Category: Event Takeaways

To mark the 100-year anniversary of Black History Month, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable on February 26 designed to center Black history and Black leadership and the ways they shape our pursuit of a more equitable future.

Together, participants reflected on the quiet power embedded in everyday acts of resistance: the courage to attempt what feels daunting, the resolve to persevere through challenges, and the determination to assert agency in an increasingly polarized context. Collectively, the group’s reflections reinforced a shared point: preserving Black history — and the leaders, mentors, colleagues, and community leaders who comprise it — is preserving history itself.

A few of the most salient takeaways from the discussion appear below:

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Redefine and reclaim power in all its dimensions. Power is not one dimensional, nor is it embodied solely in one person. It is communal, moral, economic, political, spiritual, and cultural. Understanding power expands how we build and wield it. 

Honor quiet power as transformational. Not all acts of power result in visible systems change. Sometimes power looks like someone seeing themselves as capable of something which was otherwise unimaginable. Quiet power is sparking agency and resistance in your day-to-day life. These moments may not make headlines, but they fundamentally reshape our reality and futures.

Recognize that community is the architecture of power. From HBCU legacies to generations of inventors, educators, organizers, and creatives, Black innovation has always been collective and cross-sector. Power is layered, shared, and sustained through the institutions, movements, and cultural ecosystems we create.

Reject erasure by telling the full story. The attack on Black history is not simply about removing dates or names from memories; it is about shaping moral narratives. In order to preserve history, we must underscore the importance of storytelling as an act of power. As the African proverb reminds us, “Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

Harness creativity as a tool for preservation and progress. Reducing harm requires creative intervention and innovation. In a moment where history is threatened by distortion, the charge is to think expansively about what we can do to safeguard it. Creativity is not ornamental to justice work, it is how progress endures.

Use the principles of Sankofa to design our futures. Black history is not static commemoration, rather a blueprint. Sankofa holds us accountable to the power in remembrance; it encourages us to look back to our pasts in order to propel our futures. The courage and ingenuity of ancestors provide both instruction and mandate for curating our realities. 

Commit to courageously contributing to Black history now. The work continues amidst various threats to our democracy and freedoms. Progress has always required putting one foot in front of the other in the face of headwinds. Honoring 100 years demands not just remembrance, but renewed courage to wield power with purpose in this new era.

Many communities are bracing for a new era of volatility in public funding. Federal and state commitments that once underpinned local economic development, workforce programs, public health, and social infrastructure are shifting—sometimes slowly, sometimes abruptly. For place-based partnerships, the question is no longer how to “navigate uncertainty,” but how to get ahead of it: building durable coalitions, diversified capital stacks, and locally anchored strategies that can withstand political and budget swings.

On February 24, NationSwell hosted leaders from philanthropy, business, and nonprofit organizations for a virtual Leader Roundtable on what it means to be proactive rather than reactive in this moment. Together, we identified some of the emerging funding realities that matter most, examined models that successfully blend public, private, and philanthropic investment, and explored how communities can lock in long-term capacity.

Some of the most salient takeaways from the discussion appear below:

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Key takeaways

Choose the sandbox before building the partnership. Cross-sector collaboration becomes more durable when partners identify a single, shared leverage point to experiment within first. Rather than attempting to solve everything at once, clarity about “where we play together” creates trust, momentum, and space for additional tentacles to grow over time.

Design for volatility, not stability. Federal funding cliffs, frozen allocations, and delayed rulemaking are cascading unevenly through state and local systems. The challenge is not only reduced dollars but radical unpredictability. Communities that build flexible structures — scenario planning, adaptable staffing, blended capital, diversified revenue — are better positioned than those waiting for clarity.

Build infrastructure that can outlast any single funding cycle. Place-based partnerships anchored around shared outcomes and generational time horizons prove more durable than programmatic responses tied to specific grants. When communities control data, define their own metrics, and align around long-term goals, funding shifts become disruptions — not existential threats.

Centering long term resilience while meeting emergency needs is critical. Crisis funding often pulls oxygen away from structural work. While emergency pivots are necessary, abandoning long-term capital strategies undermines resilience. Patient investment may move more slowly, but it builds the conditions that reduce the need for perpetual crisis response.

Sequence cross-sector roles intentionally — don’t assume alignment will happen organically. Many effective tools already exist across philanthropy, government, finance, and community organizations, but they operate in silos. Progress depends less on inventing new models and more on clarifying who de-risks first, who follows, and who sustains momentum over time.

Shift from dependency to agency in funding relationships. Traditional funding flows often create quiet dependency rather than shared ownership. This moment presents an opportunity to reimagine civic infrastructure so communities are less reliant on shifting political winds and more grounded in mutual aid, local partnership, and distributed leadership.

Define your highest leverage point with ruthless clarity. In periods of contraction, organizations that articulate a singular, sharp value proposition are better positioned to build durable partnerships. Simplicity creates alignment; alignment creates momentum.

Educate internally before reacting externally. Policy shifts, whether related to Medicaid, SNAP, or federal allocations, cascade through state and county systems unevenly. Investing in internal understanding of implementation realities builds smarter, steadier responses than reacting to headlines alone.

Plan for long-term disruption, not a return to “normal.” Assuming a political pendulum swing will restore prior funding norms creates strategic blind spots. Durable strategy accounts for sustained volatility rather than temporary turbulence.

Recognize that local governments are capacity-constrained, not idea-constrained. Municipal leaders are absorbing compounding responsibilities as federal roles recede. The barrier is rarely imagination; it is operational bandwidth and systems capacity. Partners who reduce friction and bring execution support add more value than those offering additional strategy alone.

Use this moment to reimagine civic infrastructure, not just fortify it. Resilience should not mean reinforcing fragile systems that created dependency in the first place. Volatility can serve as an opening to rethink power, partnership, and local agency. Cultural imagination and narrative often precede structural change.

Despite historic investments in workforce development, America’s talent marketplace remains deeply fragmented – employers can’t find the skilled workers they need, while millions of workers remain underemployed or left out of opportunity altogether.

During a NationSwell roundtable on February 10, leaders from business, philanthropy, education, and policy came together to explore how we can better align the disparate pieces of the workforce ecosystem. Below are a few of the models that surfaced that are bridging the gap between training supply and employer demand, and driving real results for workers, businesses, and communities alike.

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Key Takeaways:

Design workforce strategies for non-linear career journeys. Real-world careers rarely follow a straight path from education to employment. Adults cycle through transitions – career changes, skill updates, pauses, and reinvention. Yet, many workforce systems remain built on linear assumptions (train → place → exit) and risk excluding the learners they aim to serve.

The opportunity:

• Design pathways that anticipate re-entry and reinvention
• Normalize career cycling
• Build systems that assume movement, not permanence
  

Extend support beyond initial job placement to enable sustained economic mobility. Entry into a role is only one milestone. Workers often stall after landing their first opportunity. The true test of alignment isn’t placement – it’s progression. Continued upskilling, advancement pathways, and alumni engagement are important to achieving long-term economic mobility. We need to be asking if workers are building durable mobility over time.

Sustained mobility requires:

• Continued upskilling
• Advancement pathways
• Alumni engagement
• Financial capability support
• Clear progression toward a thriving wage (not just a living wage)
  

Close the communication gap between skills and courses. There is a fundamental disconnect between how employers articulate needs (skills, competencies, capabilities) and how education systems structure offerings (courses, credits, seat time). Translating between these frameworks, and moving toward skills-based validation, remains a critical alignment challenge. Research from WGU highlighted that employers struggle to evaluate skill sets beyond resumes. Employers prioritize critical thinking, adaptability, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence – but struggle to see those signals clearly. Translating between these frameworks – and moving toward credible, skills-based validation remains a central alignment challenge. 

Anchor curriculum development in employer-identified skill gaps. Effective training models are co-designed with employers, focusing on what companies are hiring for now and where talent shortages persist. Demand-driven alignment strengthens both learner outcomes and employer confidence in training pipelines. Hands-on training models reinforce the importance of foundational technical competency alongside durable human skills.

Build post-graduation ‘captive ecosystems’ that promote talent portability. In K-12 education, we have a captive ecosystem: learners are enrolled, connected to infrastructure, supported by shared tools, and guided through a structured progression. That system – while imperfect – creates continuity, accountability, and exposure to skill-building environments. After graduation, that ecosystem dissolves. For many workers – especially those who are low-income, career-changing, or not attached to a large employer – there is no comparable structure guiding ongoing development, skill validation, or mobility. Navigation becomes fragmented and self-directed in a system that is complex and rapidly evolving. 

The opportunity is to intentionally design post-secondary and workforce ecosystems that replicate the strengths of captive ecosystems: continuity of support, access to shared infrastructure and tools, structured exposure to experiential learning, ongoing skill validation, real-time labor market insight, and clear progression pathways.

Embed experiential learning as a core signal of readiness. Experience is increasingly the differentiator. Learners must be able to demonstrate capabilities in addition to acquiring knowledge. Simulations, project-based learning, real-world datasets, internships, and apprenticeships were framed as essential mechanisms for building confidence, validating skills, and meeting employer expectations for experience. Experiential learning lowers risk for employers, provides tangible evidence of capability, builds durable skills in real contexts, and supports transferable skill translation (especially for veterans or career changers).

Adapt to how AI is reshaping hiring patterns and skill expectations. AI is not eliminating talent demand – but it is reshaping it. Employer data indicates a shift toward mid-level talent, reduced entry-level hiring in certain sectors, and increased emphasis on AI fluency alongside durable human skills. This evolution heightens the importance of adaptable credentialing and experience-building pathways. Lagging data – often 12 months behind labor market realities, also limits responsiveness. Real-time data systems and better cross-platform integration are critical to staying aligned with demand.

The events unfolding in Minneapolis transcend politics, instead tapping the much deeper wells of morality and justice. During a NationSwell “Meet the Moment” conversation, peer leaders on the ground in Minnesota and elsewhere gathered to share what they’re asking, doing, and anticipating during a pivotal moment, and how we can lead at our best for the communities we serve and for the future of our nation. A selection of takeaways from the conversation appears below.

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Key takeaways

Center responses on lived experience and local leadership. At times, national narratives can flatten crises. Effective action starts by listening to those on the ground. Local leaders and community organizations best understand the scale, nuance, and human impact, and therefore should shape priorities, messaging, and solutions.

Treat fear as a systemic condition. When people cancel medical care, stop working, and remain confined to their homes, fear becomes a public health, economic, and civic crisis. Responses must restore safety, trust, and dignity alongside legal or policy efforts.

Invest in mutual aid and community infrastructure as essential systems. Grassroots networks delivering food, transportation, and care are critical infrastructure. Sustained funding and coordination can strengthen these systems beyond moments of crisis.

Recognize economic harm as intentional, cascading, and local. Overly aggressive enforcement actions destabilize small businesses, drain municipal budgets, and shift costs to cities and states, especially harming businesses of color. Leaders should frame interference as an economic issue as much as a moral one.

Protect information integrity as a form of community safety. Citizen documentation and local journalism have become vital accountability tools, while misinformation actively endangers people. Supporting trusted media, rapid fact-checking, and responsible data use is now a core leadership responsibility.

Understand and use emerging data to guide action. New polling and research show shifting public sentiment on enforcement, accountability, and institutional power. Leaders should engage proactively with credible data and use it to inform strategy, challenge misinformation, and ground decisions in evidence rather than assumptions about public opinion.

Be explicit about structural limits and push responsibility upward. Cities and states face material legal and fiscal constraints while absorbing the consequences of federal action. Effective leadership requires coordinated pressure at the federal level, not expecting local systems to shoulder unlimited burden.

Match moral clarity with institutional courage and future-focused action. Individuals have shown extraordinary bravery; institutions must do the same. Business, philanthropic, and civic leaders should speak up. Grounding their actions in workforce realities, demographic needs, and long-term economic health can help move beyond political framing. 

For many impact leaders, success depends in no small part on what happens in the boardroom. Engaging your board effectively can accelerate strategy, unlock resources, and strengthen accountability. But it can also be one of the trickiest parts of leadership, especially amid shifting expectations, limited time, and complex stakeholder dynamics.

On February 5, NationSwell hosted a group of social impact leaders for a solutions-focused conversation on working effectively with your board of directors. Together, we unpacked the most common challenges, share strategies for deepening alignment and impact, and explored how to get the most from your board while avoiding the pitfalls that can slow progress. Some of the key insights surfaced during the conversation appear below.

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Key Takeaways:

Board effectiveness is largely built between meetings, not during them. The most engaged boards are cultivated through intentional, ongoing touchpoints outside formal meetings. Regular one-on-one check-ins, clear ownership over follow-up, and consistent communication rhythms create the trust and continuity that make board time itself more generative.

Clarity of role matters more than activity level. Boards struggle when expectations are vague. The highest-functioning boards create explicit expectations about what type of board they are (working, strategic, funding, hybrid, etc.), what each member is being asked to contribute, and where the board should — and should not — engage. 

Design meetings for decision-making, not reporting. Replace presentations with pre-reads. When board meetings are structured around discussion, judgment calls, and trade-offs rather than status updates, engagement rises and meetings stop feeling repetitive or performative.

Match engagement strategies to individual motivations and working styles. Board members show up for different reasons and process information differently. Effective leaders invest time in understanding each member’s “why” and “how”, then tailor communication, asks, and involvement accordingly. 

Consistency builds confidence and accountability. Using stable agendas, shared frameworks, and recurring formats across meetings helps boards track progress over time and understand how decisions evolve, especially in fast-moving or uncertain environments.

Accountability works best when paired with trust and peer ownership. Scorecards and assessments can be powerful, but only when introduced thoughtfully. Several leaders emphasized shifting accountability conversations toward peer-to-peer ownership (via board chairs or committees) and using self-assessment tools to invite reflection rather than defensiveness.

Strong board culture depends on strong internal coordination. Effective board engagement is often enabled by close partnership between the CEO, board chair, and roles like Chief of Staff or Executive Operations — particularly around preparation, follow-up, and clarity of expectations.

Most impact leaders know AI is changing and reshaping many contours of our economy and lived experience. Fewer feel confident putting it to use in their day-to-day work.

On February 3, NationSwell hosted a group of peer leaders for a virtual roundtable focused on immediate, practical applications for AI on impact teams. Together, we explored how leaders are using generative AI – and increasingly agentic AI – to increase speed, clarity, and capacity in core workflows like reporting, communications, grantee engagement, operations, and more.

From day to day low-lift use cases to opportunities for mission delivery, the session surfaced plenty of actionable insights for implementing AI within teams and organizations; a selection of those insights appears below.

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Key Takeaways:

Anchor AI adoption in user-centered design from day one. AI tools are far more likely to succeed when they are built with a deep understanding of end users, informed by diverse perspectives, and tested for usability. Grounding AI in user needs reduces failure rates and drives adoption, especially as many digital transformation efforts fall short.

Start with low-risk, high-return AI use cases to build momentum. Impact teams are already gaining value by using AI for summarization, synthesis, reporting, and more. These applications save time, require minimal technical lift, and help teams build confidence before moving into more complex AI-enabled workflows.

Use AI to augment human judgment, not replace it. The strongest applications position AI as a thought partner that accelerates analysis and surfaces insights, while leaving critical thinking and strategy to people. Reviewing outputs, checking sources, and applying human judgment remains essential to responsible use.

Embed AI into products and systems to reduce friction at scale. When AI is built directly into platforms, such as grantmaking and employee engagement, it can automate administrative work, surface patterns, and recommend next steps. This allows impact leaders to focus more time on mission-critical work.

Treat AI as a capacity multiplier in resource-constrained environments. With impact teams being asked to do more with less, AI is increasingly a necessity rather than a nice-to-have. Thoughtful adoption can expand organizational capacity, accelerate access to funding and services, and ultimately drive greater impact.

Apply advanced use cases of AI to unlock insights for decision-making. AI-powered analysis of geospatial and time-based data can help organizations anticipate risks, target interventions, and allocate resources more effectively. Whether modeling climate impacts, forecasting service demand, or tailoring workforce strategies, AI can be used to better understand needs and deliver more responsive, targeted support to your communities.

Unlock new capabilities from off the shelf tools.  Big unlocks don’t require developing a full stack AI solution. Fully leveraging the existing capabilities in off the shelf low/no cost LLMS, while protecting sensitive data and respecting organizational policies, present opportunities for major advancements in productivity and impact. Be sure to check out voice to text capabilities for braindumping, deep research modes for research and insights, and experiment with Claude for writing.

The year ahead will challenge social impact leaders to stay focused, adaptive, and bold. Political volatility, economic uncertainty, and accelerating technological change will continue to reshape the landscape for companies, philanthropies, and nonprofits alike. To lead effectively, it’s essential to cut through the noise and anchor in a shared understanding of the conditions we’re operating within – the challenges, the opportunities, and the questions we can’t yet answer.

On January 27, NationSwell hosted a group of cross-sector leaders for a candid, forward-looking conversation on what’s ahead for social impact in 2026. Some of the insights that surfaced appear below:

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Key takeaways

Continue pushing social impact from brand reputation to risk mitigation and core business strategy. Social impact is increasingly viewed as critical to managing risk and maintaining an organization’s authority to operate. Being “nice to have” is no longer sufficient; impact must be embedded in how the business functions locally and globally.

Build credibility through proximity and transparency. Trust erodes when there is a gap between executive narratives and the lived experiences of frontline workers and communities. Leaders should ground strategy and communications in real feedback from employees and local partners.

Establish clear mechanisms to collect and act on feedback. Organizations need structured ways to gather input from employees, partners, and communities, including voices that are critical or in disagreement. These mechanisms help leaders understand issues early and inform how decisions are escalated and addressed.

Question claims of “doing the work quietly.” Shifts in language, disclosures, or visibility are often described as cosmetic, but closer examination may reveal real erosion in effort or investment. Leaders should pressure-test whether reduced visibility aligns with sustained action and outcomes.

Acknowledge and plan for multiple timelines. Leaders are considering near-term pressures alongside five- to ten-year horizons and longer-term systemic change. Holding these timelines simultaneously is shaping how funders, nonprofits, and institutions think about strategy.

Increase focus on bridge-building, pluralism, and social connection. Many organizations are moving from equity programs alone toward strategies that emphasize connection, dialogue, and social cohesion. These approaches are becoming more prominent across corporate and nonprofit impact work.

Track the increased focus on the human side of AI and emerging technologies. Discussions about AI are increasingly focused on agency, mental health, well-being, and inequality. Leaders are examining how access to AI may widen gaps in power, choice, and opportunity.

Recognize that data alone is insufficient to drive change. Data can be interpreted or manipulated in ways that obscure true impact. Individual stories and lived experiences are increasingly important for moving hearts and minds and communicating impact.

Address burnout among social impact leaders. Leaders across the social impact field are experiencing significant burnout. There is growing concern about losing an entire layer of experienced leaders if organizations focus only on programs and not on supporting the people leading the work.

Homeownership remains one of the most powerful—and most unevenly distributed—wealth-building tools in America. Rising housing costs, limited supply, structural inequities in lending and appraisals, and stagnant wages have pushed the dream of owning a home out of reach for millions. Yet across the country, impact-driven actors are testing new solutions that merit deeper investigation and exploration.

On January 15, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable designed to what’s working, what’s emerging, and what still needs to be invented. Alongside a group of leaders from the corporate, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors, we examined the opportunities and constraints organizations face in expanding access to homeownership, surfaced promising models that can scale, and identified where multi-sector collaboration could move dollars and outcomes.

Some of the most salient takeaways appear below:

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Key takeaways:

Treat vacancy as latent supply and rebuild demand alongside units. In hyper-vacancy contexts, the challenge is not only deteriorated housing stock but the absence of market confidence. Pairing acquisition with intentional demand creation (and, in Parity’s case, support for building financial knowledge among buyers) helps ensure neighborhoods are repopulated by residents rather than speculative capital.

Acquisition and clear title are the longest, least predictable phases of the work — and require patient capital. Much of the real labor happens before construction ever begins, particularly when properties involve estates, liens, or unclear ownership. These timelines rarely conform to funding cycles or political urgency; progress depends on legal persistence and institutional patience. Without flexible capital at this stage, downstream innovation rarely materializes. 

Center legal and policy innovation to accelerate rehabilitation and prevent investor capture. Intervening earlier in foreclosure or receivership processes can shift outcomes dramatically. Legal tools that transfer control to mission-aligned actors shorten vacancy timelines, reduce blight, and increase the likelihood of owner-occupied housing.

Recognize that interest rates, not sale prices, often determine affordability. Every 1% the interest rate it wipes out $30k buying power which is make or break for first-time buyers. In this context, interest-rate buy-downs can restore feasibility more efficiently than price subsidy alone because they directly address monthly payment constraints.

Balance wealth building with long-term affordability through shared-equity and soft-second structures. Down payment assistance can expand access while still protecting public and philanthropic investment. Carefully designed equity-sharing mechanisms allow households to build wealth without turning affordability into a one-time event.

Rather than treating displacement as a downstream problem, pair revitalization with retention. Neighborhood improvement often triggers rising tax burdens that destabilize long-time residents, particularly elders on fixed incomes. Without parallel retention strategies, revitalization can unintentionally replicate the same extractive dynamics it seeks to undo. Retention must be designed in from the beginning, not layered on after values rise.

Treat homeowner retention as a core wealth-preservation strategy. Preventing tax sale, foreclosure, or forced exit protects accumulated equity and intergenerational assets. In many cases, stabilizing existing homeowners delivers greater impact — and does so faster — than new production alone.

Cross-sector misalignment is the primary barrier to scale. Many effective tools already exist, but they live in silos across philanthropy, government, finance, and nonprofits. The hardest work is often sequencing participation: who de-risks first, who follows, and who sustains the effort over time. Scale depends less on invention than on coordination.

Recognize that credibility, narrative, and design quality actively shape markets. Homes that signal dignity and pride influence how neighborhoods are perceived by residents, lenders, and buyers alike. Aesthetic quality and storytelling are not cosmetic; they help rebuild imagination, confidence, and demand in places long defined by disinvestment. In this way, narrative becomes a form of infrastructure.

The year ahead will challenge social impact leaders to stay focused, adaptive, and bold. Political volatility, economic uncertainty, and accelerating technological change will continue to reshape the landscape for companies, philanthropies, and nonprofits alike. To lead effectively, it’s essential to cut through the noise and anchor in a shared understanding of the conditions we’re operating within – the challenges, the opportunities, and the questions we can’t yet answer.

On January 13, NationSwell hosted a candid, forward-looking virtual Leader Roundtable on what’s ahead for social impact in 2026. Some of the most salient takeaways from the conversation appear below:

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Key takeaways:

Build for permanent volatility, not temporary disruption. The organizations best positioned for 2026 are strengthening internal infrastructure (governance, systems, and decision-making) so they can stabilize and operate effectively in uncertainty, rather than react to periodic crises.

Emphasize the importance of risk management. Impact work is no longer solely about polished storytelling or reputational lift. It must demonstrate how programs reduce risk, strengthen resilience, and protect long-term enterprise value in a rapidly shifting environment.

Replace anecdotes with granular, actionable data. Stories still matter, but leaders and boards now expect rigorous data to inform decision-making. The most effective teams lead with evidence, outcomes, and ROI, and use storytelling to reinforce, not substitute, the business case.

Design impact strategies that solve executive-level challenges. Disjointed CSR strategies are of the past. High-performing impact teams embed their work into core enterprise priorities. For example: solve for the CFO’s constraints, the CHRO’s workforce needs, the CMO’s agenda, and the CEO’s growth strategy.

Make every dollar work harder. Resource pressure is real. Leverage scalable, well-structured partnerships to share risk, expand reach, and deliver multi-dimensional value. Ensure each investment advances both social outcomes and business objectives.

Ensure key programs have “tentacles” into real-world dynamics. Effective initiatives connect directly to what’s happening in communities, markets, and technologies. Programs that stay close to lived experience and external shifts maintain relevance and legitimacy.

Grow trust through connection, relationship building, and reconciliation. Collaboration across differences requires more than convening. Leaders must invest in relationships, acknowledge past harm, and rebuild trust before durable partnerships and shared progress are possible.

Thought leadership is a potentially powerful instrument for impact leaders, servicing a range of goals like increasing credibility and exposure within an organization, advancing an ambitious goal, or influencing the direction of others in the field. But how should social impact leaders sharpen their voices and expand their platforms in a noisy environment? What outlets, formats, and stages are best for advancing their ideas and reaching the right audiences. Navigating this information environment requires clarity of message, smart positioning, and strategic amplification.

On December 9, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable dedicated to unpacking how members can build and elevate their thought leadership platforms. The conversation that resulted helped to simplify complex ideas, provided instruction on how to lead with empathy, and sparked fresh thinking in a complicated and evolving landscape.

Some of the most salient takeaways from the conversation appear below:

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Key Takeaways:

Start by influencing one key decision-maker when proposing large-scale, systems change initiatives at your organization. Build a relationship with a strategically positioned stakeholder, learn their priorities, and frame your ideas in the language they use to make decisions.

Speak the business language to gain traction internally. Translate sustainability or impact goals into financial or operational terms so cross-functional partners can see relevance and value.

Simplify and adjust your message to your audiences. Clarify the core idea, eliminate jargon, and communicate in a way that your CEO, finance colleague, etc. can understand and replicate.

Lead with authenticity and show your humanity. Share what’s working and where you’re still learning; honest reflection builds trust and credibility far more than polished corporate messaging.

Anchor your message in emotion and empathy, not just logic. If you want to move people at scale, connect to what they care about, evoke feelings, and make the desired action personally meaningful.

Pair measurement with storytelling to move internal stakeholders. Reporting on rigorous data and outcomes builds confidence with executives, but individual impact stories are often what unlock buy-in and sustain momentum.

Use a clear, compelling call to action and amplify it. Don’t just share an idea; articulate what you want people to do next, make that action as simple as possible, and reinforce it across channels.

Don’t be afraid to disrupt familiar patterns. Fresh language, unexpected framing, or new forms of collaboration can break through cognitive fatigue and open space for people to think differently.