepare for and respond to crises in their own countries, by providing high quality learning opportunities.
Our Vision
Our vision is a world where everyone has the capabilities to handle crises, ultimately saving lives.
Our Strategy
- Localised Leadership: We promote and prioritise diverse and inclusive leadership practices with the aim to increase opportunities for professional development of under-represented groups across the whole leadership pipeline.
- Technical Expertise: We prioritise local and national organisations and work to ensure that all those affected by emergencies are included and equally participate in and benefit from humanitarian action.
- Civil Society Strengthening: As part of our commitment to shifting the power, we support civil society organisations adapt, own and sustain their capacity development at an individual and organisational level in order to achieve sustained impact in the humanitarian sector.
How are we funded?
We attract funding from a diverse range of donors as our work on locally-led learning is much needed in the sector. Our platform, Kaya, and associated products, brings in income as well as we work with our partners to provide them with the learning services they require.
Latest annual report
In 2021 we reached more people than any previous year. Read our annual report to find out more about our work.
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