In this episode, Kim Kucinskas, Thomas Jepson-Lay, and Ali Al Mokdad explore what it means to lead in a humanitarian system under pressure. The conversation moves between personal reflection and system-level questions, touching on identity versus strategy, survival versus imagination, and the growing gap between grassroots innovation and large institutional responses.

Ali Al Mokdad reflects on a recent visit to Geneva and the dissonance he felt between local organisations experimenting with new governance, partnerships, and models, and larger institutions focused on survival and funding. Kim Kucinskas and Thomas Jepson-Lay build on this, unpacking values under pressure, leadership identity, reputational risk, and the emotional toll of navigating change while keeping organisations afloat.

Together, Kim Kucinskas, Thomas Jepson-Lay, and Ali Al Mokdad reflect on systems breaking, multiple futures emerging, and the uncomfortable but necessary work of letting go of old ways. There are no answers offered, only better questions, shared honestly, without scripts or talking points.

In this episode, Kim Kucinskas, Thomas Jepson Lay, and Ali Al Mokdad explore what the word sector actually means, responding to feedback from the first episode, and whether it still reflects the complexity of the work or the people inside it. The conversation moves into humanitarian diplomacy, rising leadership tension, and growing reputational pressure across the ecosystem. They reflect on systems breaking, new forms beginning to emerge, and the uncomfortable but necessary process of letting go of old ways of working, including the real damage that can happen during the transition.The conversation is fully unscripted, thinking out loud, and sharing thoughts as they come.

This first episode sets the tone for the series. Kim Kucinskas, Thomas Jepson Lay, and Ali Al Mokdad talk about what this space is about, share reflections on leadership, and discuss the habits and practices they use to reflect and think.