Your Impact
Every Ticket Changes a Life
When you attend Future of Leadership 2025, you’re not just investing in your own growth—you’re investing in something much bigger.
This event exists to support the life-changing work of Hands Across the Water, a charity that has spent the past 20 years providing homes, education, and opportunity to children and communities across Thailand. Every dollar of profit from this event goes towards building brighter futures for those who need it most.
Leadership With Purpose
At the core of Future of Leadership is the belief that great leadership is driven by purpose. That’s why this isn’t your typical conference. We’ve designed this event not only to inspire attendees, but to create real-world impact.
Because of you—and others like you—Hands Across the Water is able to:
Provide safe, loving homes for children with nowhere else to turn
Fund education and skills training so young people can create a bright future
Support communities with long-term, sustainable solutions—not handouts
Your Presence Matters
Your ticket helps us continue the work that began in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, when Hands was first founded. Since then, thousands of lives have been changed. And with your support, we can continue the life changing work and provide a bright future for all children that come into our care.
Where Your Impact Goes in 2025
Funds raised through Future of Leadership 2025 will directly support:
New education and employment pathways for the young people in our care who are ready to take their next step into the big, wide world. Whether it's university, vocational training, or their first job, we're walking alongside them as they shape their future.
The development of Hands vocational training centres, providing skills in hospitality, tourism, and agriculture—industries that offer real opportunities and sustainable futures for our kids and their communities.
The continued growth of Hands Experiences Thailand, our social enterprise creating meaningful employment for young adults who’ve grown up in our homes.
Be inspired. Make an impact. Leave a legacy.
GIVING BACK
Future of Leadership is a social movement to bring about meaningful change in the lives of the children that we support through Hands Across the Water.
Hands Across the Water (Hands) started as a charity in response to the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, 20 years ago this December.
Peter Baines OAM was a NSW Police forensic investigator for 22 years and led the Australian and International teams for several months on deployment in Thailand in the identification of the 5,395 bodies that were recovered. On his last rotation, he met a group of children who had all lost their parents. This experience ignited his commitment to raise funds and build a home for these vulnerable children.
Today, Hands supports over 350 children across seven homes and projects in Thailand. The children who find refuge in our care do so out of necessity, often due to one of three heart-wrenching circumstances: they have no family to care for them, their family is unable to provide care, or they have been rescued from unsafe environments by the Police or Government.
At Hands, we believe every child deserves the chance to build a future filled with possibilities, opportunities, and dreams. Our mission extends beyond merely providing sustenance; we strive to help children recognise and seize the opportunities before them. Our vision is to break the cycle of poverty and create brighter futures and a life of choice for these children.
We achieve this through three core pillars:
RESCUE & NURTURE: We provide safe and loving homes for children in need, ensuring their basic needs are met with compassion and care.
IGNITE POTENTIAL: We facilitate access to high-quality education, tailoring opportunities to individual aspirations, and creating pathways that lead to meaningful employment.
EMPOWER FUTURES: We equip children with the skills and resources necessary to break the cycle of dependence, achieve financial independence, and contribute meaningfully to their communities.