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The UN Mastermind Group: Collective intelligence for sustainable development leadership
During the conclusion of the High-Level Political Forum in July 2026, Member States adopted a declaration committing to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The recent Financing for Sustainable Development Report still shows that the world needs to close the four trillion-dollar annual gap in financing for the Sustainable Development Goals. The commitments now exist on paper. Whether they translate into concrete results depends on a small number of people: the leaders who have to deliver them, with less money than they had two years ago. Official development assistance fell by 23 per cent between 2024 and 2025. Fifty-six countries are in debt distress or at high risk of it. Four years remain until 2030.
Structural reform matters, but institutions are run by people. Whether a reformed institution delivers differently depends on whether the people within it decide differently. The constraint is not knowledge but, often, isolation. Senior leaders make consequential judgments with no one to test them against, because the people who could sit in other organizations, sectors or countries.
This is the premise on which the UN Mastermind Group was created in 2020: the leaders facing the hardest challenges already hold much of what each other needs, and almost never have a structured way to exchange it. The UN Mastermind provides the room where they can test their thinking before it becomes policy. Since its inception, more than 60 senior leaders from the United Nations, governments, academia, civil society and the private sector have taken part in it.
It is not a training course. There is no curriculum. The Group provides a safe space for leaders to bring a real challenge and benefit from the perspectives of six or seven peers who have navigated similar situations.
Unlocking collective wisdom for sustainable impact
The change needed to achieve the 2030 Agenda cannot be brought by one individual alone. It requires a collective leadership effort. This is why opportunities like the UN Mastermind Group are not only important, but necessary. Bringing sustainable development leaders together is only the first step—what truly matters is what happens once they enter the room.
Combined perspectives that unlock solutions
During the pandemic, one cohort consisted of six people: three agency representatives and three Resident Coordinators. Nobody had brought the relationship between them as their challenge. The Resident Coordinators were working on their own problems, including one who had been deployed as COVID hit and was leading a team she had never met in person.
Listening to that changed what the agency heads saw. They had worked alongside Resident Coordinators for years without ever seeing the role from the inside. One of them left with a question he had not thought of asking before: what can we do to make the Resident Coordinator's job easier? He took it back to his country team, and they worked on lowering the cost of collaboration. This shift rarely happens in a room with people who share the same mandate, because they share the same blind spots too.
One of the areas we talked about most was how to fix the financing model. I talked about the challenge of silos. Money is going towards silos. There are no incentives to fund the much-needed integrated approach. So, what can we do?
A space for honest leadership conversations
Integrated delivery under tightening budgets, coordination across fragmented mandates, leadership without full authority. These are not conditions you can admit to being unsure about in most rooms you sit in.
Michael Croft at UNESCO used his sessions to work on something he had never named out loud: that even after a career spent largely in conflict settings, he was personally conflict averse. While he was used to political negotiation, interpersonal confrontation posed a challenge. The group helped him work through it and provided practical tips he could apply when needed. In a later interview, he revealed he was still using them.
The UN Mastermind became a lifeline, a space where we could share our struggles openly, without fear of judgment. We could be honest that we were not quite certain how to deal with a particular situation. The peers provided informed but objective counsel, which is not normally easily found.
Practical takeaways for immediate use
Leaders leave each session with practical tools, not just insights. Below are four that participants still quote:
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On resilience, the 5x5 rule. If something will not matter in five years, do not spend more than five minutes of mental energy on it now.
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On influence, work out what the other side stands to lose from a decision. Reduce the loss and your odds improve. Most influencing strategies start from what you want. This one starts from what they are protecting.
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On visibility, your personal brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room. If you do not know what that is, start there.
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On sequence, listen, learn, lead. In that order. Most leaders do them backwards.
A network that outlasts the programme
Alice Ruhweza’s cohort continued to stay in touch through LinkedIn and even created a WhatsApp group. Nobody at UNSSC organized that, which is exactly the point. Participants unlock a network of leaders – both from inside and outside the UN system – they can reach out to even after the sessions end.
Applications are open for the UN Mastermind Group 2026. Apply by 25 September.
Who should apply
The UN Mastermind Group is an executive-level programme for leaders who are already doing the work. You should apply if you are:
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Leading sustainable development initiatives or country-level implementation of the 2030 Agenda under real constraint.
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Managing challenges across climate, finance, governance or peacebuilding, where problems do not stay in one institutional lane.
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In a role where the decisions are yours, and the isolation that comes with that is familiar.
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Prepared to give as much as you take. This is a peer exchange, not a training.
Places are limited to eight. Applicants are selected based on their track record, willingness to share expertise and contribution to learning for sustainable development, then curated for balance of sector, region and perspective, because the composition of the cohort is itself the intervention.
How to apply
Send your motivation letter and curriculum vitae to sustainable-development@unssc.org with the subject line "Application for the UN Mastermind Group 2026", describing the one leadership challenge you would bring, what you hope to gain from the peer exchange, what you would offer others, and confirming that you can attend the dates indicated here.