Leadership matters
Published on 15 October 2026
What does community leadership look like? What is active citizenship? And what is meant by the common good?
At a time of increasing complexity, the rise of misinformation and disinformation, technological disruption, declining trust, and other factors shaping communities, we asked Leadership Onkaparinga (LO) graduates what leadership means to them, and what drives them to be active citizens.
LO is a leadership program for residents who are passionate about making a difference in the community. In its seventeenth year, the program has now progressed beyond developing traditional leadership skills of participants, to focusing on the themes of active citizenship, social cohesion and shared responsibility.
Program lead Joanna Giannes explains the evolution. “The focus is increasingly on helping people to understand what leadership for the common good means in a diverse community and how people can work together on complex challenges. The fundamental purpose of building local leadership capacity remains, but our understanding of what leadership requires has broadened considerably,” Joanna said. “Today the program is very deliberate about developing people who can lead within organisations and communities while also thinking deeply about citizenship, democracy, relationships, power, responsibility and the kind of community we collectively want to create.”
Aged care worker and Seaford Rotary volunteer Uche Anyaorah, says active citizenship starts with contribution. “You don’t need a title to lead. It’s about asking what I can do to make a change, not what someone else can offer me,” he said.
Having migrated to Australia in 2025, Uche joined the program to learn about democracy and governance, but said the experience exceeded his expectations by providing an opportunity to make real connections and learn invaluable lessons on leadership and citizenship. Uche’s key takeaways from the program were “to imbibe a better culture of listening to people to learn their point of view in a bid to understand and not to respond, and to scrutinise sources of information in this age of advanced technology”.
He also adds that "starting from my sphere of influence to encourage the culture of leading for the common good, benefits for the whole community rather than the individual.”
For Emma-May Palmer, an Onkaparinga resident for more than 30 years, active citizenship is about continuing to show up for your community. “It can be volunteering, joining a local group, checking in on a neighbour or simply noticing something that could be better and asking what you can do,” she said.
“Active citizenship can mean noticing what is happening around you and choosing to contribute.” Emma-May said she is driven by connecting and creating opportunities for people to feel they belong. The program helped her realise that contributing to the common good does not necessarily start with grand gestures, but with the everyday relationship choices people make.
Fellow participant, Onkaparinga resident, and youth soccer coach, Mason Willis, said he gained a deep joy from participating in the program noting, “there has never been a more important time to at least try to understand how to positively contribute to our communities and society in general. We’re living through some challenging times, but in every challenge, there’s opportunity–to add value and perhaps make positive change to make the world a slightly better place.”
He believes active citizenship starts with neighbours and families.“We’re all in this together,” he said.“Getting to know our neighbours and communities is a step towards understanding people better, what their concerns are and how we can work together to make changes”, said Mason. “Active citizenship can start with learning a bit more about the world we live in and sharing our experiences and backgrounds”,said Mason.
Mason encourages people to remember that their voice matters and that community connection and social cohesion are important because that’s where the change happens.“Division and polarisation are ultimately the opposite of community connection and social cohesion, and we need less of that at the moment”.
Shape your world and make a difference. Vote in your local council election in 2027. Visit: councilelections.sa.gov.au