Building the systems we need for a changing world

Kaj (pronounced Kai) Löfgren is the CEO of Regen Melbourne, a platform for ambitious collaboration in service of Greater Melbourne. Formed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Regen Melbourne drives systems-level change through a portfolio of “Earthshots” and its action-research initiative, the Systems Lab.

Alongside this, Kaj facilitates leadership programs through Small Giants Academy, including the Mastery of Systems Leadership. A civil engineer by training, Kaj also holds a Masters of Economic History from Lund University in Sweden.

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position?

I was born and raised in Melbourne, in St Kilda, in a family deeply engaged in activism and community organising. My parents were academics who were actively involved in local campaigns, from protecting childcare centres to protesting environmental damage. That upbringing instilled a strong sense of agency and responsibility to contribute to the communities around me.

I went on to study civil engineering alongside history and arts, and early in my career I found a group of people starting Engineers Without Borders Australia. That experience was formative, it was about embedding a humanitarian lens into engineering, a profession that at the time was largely driven by industry demand during the mining boom.

From there, I spent about a decade working in impact investment and social enterprise development with Small Giants, a pioneering B Corp family office in Australia. That period gave me a deep understanding of how capital flows, how ecosystems function, and the responsibility that comes with seeing those systems clearly.

In 2018, I moved to Sweden with my family to pursue a Masters in Economic History. I wanted to better understand how large-scale economic transitions unfold, because it’s clear we are living through one now.

When I returned to Australia, it was during the Black Summer bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic. Those overlapping crises created a moment that called for a different kind of response. Regen Melbourne emerged from that, as a platform to support the scale of collaboration needed to meet the challenges ahead.

Take us through a typical day of work for you.

There’s no real “typical” day, which probably says a lot about the nature of the work.

We’re a team of 10, working across Greater Melbourne in a distributed way. As CEO, my role spans strategy development, partnerships, and organisational leadership. A lot of my time is spent working with partners, from collaborators on our Earthshots projects to the funding partners who enable the work.

At the heart of it, systems change is relational work. It starts with deep engagement with people and the challenges they’re navigating. So a big part of my day is thinking about how we design the “architecture” that holds those relationships and efforts together in a meaningful way.

Our work operates across two layers. The Earthshots are where action happens, focused on areas like rivers, streets, and food systems. Alongside that is the Systems Lab, where we explore the underlying conditions that shape outcomes, things like how money flows, governance structures, and the stories we tell about progress.

So my role often involves balancing immediate action with long-term systems thinking, alongside the usual emails, meetings, and team conversations.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve encountered in your career, and how did you overcome it?

One of the biggest challenges in systems change work is operating in the tension between the future and the present.

You’re often holding a vision of how the world could or should be, while also needing to translate that into steps that make sense today. If you get that balance wrong, you risk becoming disconnected from reality.

I sometimes think about it like climbing a tree. There’s a simple rule you give kids, don’t step on a branch that’s thinner than your arm, because it won’t hold your weight. In this work, the question is: are you stepping onto branches that can actually support the change you’re trying to create?

I’ve stepped on a few branches that snapped. But over time, I’ve learned that instead of getting frustrated with systems not shifting, it’s more useful to take responsibility for how you connect your vision back to where the world is right now.

If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

I think I’d emphasise the importance of trusting intuition.

There’s a tendency in the social sector to focus heavily on frameworks, models, and new ideas. But much of what we’re trying to do is grounded in very fundamental human instincts, to be relational, to be compassionate, to recognise interconnection.

A lot of this isn’t new knowledge. It’s something we already understand at a deep level, and something that has long been embedded in First Nations wisdom traditions.

So while learning and building expertise is important, I think I’d remind my younger self not to overlook those intuitive foundations, they’re just as important.

What does strong social sector leadership look like to you?

We’re operating in increasingly complex, volatile, and non-linear environments. In that context, one of the most important leadership qualities is cognitive flexibility.

It’s the ability to sit with complexity, without becoming overwhelmed, and still find the next best step forward.

That flexibility needs to be grounded in strong principles, but it also requires adaptability. The world is changing rapidly, and rigid approaches can limit our ability to respond effectively.

Strong leadership today is about holding both, clarity of purpose and the ability to evolve in response to changing conditions.

How do you unwind after work?

A lot of my time outside work revolves around my two kids. Whether it’s driving to basketball games, coaching, kicking the footy, or listening to piano practice, that’s a big part of how I unwind.

I also have a regular meditation and mindfulness practice, which feels increasingly important given the nature of the work.

And then there’s going to the footy. I genuinely love it. There’s something cathartic about being in an environment with clear rules, a defined timeframe, and a clear outcome. It’s a simple, contained system, and a great contrast to the complexity of everything else.