Impact Safari

Join us for transformational journeys in some of the world’s most incandescent, storied places. Deepen the way you think and interact with the world while making lifelong connections with a community of impact-driven leaders.

Designed as a cross between a study tour and leadership experience; you can expect to be engaged through your head, heart and hands.

Our Safaris

May 19, 2024

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May 29, 2024

10 days

The Future of Cities

Scandinavia

Join our Scandinavian safari, where we'll explore the future of cities in a time of dramatic economic, social and environmental change.
Nature & Environment
Systems & Cities
June 28, 2024

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Jul 7, 2024

10 days

A Great Rewilding

The British Isles

Join us as we travel through the British Isles, where you'll immerse yourself in visions of a wilder future alongside a curated cohort of purpose-driven humans.
Nature & Environment
Self & Belonging
Systems & Cities
September 8, 2024

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Sep 19, 2024

10 days

The Cradle of Humanity

Uganda

Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with local and global conservationists, activists and community systems thinkers in beautiful Uganda.
Nature & Environment
Equality & Democracy
Self & Belonging
Systems & Cities
March 23, 2025

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Apr 1, 2025

10 Days

Exploring Ancient Wisdom and Hopeful Futures

Australia

Join us in the antipodes at the edge of the world, the home to the oldest living culture on earth.
Nature & Environment
Self & Belonging
Systems & Cities
Business & Economics
April 22, 2025

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May 1, 2025

10 days

Exploring Gross National Happiness

Bhutan

Join us on a 10-day adventure into this remote Buddhist Kingdom, where happiness and wellbeing are at the centre of politics, economy and culture.
Nature & Environment
Self & Belonging
Equality & Democracy

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"It's been ten of the most fascinating days of my life - indescribable days. The best form of travel I've ever had - I would pay twice as much and do it for twice as long. Just do it. Trust yourself and do it."
– John McMurdo, CEO Australian Ethical

Meet our Impact Safari guides who will shift how you see the world and inspire through a local lense.

Liza Chong

Partner for Impact Safari Scandinavia

Based in Copenhagen, Liza Chong is an Impact Designer, Innovator and VC Fund Manager.

Previously, CEO of Index Project, Liza has sought to support and facilitate design focused on improving life around the world. Radical and humble, Liza has worked hard to build out and evolve the now very famous biennial Index Award, the world's biggest monetary design award.

Listen to Can Design Save us? With Liza Chong

Simon Harris

Partner for Impact Safari takayna

Simon Harris exists to inspire people in meaningful ways so that, together, each of us can help our wild places to survive and thrive. As the director of For Wild Places Simon leads community into immediate action to protect places of environmental and cultural significance using sports activism as the vehicle for linking human happiness and environmental well-being. Alongside Bob Brown Foundation, Simon founded and delivers the takayna trail, sponsored by Patagonia.

Watch: takayna | What If Running Could Save a Rainforest?

Impact Safari - Aziz Abu Sarah

Partner for Impact Safari Israel/Palestine

Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace builder, cultural educator, entrepreneur, author and international speaker. Aziz’s educational and conflict resolution work throughout the world has earned him the titles of National Geographic Explorer and Ted Fellow.

He cofounded MEJDI Tours, originators of the Dual Narrative™ and a leader of socially conscious travel. Aziz was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Strategic Centre in Jordan.

A National Geographic Explorer and Ted Fellow, Aziz has founded and led countless global conflict resolution organisations including Bereaved Families Forum and the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and co-founded (with an American Israeli-Jew) the first dual narrative tour company (led by a guide from each “side”).

Read: Can Travel Be a Force for Peace? This Tour Leader Thinks So

Dr Julia Kim

Partner for Impact Safari Bhutan, Club of Rome Member

Dr. Julia Kim joined the Gross National Happiness Centre of Bhutan in 2013, after serving as a member of the International Expert Working Group for a New Development Paradigm. Julia brings a background in programs, policy, and research in the fields of global health and sustainable development with the UN. Julia co-hosts our safaris in Bhutan.

Tamsin Jones

Head of Programs

Tamsin is the Head of Programs and the Mastery of Business and Empathy at Small Giants Academy. She brings several decades of leadership experience and systems change in Europe, Australia and Africa. Tamsin believes the best way to predict the future is to create it, change moves at the speed of trust and the superpower of leadership today is our ability to listen. After working as a policy advisor to the Premier of South Australia over two successful campaigns, Tamsin went on to ignite and co-create a string of initiatives including co-founding: Workshop17 inclusive innovation hub in Cape Town; TheBoardroom Africa to bring board gender balance; and The Rallying Cry to shift investment at the intersection of gender and nature for climate outcomes. She is a strategic advisor to CEOs on feminine leadership, gender lens investing and embodiment and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford as a scholar of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Eleanor Gammell

Eleanor curates gatherings to bring people together around ideas for a hopeful future. She facilitates our Impact Safaris and was previously the Director of The School of Life Australia and the Head of Programming across Small Giants Academy.

Eleanor is a curatorial advisor to Groundswell Giving and sits on the council of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Atelier program.

Eleanor and her husband Dan also started First Light, a climate-focused investing vehicle supporting ideas and people doing transformational work for our planet.

Impact Safari - Kaj Löfgren

CEO of Regen Melbourne

Kaj (pronounced Kai) is the CEO of Regen Melbourne, an engine for ambitious collaboration, in service of Melbourne. Powered by an alliance of more than 200 organisations,  Regen Melbourne is the host of bold projects that are moving Melbourne towards a regenerative future.

Kaj is also the Director of Action Labs at Small Giants Academy where he leads the creation of new initiatives and collaborates on the Academy’s education and storytelling programs.

Impact Safari - Danny Almagor

Founder and CEO of Small Giants Academy

Danny Almagor is co-founder (with his wife Berry) and the Executive Chair of Small Giants. Danny was the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence at RMIT, the founder and former CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia and is the co-founder and Chair of the Impact Investment Group. He has founded over a dozen for profit and non profit organisations including The Sociable Weaver, The Impact Club, and Beyond Creative. He has served on numerous boards, including Tom Organic, The School of Life, The Cape ecovillage, Pacific Biotechnologies, Smiling Mind, The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan.

He has studied Aerospace Engineering, Business Administration and outdoor education. He loves to cook, read, rock climb, talk about philosophy, garden, travel and jump on the trampoline with his three kids. He doesn’t like to run marathons, watch horror films, drink beer, spend time on social media, or invest in anything that isn’t impact.

Above all it was the conversations I shared, the love, openesss and respect that shown by everyone from day one and laughing deeply in wild places - it’s a wonderful tonic.

Simon Harris

Founder of For Wild Places

Impact Safari Bhutan masterfully wove content, conversation, immersion, play and connections that nourished our physical, spiritual and intellectual lives within the beauty and awe that is Bhutan. The spirituality and beauty of this country, along with its commitment to the vision of GNH, permeates everything, and it is impossible not to be changed by this experience.. Impact Safari Bhutan filled my cup on every level - mind, body and spirit, and its gift will be to shift us towards our potential as humans working collectively towards a better future for our planet.

Dr. Alicia Kennedy

Impact Safari is intellectually, emotionally and spiritually challenging in all the right ways (albeit with incredible food and sightseeing experiences tossed in!) I arrived back to Australia very much changed and feeling connected to a new community of thought leaders.

Sarah Wilson

New York Times Bestselling Author, Journalist & Activist

The ripple effect of my Impact Safari journey is beyond measure

Melissa Gilbert

Founder & Artist of UnitePlayPerform

Explore our past guests – inspiring leaders who will shift how you see the world.

HRH Princess Kesang Choden Wangchuck

Royal Patron of the Gross National Happiness Center

She is a daughter of the fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

Margot Wallström

Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs, 2014-2019

She was elected as a Member of the Swedish parliament in 1979 where she served for six years. From 1988 to 1998, she was successively Minister for Youth, Local Authorities and Consumer Affairs (1988-1991), Minister of Culture (1994-1996), and Minister of Social Affairs (1996-1998). The following year she became Executive Vice-President of Worldview Global Media before returning to European politics where she served as a European Commissioner for the Environment from 1999 to 2004, European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy from 2004 to 2010, as well as the first Vice President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2010.

Daniel Schmactenberger

Founder of The Consilience Project

The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal.

Listen to Dumbo Feather Podcast: Daniel Schmachtenberger PART 1: social philosopher, thought leader, sensemaker

Nate Hagens

Director of The Institute for the Study of Energy & Our Future (ISEOF)

An organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition.

Allied with leading ecologists, energy experts, politicians and systems thinkers ISEOF assembles road-maps and off-ramps for how human societies can adapt to lower throughout lifestyles.

Listen to Dumbo Feather Podcast: Where Are We Headed? with Nate Hagens #1: Human Behaviour

Frequently asked

I have an idea for an Impact Safari. Who do I tell?

We love to weave our community and beyond into everything we do. If there is somewhere you want to explore together please reach out to our producer, Anna at anna@smallgiants.com.au

How many people are on the trip?

We like intimate affairs. No more than 18 participants per trip and 2 or 3 guides.

What do I have to organise?

Your flights, your visa (if necessary,) travel insurance, yourself - for an adventure of a lifetime.

How do I sign up?

To secure your place on an Impact Safari you must register your interest through the website to be included in the secure your place offer letter or directly email our producer, anna@smallgiants.com.au

Do you offer scholarships?

Impact Safari groups are curated to elevate diverse voices, push the boundaries of knowledge and shared meaning, challenge belief systems and engage with new, collective solutions to complex global challenges. Partial scholarship places on each trip enable this diversity of voices.

What does the cost include?

The trip cost covers all expenses in-country for the duration of the program. It does not cover your travel to the destination pre and post trip, travel insurance or travel documents.

Who facilitates Impact Safari?

Impact Safari is facilitated by the Small Giants Academy, lead faculty and expert guest guides such as Dr. Julia Kim in Bhutan or Aziz Abu Sarah in Israel/Palestine. The program content draws on a global network of guest speakers and case-studies presented by leading organisations.

Stay informed about our latest Impact Safari journeys

Based in Copenhagen, Liza Chong is an Impact Designer, Innovator and VC Fund Manager.

Previously, CEO of Index Project, Liza has sought to support and facilitate design focused on improving life around the world. Radical and humble, Liza has worked hard to build out and evolve the now very famous biennial Index Award, the world's biggest monetary design award.

Listen to Can Design Save us? With Liza Chong

Simon Harris exists to inspire people in meaningful ways so that, together, each of us can help our wild places to survive and thrive. As the director of For Wild Places Simon leads community into immediate action to protect places of environmental and cultural significance using sports activism as the vehicle for linking human happiness and environmental well-being. Alongside Bob Brown Foundation, Simon founded and delivers the takayna trail, sponsored by Patagonia.

Watch: takayna | What If Running Could Save a Rainforest?

Aziz Abu Sarah is a peace builder, cultural educator, entrepreneur, author and international speaker. Aziz’s educational and conflict resolution work throughout the world has earned him the titles of National Geographic Explorer and Ted Fellow.

He cofounded MEJDI Tours, originators of the Dual Narrative™ and a leader of socially conscious travel. Aziz was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Strategic Centre in Jordan.

A National Geographic Explorer and Ted Fellow, Aziz has founded and led countless global conflict resolution organisations including Bereaved Families Forum and the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and co-founded (with an American Israeli-Jew) the first dual narrative tour company (led by a guide from each “side”).

Read: Can Travel Be a Force for Peace? This Tour Leader Thinks So

Dr. Julia Kim joined the Gross National Happiness Centre of Bhutan in 2013, after serving as a member of the International Expert Working Group for a New Development Paradigm. Julia brings a background in programs, policy, and research in the fields of global health and sustainable development with the UN. Julia co-hosts our safaris in Bhutan.

Tamsin is the Head of Programs and the Mastery of Business and Empathy at Small Giants Academy. She brings several decades of leadership experience and systems change in Europe, Australia and Africa. Tamsin believes the best way to predict the future is to create it, change moves at the speed of trust and the superpower of leadership today is our ability to listen. After working as a policy advisor to the Premier of South Australia over two successful campaigns, Tamsin went on to ignite and co-create a string of initiatives including co-founding: Workshop17 inclusive innovation hub in Cape Town; TheBoardroom Africa to bring board gender balance; and The Rallying Cry to shift investment at the intersection of gender and nature for climate outcomes. She is a strategic advisor to CEOs on feminine leadership, gender lens investing and embodiment and holds an MBA from the University of Oxford as a scholar of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Eleanor curates gatherings to bring people together around ideas for a hopeful future. She facilitates our Impact Safaris and was previously the Director of The School of Life Australia and the Head of Programming across Small Giants Academy.

Eleanor is a curatorial advisor to Groundswell Giving and sits on the council of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Atelier program.

Eleanor and her husband Dan also started First Light, a climate-focused investing vehicle supporting ideas and people doing transformational work for our planet.

Kaj (pronounced Kai) is the CEO of Regen Melbourne, an engine for ambitious collaboration, in service of Melbourne. Powered by an alliance of more than 200 organisations,  Regen Melbourne is the host of bold projects that are moving Melbourne towards a regenerative future.

Kaj is also the Director of Action Labs at Small Giants Academy where he leads the creation of new initiatives and collaborates on the Academy’s education and storytelling programs.

Danny Almagor is co-founder (with his wife Berry) and the Executive Chair of Small Giants. Danny was the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence at RMIT, the founder and former CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia and is the co-founder and Chair of the Impact Investment Group. He has founded over a dozen for profit and non profit organisations including The Sociable Weaver, The Impact Club, and Beyond Creative. He has served on numerous boards, including Tom Organic, The School of Life, The Cape ecovillage, Pacific Biotechnologies, Smiling Mind, The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan.

He has studied Aerospace Engineering, Business Administration and outdoor education. He loves to cook, read, rock climb, talk about philosophy, garden, travel and jump on the trampoline with his three kids. He doesn’t like to run marathons, watch horror films, drink beer, spend time on social media, or invest in anything that isn’t impact.

She is a daughter of the fourth King of Bhutan Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

She was elected as a Member of the Swedish parliament in 1979 where she served for six years. From 1988 to 1998, she was successively Minister for Youth, Local Authorities and Consumer Affairs (1988-1991), Minister of Culture (1994-1996), and Minister of Social Affairs (1996-1998). The following year she became Executive Vice-President of Worldview Global Media before returning to European politics where she served as a European Commissioner for the Environment from 1999 to 2004, European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy from 2004 to 2010, as well as the first Vice President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2010.

The throughline of his interests has to do with ways of improving the health and development of individuals and society, with a virtuous relationship between the two as a goal.

Listen to Dumbo Feather Podcast: Daniel Schmachtenberger PART 1: social philosopher, thought leader, sensemaker

An organization focused on educating and preparing society for the coming cultural transition.

Allied with leading ecologists, energy experts, politicians and systems thinkers ISEOF assembles road-maps and off-ramps for how human societies can adapt to lower throughout lifestyles.

Listen to Dumbo Feather Podcast: Where Are We Headed? with Nate Hagens #1: Human Behaviour