To our loyal readers and viewers:
Thank you for choosing to spend another year with NationSwell. We’ve arrived together in 2020 at a time when so many Americans feel we must build the groundwork for a better, brighter future for the collective whole. But before it became shorthand for a referendum on the state of our nation, 2020 was a number associated with clarity of vision — and, of course, the type of clarity that only comes from hindsight.
But what if we could be as clear-eyed about the road ahead of us as we’ve been about the road we walked to get here?
I arrived at that clarity completely by accident: Someone I love asked me to pick and share the one big issue that keeps me at night. I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t pick just one. I punted on it till later. In trying to narrow it down, I asked others. They couldn’t pick just one, either.
It’s not an uncommon question around election years. Politicians, reporters and pollsters use it to take the pulse of average Americans. The answers have been roughly the same over the course of the last few cycles.
But maybe the reason I and so many others I spoke to couldn’t answer is because there’s actually a better question: Instead of asking what keeps people up at night, what if we asked Americans what wakes them up in the morning? What gets you out of bed, ready to meet your day? What fills you with a sense of purpose, and then moves you into action?
When you ask that question, people answer. It’s their families, their friends, the one cause to which they’ve devoted their professional life, the charities for which they fundraise, the protests and marches they attend on nights and weekends. The answers are different, but more often than not, there’s an answer.    
Their answers bring the future into focus for me. I don’t believe that good simply happens without us, but I see people taking action on creating that good, and I’m filled with hope.    
NationSwell will aspire to be a key part of that clarity and hope for you. Our team has always committed itself to finding the stories of people in this country rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on solving the problems in their own backyards. For the first half of this year, we’re going to keep a laser focus on telling the stories of how our nation’s leaders in social impact have committed their professional and personal lives to putting purpose into action. 
If you’re like them and you want to start leading and living by seeing your purpose in action, we’ll give you the tools and inspiration you need to get started and keep building.
With deep gratitude,
Anthony B. Smith
Vice President, Published Content & Growth
NationSwell