“Transparency was something I didn’t usually apply… Now I understand how it helps me break problems down and find real solutions.”

On June 3rd, in the heart of Luanda, we ran a one-day Agile and Systems Thinking workshop at the Catholic University of Angola (UCAN). What unfolded wasn’t just a training. It was a spark. A ripple. A realisation: change doesn’t wait for permission — it begins wherever people choose to see differently, act courageously, and work with purpose.

We had 20 students from diverse disciplines — law, journalism, engineering, economics — all leaning in, questioning, mapping systems, designing feedback loops, and practising transparency. For most, it was their first deep encounter with agile ways, systems thinking, and design-led problem-solving.

They left with more than sticky notes and slides. They left with voice, tools, and agency.

Change Isn’t Taught. It’s Practised.

“I wish I had this in my earlier years at university. This workshop was emotional, immersive, and it made learning joyful again.”

The workshop wasn’t theoretical. It was experiential. We mapped complexity using Stacey’s Matrix, explored Soft Systems Thinking to unpack real-life challenges, and sharpened our communication through active listening and feedback techniques. Each team created and practised succinct story telling to express value clearly — a small, crucial act of clarity in a noisy world.

But the deeper learning was this:

Agility is not a corporate toolset. It’s a mindset for life.

When young people learn to reflect, to inspect the systems they’re in, and to adapt with integrity — societal change becomes possible. That’s how transformation sticks. Not through top-down mandates, but through internal shifts that ripple outward.

Crafting the Architecture of Tomorrow’s Leadership

“I want to apply Systems Thinking and Stacy’s Matrix in my interviews and future jobs — they help me understand complicated topics and make them simple.”

What these students practised in one day was the foundation of self-leadership. They explored how they show up individually and in teams. They confronted limiting beliefs. They shared aspirations out loud. They became peers in the craft of thinking differently — not someday, but now.

That’s why this isn’t the end of the story.

Alongside Fernando, Ines, Jaime, Bosco, and Eden — I’ll be supporting their journey through monthly coaching and mentoring calls over the next three months. These aren’t lectures. They’re spaces for reflection, experimentation, and growth. Spaces where theory turns to practice. Where tools become habits. Where individuals become leaders.

And then — we’ll return to Luanda. To listen. To see. To learn what’s shifted. And to ask together: What deeper change is ready to emerge?

🇦🇴 This is Angola’s Vision, in Action

Angola’s 2023–2027 National Development Plan speaks clearly:

Invest in human capital
Drive economic diversification
Prioritise youth inclusion and employment
Strengthen institutional transparency and reform

What we began at UCAN directly supports that vision.
A one-day experience became a launchpad for youth-led systems change. A three-month coaching stream is now a living, breathing expression of Angola’s goals — empowering young people to become contributors, problem-solvers, and enablers in their communities.

This is not a pilot. It’s a model.
A micro-scale transformation stream that can activate national strategy — from classrooms to communities.

Youth Enablement Is Worldbuilding

“Here at university, we only study what the teacher gives us. But this workshop helped me realise I can set my own priorities.”
When you give young people access to frameworks, safe space to experiment, and belief in their potential, you’re not just teaching skills. You’re equipping builders of society.

This is how we change the world from the ground up:

By enabling self-awareness, so they can lead with clarity.
By introducing systems thinking, so they can untangle the complexity around them.
By practising agile principles, so they learn to adapt, respond, and deliver value.
By staying with them, so transformation isn’t an event — it’s a journey.

Nomow: A Model for Activation, Not Just Education

What happened in Luanda isn’t isolated. It’s part of a wider pattern we’ve seen across communities where access to opportunity is unequal, but potential is abundant.

We call this model Nomow — rooted in the Arabic for "growth." It’s designed to activate youth leadership from the inside out, using agile ways of thinking, systems tools, and real-world experiments.

The UCAN cohort is now part of that growing Nomow movement — one that’s already taken root in Pakistan, Jordan, Türkiye and beyond.

Their journey continues — and so does the ripple.

✊🏽 To Change a World in Need…

…we start where we are.
We partner with institutions like UCAN.
We are supported by corporate allies like JTI.
We thank bridge-builders like Prof. Denise (PAUSTI).
And we honour the youth who showed up, questioned everything, and chose to do the work.