{"id":2707,"date":"2017-12-13T10:25:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T15:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/?post_type=initiative&#038;p=2707"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:01:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T17:01:39","slug":"school-for-thinktankers","status":"publish","type":"initiative","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/initiative\/school\/school-for-thinktankers\/","title":{"rendered":"School for Thinktankers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">The School for Thinktankers <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is a transformative programme designed to strengthen leadership skills, empowering thinktankers to effectively manage and innovate within their organisations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u200b\u200bIt addresses a critical gap in the think tank sector: many leaders, typically researchers by background, progress without the essential skills to effectively manage think tanks. Beyond research and policy expertise, leaders are required to be skilled fundraisers, communicators and managers capable of driving impactful organisations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 2017, our programme has responded to this need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have leveraged over 14 years of international think tank experience to equip think tank leaders and strengthen the sector\u2019s capacity for evidence-informed change. The 2026 School for Thinktankers will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from 2-6 February.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"o-button o-button--black\" href=index-1413.html target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Applications are now open for the 2026 School<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Join us at the School for Thinktankers!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=69okjddwrye250f.html frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>What to expect<\/h2>\n<p><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">The School is a one-week programme. It is taught by current <\/span><span dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">and former think tank directors and expert practitioners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The curriculum is designed around the key pillars of effective think tank leadership and is informed by OTT\u2019s extensive experience in evaluating and strengthening think tank capacities. The 2025 edition will focus on the following thematic areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think tanks across the policy ecosystem<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good governance and people management<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finance for non-financial managers<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communications for impact<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Policy influence and partnerships for change<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Future-proofing think tanks<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will participate in sessions conducted by seasoned practitioners and observational tours of local think tanks. You will have the opportunity to exchange with your peers from a globally diverse cohort, network with think tank experts and have access to key resources such as curated reading lists, background notes and toolkits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Upon completing the School, you will receive a certificate of participation and join our alumni community of over 250 thinktankers worldwide.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Who can join<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The School is ideal for established and emerging think tank leaders who want to challenge themselves, broaden their knowledge and build impactful organisations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We also welcome academics with a policy interest, funders in evidence-informed policy, policy professionals in the public sector, development sector professionals, policy entrepreneurs interested in establishing their think tanks, and career-changers. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=playlistcab8.html target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hear from former participants<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><b>Our partners<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The School for Thinktankers 2026 will be delivered in partnership with <a href=index-1414.html>Fundaci\u00f3 Bofill<\/a>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also made possible through the long-standing support of the Hewlett Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Past School partners and supporters also include <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bruegel<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Southern Voice, Universidad del Pac\u00edfico, foraus, The Think Tank Hub-Geneva, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), the Think Tank Initiative, and IDRC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Enrique Mendizabal on why he started the School for Thinktankers<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Enrique Mendizabal on the WinterSchool for Thinktankers\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=mtndlzybfa0250f.html frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simon Maxwell on the different dimensions of thinktanking<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"An introduction to think tanks and evidence-informed policy, by Simon Maxwell\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=s-nsobfgktm250f.html frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The School for Thinktankers is an opportunity to learn about the many dimensions of think tanking and to strengthen and prepare for leadership roles. Early-bird applications are open for the 2026 School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":2633,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[196,1230,1059],"class_list":["post-2707","initiative","type-initiative","status-publish","hentry","tag-leadership","tag-on-think-tanks-school","tag-thinktankers","initiative-types-initiative-article","theme-better-informed-policy","theme-communications","theme-funding-and-support-think-tanks","theme-governance-and-management","theme-research","theme-understanding-think-tanks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative\/2707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/initiative"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative\/2707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2852094,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative\/2707\/revisions\/2852094"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/initiative\/2633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}