Attending the OTT Conference 2025 in Johannesburg was both energising and thought-provoking. As Co-Chair of Generation for Rights Over the World (GROW), a youth-led human rights think tank, I was honoured to participate through the Building for the Future Initiative, and to be part of the representatives of a new generation of policy thinkers.
What struck me most during the conference wasn’t just the diversity of topics or organisations represented, but the deeper themes that ran through many conversations, particularly the need to reinvent, collaborate, listen, and communicate more effectively across our sector. These themes resonated powerfully not only with GROW’s mission but also with our generation’s hopes for the future of evidence-informed policymaking.
1. Reinventing Ourselves: Risk, Change, and Agenda-Driven Strategy
Sara Pantuliano’s keynote, “Beyond Budgets: Shaping the Future”, was one of the most powerful sessions I attended. As a young (trying – still very much learning) leader, and as a young woman in a space where leadership often looks and sounds very different, hearing her speak with such clarity, conviction, and courage was deeply inspiring.
This shift from a project-based approach to an agenda-driven strategy really stayed with me. In a sector often shaped by funding cycles, deliverables, and donor expectations, this move felt bold. It underscored the importance of being driven by values and vision, something we, at GROW, working on human rights issues, try to hold onto, even when resources are scarce.
Sara’s reflection on taking risks to grow in influence resonated deeply. Her call for stronger, more inclusive partnerships showed a model of leadership that doesn’t fear change, but embraces it as necessary for relevance. ODI’s engagement with the G20, its work on reforming multilateral development banks, and its commitment to local voices in places like Sudan and Myanmar, are all examples of the kind of globally anchored yet locally sensitive work that think tanks should aspire to.
It was not just what she said, but how she said it. She didn’t shy away from the uncomfortable realities of organisational transformation. Instead, she embraced them, showing that reinvention is not a weakness, but a strength, and a necessary one, if we want to remain relevant and impactful. Her message that we must take risks to grow in influence really resonated with me. It’s a message that many youth-led organisations need to hear, and one that funders and partners need to support.
It was also a reminder that leadership isn’t about having all the answers, it’s about having the courage to ask the right questions and bring others along in the process.
2. Collaborating Across Generations and Borders
Collaboration was everywhere at the Conference, in formal sessions, networking breaks, and informal conversations. For us, this was more than just a chance to exchange business cards, flyers and other original merch items. It was a moment to forge connections that can redefine how we work.
At GROW, we were proud to connect with other youth-led organisations like STEAR, EPIS Thinktank, and the Warwick Think Tank Society. There’s a shared recognition among us that the future of the think tank world must be built with, not just for, young people.
But intergenerational collaboration also stood out. I was encouraged by the openness of more established think tanks to engage with us, to ask what we thought, to listen, and to invite future collaboration. Still, we need more spaces for this. Youth participation shouldn’t be a footnote; it should be integrated into the agenda-setting and knowledge-sharing structures of these gatherings.
3. Speak Up, Speak Out: The Power of Public Engagement
Another keynote, by Damien King of CAPRI Jamaica, brought us back to a fundamental question: how can think tanks truly make a difference in spaces crowded with competing interests, corporate lobbying, and public scepticism?. His message was practical: identify the right spaces of influence, target the right actors, and place your issues on the agenda. In a world full of competing interests and policy overload, this advice felt urgent.
What I appreciated most was how practical and strategic his framework was. He reminded us that impact doesn’t just happen, it’s about being deliberate. Know your audience. Identify the right spaces of influence. Place the issue on the agenda at the right moment. These may sound like simple ideas, but they require sharp focus and consistent effort, something youth-led organisations like ours are still learning to do with limited resources.
But to do that well, we need to listen better, to each other, across disciplines, sectors, and generations. The OTT Conference showed how powerful cross-regional learning can be. I gained new insights not just from global powerhouses, but from smaller organisations facing similar challenges in different corners of the world. There’s so much to learn when we stop assuming we already know the answer and start asking more questions instead.
This also pushed me to think about something deeper: are we speaking in a way that people, beyond our own sector, can actually hear us? It’s easy to fall into the comfort of speaking to our peers. But if we want to drive meaningful change, we need to go beyond the familiar language of white papers, closed panels, and policy briefs.
This means engaging the public, not just policymakers. It means storytelling, building coalitions, using accessible language, and yes, sometimes speaking out, loudly, when it matters most. That’s something youth-led movements often do well, and a space where we can contribute with energy and creativity.
We all need to learn how to speak up, and speak out, more effectively. Because if our ideas never leave the bubble, they won’t change a thing.
For youth-led think tanks like ours, this also means listening across generations, respecting experience while making space for innovation. And for the broader think tank community, it means listening to young voices not as symbolic gestures but as sources of new energy, perspectives, and solutions.
4. Making Ideas Travel: From Evidence to Action
One of the unspoken threads running through many conversations was the need to get out of our comfort zones, and more importantly, out of our own echo chambers. If we want to influence change, we have to communicate beyond policy elites, and beyond the research-policy cycle, and in the student and youth-led cases, beyond the young people and students who are in our bubble and fields.
Sessions like Turning Evidence into Impactful Campaigns highlighted that impact isn’t just about producing good research, it’s about telling stories, building movements, and engaging wider publics. For GROW, this was a key takeaway. It reaffirmed our decision to invest more in advocacy, storytelling, and campaigns that reach outside traditional policy spaces.
The OTT Conference itself does a great job of bringing different actors together, but I really advocate for a dedicated space for youth-led or student think tanks, and more youth-designed sessions, to help ensure that fresh ideas don’t just float at the margins but become part of the core dialogue.
Moving Forward
The OTT Conference 2025 reminded me that real change, the kind that matters, is built on reinvention, collaboration, openness, and courage. It’s about questioning our models, learning from each other, and creating space for voices that have too often been overlooked.
At GROW, we’re committed to continuing the conversation, building stronger partnerships, and helping shape a policy ecosystem that is not only evidence-informed, but inclusive, global, and future-ready, and we hope to see more young people at the heart of that journey, not just included, but empowered to lead.