Current e-Journal
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January 16, 2024
WE are the ones we've been waiting for
This week's eJournal is a special one - a note from Hildy to kick off this new year. We will be back to our regular newsletter next week.
To everyone working to create a better world:
You deserve better.
All of us in the field of social change - we all deserve better.
Every day we battle two demons. We battle the problems of the world, the problems that leave everyone else feeling powerless. We fight for those who suffer the most – for shelter, for food, for equity, for recovery, for justice, for the health and well-being of all creatures. We fight for the best in our humanity and our planet – for compassion, for wisdom, for art, for learning, for nature.
We fight for people’s survival. We fight for love.
But then we also battle the demons within that work - systems we think of as “just the way things are.” Planning processes that originated in the military, intended for winning battles, not for creating systemic community change. Business methods that emphasize organizations surviving over communities thriving. Boards stacked with business people who have a professional and financial stake in maintaining the status quo.
We live subject to the rules and fads of foundations and government funders whose past and future are deeply interwoven with that status quo. Funders who require that we compete with each other for the means to survive. Funders who believe they should make the rules because they have the gold.
Fighting those two demons leaves us exhausted, frustrated, deflated. We feel powerless to change the internal systems that stop us at every turn. Which leads to our feeling powerless to make the difference that is the reason we got into this work in the first place.
We are doing the work for all humanity, for our planet. The work of the gods.
We deserve better.
Here’s what we know:
The only thing that has ever created change is when ALL OF US band together and make it happen. It's all just a matter of numbers.
In this culture of capitalism, a tiny handful of people are in control…
…the oligarchs (whom we revere as “billionaires” here in the U.S.)
…the corporations (whose power has turned democracies into corpocracies)
…the government officials they bribe (what we call lobbying and campaign contributions here in the U.S.)
A handful of billionaires vs. the BILLIONS of the rest of us. Those individuals stay in power only by the complicity of the rest of us.
And that is where the answer lies.
The only way we humans have ever won against the power and privilege of the status quo is ALL OF US TOGETHER. The U.S. Civil Rights movement. The global fight for LGBTQ rights. The South African freedom movement. The Indian Independence Movement. The global labor movement.
With billions of us regular folk vs. a small handful of those with power and money, the only thing stopping us from stepping into our power is the belief that we have no power.
Here’s the thing…
WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
Together we can change conditions in our communities, our nations, our world. Together we can change the internal barriers that frustrate us.
Together we can change how grantmakers fund. Many funders want to create more equitable systems, they just don’t know how. We can lead the way.
We can change how we do planning, how boards are recruited and how they function, how we account for the impact we are creating (vs. simply accounting for the dollars we spend to do so).
What it will take is all of us together. Because the powerlessness we feel is what happens when each of us is trying to address those issues ALONE.
The economic principle of Collective Enoughness states it clearly:
Together we have everything we need; it is only on our own that we experience scarcity.
When we are alone, it’s easy to feel like we must do whatever we can to survive. Like the pain of a lone, desperate family seeking payday loans just to pay this month’s rent, we swallow our values to get funding, asking permission from people whose very livelihood depends on the world NOT changing. That is what happens when we feel weak.
Will an environmental restoration group talk about repatriation of lands if their donors are primarily wealthy, conservative land owners?
Will food bank board members support legislation mandating living wages if their businesses don’t pay their people enough to live on?
When we stand together, we feel strong. We build strength upon our own strength. We don’t have to worry that our true aspirations – perhaps an equitable economic system – would piss off the wealthy donors who rely on keeping the system just the way it is.
That is the heart of mutual aid. It is the heart of how movements are built, how they grow, how they succeed.
None of us can create these changes on our own. It will take all of us.
WE are absolutely the ones we’ve been waiting for.
One organization on its own might have a conversation with a foundation, making the case for more effective funding systems. But when ALL their potential grantees have those conversations, that is when things can begin to shift.
That is the power of collective bargaining, the heartbeat of the labor movement. We, too, have that power. We can have conversations with grantmakers who are already questioning the systems we all see as “normal.” With those funders who are not already on that path, we can convene group conversations to enlighten and bring them along.
And like labor unions, we can go on strike. We can agree among ourselves to refuse to apply for the competitive, rules-laden grants a particular foundation offers. Imagine a foundation that is required to distribute 5% of their corpus annually, not being able to give it away, because we have refused to take it.
From conversations to negotiations, we can exercise the strength we do have. The strength in numbers.
WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
In Catalytic Thinking, the very first question is this:
Whose lives are affected by what we are considering?
And what will it take for them to lead the direction we take?
Those of us doing the work on the ground - we are the ones affected by how foundations operate. What will it take for us to lead what philanthropy will look like in our own communities?
And in our organizations, community members are the most affected by the work we do.
Recruit them to your board. Replace people who have no real connection to your work with the people whose lives will be affected by the decisions your board makes.
Involve them in your planning. In the spirit of “Nothing about us without us,” shouldn’t plans be made by the people those plans will affect?
Seek those individuals as your volunteers. Hire them as your staff.
Together we have everything we need. WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
This is especially true of your “competition.” Those other organizations are filled with people who care about the same things you care about. Those individuals could be your strongest allies. Discard business marketing questions about “differentiating from your competition.” Start asking TOGETHER questions. COMMUNITY questions. Questions that change the goal of “Our organization wins” to “Our community wins.”
Who cares about the things you care about?
What do you have in common, that you could build upon?
What would it take for you to build relationships, to build trust, to accomplish together what no one group can accomplish on its own?
The world is on fire. The only way out is for all of us together to address the structures that keep that fire burning.
It’s time for us to make this the year of “all of us.” To make this the year we step into our power. The year we join hands to create the future we all deserve.
The steps are easy.
List the people who care about what you care about. Pick up the phone. Make the connection. Ask the kinds of catalytic questions that create radical change. This is precisely what Catalytic Thinking was meant for!
And create a plan to ensure that things change.
The worst that can happen is that you’ll be right back where you started. If you DON’T take those steps, though, you are guaranteed to continue to live on that hamster wheel, feeling like you’re on your own, that the systems are stacked against you.
So make the list. Pick up the phone. Ask the questions of Catalytic Thinking.
Get out there and prove that together, we truly are the ones we’ve been waiting for.
Because we deserve it.
With encouragement and excitement for the year ahead,
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