Anna Frell­sen on Re­flec­tion, Col­lab­or­a­tion, and Pur­pose

Anna Frellsen on Reflection, Collaboration, and Purpose

Anna Frellsen is the CEO of Maternity Foundation, an international NGO working to ensure safer births for women in some of the world’s most fragile and remote settings. She leads a strong global team spread across three hubs – in Ethiopia, India, and Copenhagen – where her main responsibilities are to set the strategic direction, represent the organisation externally, and make sure the team remains focused on the most urgent needs. As Anna explains, “our work is all about responding to the crises around the world.” This makes planning particularly challenging, as the ecosystem they operate in is constantly shifting, and priorities must be reassessed continuously. “We have to pause all the time and then move forward again,” Anna says, “to make sure that we are focusing on the right things, spending our limited resources well, and responding to the most essential needs.”

For Anna, leadership in this environment is about embracing both the challenges and opportunities that come with uncertainty. NGOs like Maternity Foundation cannot afford to plan years ahead in detail; instead, they must learn to adapt as situations evolve. “It’s not like we can sit down, make a plan, and then move forward with it,” she reflects. “We need to relate constantly to the changing environment and respond as we go.” Central to this approach is collaboration. “Doing something alone as an NGO doesn’t make any sense,” she explains. In her view, the most meaningful progress in global development happens when different actors – NGOs, corporations, academia, governments, and philanthropists – work together as part of a shared ecosystem. “We are becoming much better at creating dialogue,” she says, “and as global leaders, at getting to the same table and discussing these challenges.”

However, translating those conversations into concrete action remains a major test. “It has to be about who gains and who pays,” Anna remarks, emphasising the need for transparency and honest discussions about how different interests can coexist within collaborative models. Participating in the CBS Leadership Think Tank further strengthened her belief in the importance of reflection as a leadership practice. She recalls how much the theme of “reflection and action” resonated with her, especially in an organisation that has grown rapidly and continuously raised its own ambitions. Maternity Foundation, she says, has “always been good at setting the bar higher and punching above our weight,” but that ambition must also be balanced with the space to pause and reflect.

Anna believes that leaders need to be conscious of the language they use inside their organisations. Talking too often about “the next level” or “the next transition” can create unnecessary pressure and the perception that “yesterday was not good enough.” Growth, she argues, is not always about doing more, but about strengthening what already exists. “You have to honour the past, be honest about the present, and be excited about the future,” she recalls, echoing a thought shared by another leader in the Think Tank that deeply resonated with her. For Anna, this mindset captures the essence of sustainable leadership: to pause, reflect, and build deliberately, rather than rushing forward for the sake of progress. In an increasingly complex world, she believes that balance – between agility and structure, movement and reflection – is what defines truly effective leadership today.