Collective Impact Insights

Nonprofit leaders spend vast energy chasing annual targets, short-term grants, and philanthropic trends to keep doors open. Relying on institutional power structures, like large foundations or government grants, leaves organizations vulnerable to shifting political agendas and funder priorities. To build organizational resilience, institutions must adopt a deliberate legacy giving strategy.

Workforce inequity isn't simply a result of individual bias: a bad manager, a hostile interviewer, or an exclusionary hiring manager. It is sustained by organizational structures designed to uphold these injustices. A 2025 Prism report highlights the extreme economic disparities facing transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming job seekers, who continue to face disproportionate unemployment, underemployment, and discrimination.

If the rules are fair, why does the culture feel rigged? The answer lies in the ecology of power. While we obsess over visible power (budgets, titles, and bylaws), we often ignore the invisible power—the hidden filters and gatekeeping habits that act like static on a radio, drowning out the very resonance we need to succeed.

State surveillance in red states represents more than policy; it is the operationalization of power to erase trans identities. In Rooted Together, we call for a Mycelium of Resistance. Nonprofits must move beyond advocacy to build Parallel Governance—decentralized systems of safety, digital sovereignty, and mutual aid. By creating infrastructure the state cannot track, we peacefully undermine authoritarian control and move from survival to sovereignty.

To become a savvy steward, you must move beyond these three expressions of ‘power over’ and begin cultivating ‘power with’ – the shared strength that emerges when power is distributed rather than hoarded.

Starting a movement requires more than a lone dancer on a hillside; it requires the courage of a first follower and the strength of a shared foundation. To move beyond a fleeting moment toward a self-sustaining ecosystem, we must shift from 'power over' to 'power with.' Discover how to transform individual action into collective agency by creating relational safety, distributing leadership, and building a 'person-proof' root system that ensures your mission thrives long after

In the social impact sector, change-makers often focus on 'clarity' as a single metric for success. We chase clear spreadsheets, clear KPIs, and clear organizational charts (top-down management). We must move past the lens of clarity and activate the essential frequency of resonance (bottom-up amplification).

Nonprofit collaborations are a powerful way to amplify impact, share resources, and create meaningful change. However, they can also be incredibly challenging. While the goal of working together for a common good is inspiring, many partnerships fall short of their potential or fail entirely. Why? It often comes down to leadership, power dynamics, and a lack of clear communication.

Who are the power players in your community? Are they charismatic, creative leaders who get things done for the community? Is it sustainable, shared power that brings people together or is it authoritarian power sustained through coercion and fear?

The systems we operate within are of our society's own design. The architects of these systems designed them in a way that is beneficial to themselves and people like them. As we move toward building new systems that are mindful and inclusive of the unlimited types of diversity that exist in the human experience we must: -Reflect on our role in perpetuating old systems -Define our new role in rebuilding these systems -Leverage data to create tools that hold institutions acco

Systemic gender bias and sexism are pervasive in the nonprofit sector. It is a myth that the “do-gooder” nature of nonprofits means an organization is more self-aware or better equipped to challenge power imbalances that exist in society. The racial, gender, and class power structures we see in the wider world are common in the nonprofit world.

he Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade threatens the lives of everyone who can become pregnant, removes personal autonomy over the bodies of people with uteruses, and forces pregnancies onto people who do not want to be pregnant.

Mega giving is a consistent and continuing American giving tradition, ultimately making mega-foundations more powerful now than they were 100 years ago, due to their greater number and the societal context in which they operate. The public is more reliant on the nonprofit sector to meet critical needs as government budgets continue to whittle away at social service programs over the past several decades.

When we examine where donations have gone, we begin to ask if the communities being hit the hardest are the ones receiving the resources.

My own faith has informed my nonprofit work where I have built communication strategies for communities of color and diverse faiths