When: Tuesday, January 19th, 2027, 9 am to 5 pm
Where: Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1 6LS
Cost: £95, Lunch Included

The Strategy Design Festival is a one-day gathering for people who want strategy to guide real decisions, shape day-to-day priorities, and remain useful long after the planning process ends. If your organisation or programme is entering a new strategy cycle in 2027, the Festival will be a place to strengthen that work with clarity, practical insights, and peer advice.

This is the second Strategy Design Festival. The first brought together leaders, strategists, facilitators and practitioners from across the social impact sector, and participants asked for more. This year, we are building on that experience with a stronger peer-learning environment, practical tools, and focused conversations about how to design strategy that holds up in uncertain times.

What you’ll find on this page

What we’ll explore together
Who the festival is designed for
Why these discussions matter now
What makes the festival distinctive
What previous participants have said
Who is behind the festival
Logistics
Help us create safe and accessible spaces
F AQ’s

What we’ll explore together

We’ll explore ways to design strategies that are participatory, adaptive and genuinely useful. Our discussions will draw on participants’ experience and questions, and may include:

stakeholder engagement,
decision-making criteria,
keeping strategy vibrant through learning and reflection, and
connecting long-term direction with everyday choices.

We’ll also share and test ideas for:

communicating strategy,
involving staff and communities,
setting clearer goals,
and navigating uncertainty without slipping into rigidity.

The aim is to create space for practical exploration, peer learning and stronger strategic practice.

Who the Festival is designed for

The Festival is for leaders, facilitators, strategists and teams who want to develop organisational or programmatic strategy in a way that is rigorous, participatory and grounded in purpose. It is especially relevant for those who want to broaden and diversify stakeholder voice, improve how strategy is communicated, strengthen implementation, and think more clearly about learning, adaptation and prioritisation.

It is also for people who want to test their assumptions with others. Last year’s participants described the value of learning with peers, hearing different viewpoints, and exploring strategy with a wide range of people committed to doing it better.

Why these discussions matter now

Many organisations are making strategic choices in a landscape shaped by political instability, financial pressure, changing donor expectations, rapid technological shifts, and growing complexity. In that context, rigid planning processes often create false certainty while doing little to improve judgment, ownership or action.

The Strategy Design Festival is built around a different proposition: better strategy comes from stronger participation, clearer purpose, sharper decision-making, and more honest ways of learning as conditions change. The aim is not simply to produce a better document, but to strengthen the quality of strategic thinking and practice across your organisation.

What makes The Strategy Design Festival distinctive

This is not a conference built around passive listening or generic inspiration. The day is designed as a participatory working space where people can test ideas, compare approaches, learn from peers, and engage with methods they can take back into their own organisations.

The agenda will be shaped with confirmed participants in advance, so the day reflects the real questions, tensions and challenges people are facing. We expect the sessions to include strategy design processes, stakeholder engagement, power analysis, narrative and storytelling, implementation and adaptation, operational security, open strategic practice, and the appropriate role of AI in strategy work.

What previous participants have said

Feedback from the first festival highlighted the quality of the space, the value of peer exchange, and the immediate usefulness of the ideas and outputs.

“The day provided an easy entry to exploring my org’s planning, with fellow orgs providing valuable input and insights that really shaped my thinking and strategy.” – Festival Participant

“The Strategy Design Festival opened new pathways for me: it reaffirmed my practice while giving me tangible ideas to improve. The mix of people in the room — from start-ups and community initiatives to large INGOs, campaigners and organisers — made for rich, participatory learning. We explored not only how to design strategy, but how to implement, evaluate and refine it together. Above all, it gave me courage and hope.” — Laura Jump

Who is behind The Strategy Design Festival?

The Festival is convened by FabRiders in partnership with Aspiration. We draw on a wider circle of facilitators, advisers, ambassadors and co-creators whose experience spans strategy, participation, organisational development, movement building and social change practice.

Logistics

When
Tuesday, 19 January 2027
9:00am start
12:30pm lunch
5:00pm close

Where
Toynbee Hall
28 Commercial Street
London E1 6LS

Registration
£95, including lunch. A limited number of scholarships and sliding-scale registrations are available.

We welcome you to register now

Help us create safe and accessible spaces

We ask all participants to help create a space that is inclusive, respectful and safe for sharing, challenge and exploration. We invite you to review Aspiration’s Participation Guidelines and Event Expectations, which we adopt for sharing and exploration at FabRiders events.

We aim to host events that maximise the ability of all participants to take part fully, with respect for cultural and linguistic identities, care needs and access requirements. For accessibility inquiries or to suggest ways we can make the event more inclusive, please contact us.

Strategy Design Festival FAQs

What is the Strategy Design Festival?

It is a one-day participatory event for people shaping organisational or programmatic strategy in 2027 and beyond. It is designed for those who want strategy to become a living, shared practice that informs real decisions, rather than a static plan that quickly loses relevance.

What can I gain?

You will gain practical ways of thinking, designing and facilitating strategy so it is more adaptive, participatory and useful. You will also gain approaches for engagement, storytelling, prioritisation and learning that help you connect long-term direction with everyday choices and realities.

Can I connect with someone about my questions and specific needs?

Please contact us via strategydesignfestival@fabriders.net

Why does this matter now?

Many organisations are navigating overlapping crises and increasingly volatile operating conditions. That makes one-off planning exercises less useful and increases the need for strategic approaches that combine clarity, participation, learning and adaptability. The Festival is a chance to think carefully about how to recognise change, respond intelligently and keep people aligned when the context does not stay still.

How will the agenda be developed and structured?

The agenda will be co-designed with confirmed participants and shaped around the needs, challenges, questions and ideas that emerge in pre-event dialogue. That means the day will be structured, but not over-scripted..

How will we work together?

The day will use human-centred, inclusive and participatory methods that participants can adapt for use in their own organisations. Sessions will combine peer exchange, facilitated discussion and practical working time, with a strong emphasis on surfacing lessons, testing ideas and learning by doing.

I attended last year. Will I still benefit from coming again?

Yes. This year’s Festival will build on the energy and strengths of the first, but it will not repeat the same content. Because the agenda is shaped with participants, the focus will reflect the strategic questions people are facing now, not those of a year ago.

What is expected or required of me?

You do not need to arrive with a finished strategy, a complete set of answers, or a formal planning process already underway. You do need to come ready to take part: to think with others, contribute your experience, listen well, and engage generously in a participatory environment.

Will this be worth my time?

If you are shaping strategy in 2027 and want more than a short burst of inspiration, yes. The Festival offers a dedicated space to think beyond immediate pressures, work through live strategic questions, and strengthen the skills, relationships and practices that help strategy stay effective over time.