Category: Event Takeaways

Place-based approaches have become a cornerstone for fostering long-lasting, meaningful change, by connecting organizations, cities, and communities across the United States. Through focusing on local needs and opportunities, place-based strategies have proven essential for building community resilience and driving positive, tailored outcomes.

During the final event in the Building Thriving Futures series hosted in partnership with FUSE, leaders dove into actionable strategies to strengthen partnerships across sectors and address critical challenges in supporting small businesses, advancing housing equity, and expanding workforce opportunities. 

Some of the key takeaways from the event appear below:

Insights:

Impact leaders need to support and work closely with local decision makers. City and state leaders are the largest social services providers for communities. As the federal government pulls away funding and infrastructure, it won’t change the community needs and people will look to their local and city governments to do more. The current destruction is huge — some populations like in Kansas have/had a large proportion of federal workforce — and philanthropists and private sector leaders need to help local public sector leaders expand their capacity to navigate the change. 

Learn from existing models that bring disparate people together for local change. For example, JobsFirst and FresnoDRIVE are initiatives funded by public, philanthropic, and private dollars aimed at boosting workforce, education, and inclusivity, and are high-aspiration, long-term plans.  

Diversification of funds is key — understanding who in your community is reliant on federal funding and helping them diversify to de-risk and change keeps occurring. Consider how you can help track the dollars being cut in your region, predict the ripple effects that will impact your grantees and community, and stem the loss. 

Balance listening and surviving, with planning for the future. Many organizations are navigating changing infrastructure, adopting a defensive posture, and doing the important work of helping grantees and community partners survive this turbulence e.g. by providing more unrestricted funding to plug gaps. However, also make time to think about those things that will help you “swing for the fences” and plan for a new future e.g. investing in the capacity and social capital of local talent who can rise into transformational leaders. 

Consider how we can fall in love with the problem and use it as a spark for innovation? Turbulence allows us to consider what we should double down on, what can we pivot away from because it is not an immediate priority, and what can we think differently about? In this time where national actions are impacting hyper local communities, it could be a useful exercise to borrow from entrepreneurs and figure out how you find the hardest, stickiest pain point and build energy around addressing it.

Drive investments to data and make sure you have secure data infrastructure locally, as it may not always be there federally. There may be opportunities for new investments and new partnerships that hinge on this data. 

Philanthropies have the power to bring place-based peers together to support each other. Information and strategy help us adapt more rapidly. By bringing together members, partners, or organizations you work with, across states and cities, who are working to combat the same barriers and issues, you scale insights and learning and help prevent a constant reinventing the wheel and repeating the same growing pains.

Invest in telling the story of place-based impact. With so many programs and initiatives at risk due to their reliance on federal funding, telling the story of their impact is more essential than ever. The role of communications and communications teams is often an afterthought, but the importance of language and framing has never been more crucial. Storytelling matters — even if it means we need to pivot or look at it a different way, we keep the story going.

As social inequality and economic disparities continue to rise across the United States, there is a pressing need to reverse the trends, transform the economic landscape, and build a foundation for sustainable intergenerational prosperity. Data shows areas of greater inequity experience weaker economic growth — so it benefits all of us to overcome those inequities.

On February 26, NationSwell convened leaders from across sectors for a virtual roundtable on the strategies and opportunities they’re seeing to address systemic inequities, including affordable housing, access to quality education, healthcare disparities, and the racial wealth gap.

Some takeaways from the conversation appear below:

Insights

We need to invest in widening “wealth literacy” not just financial literacy.. There are still knowledge gaps in how individuals tend to conceptualize income as wealth vs. understanding asset-based accumulation.

Lowering the barriers to entry can give millions more people access to powerful tools. . Tools that have been widely vetted and applied — including grants, “patient” loans, and market rate loans — are still some of the best in our collective arsenal, but access is still an issue for communities who have been historically regarded as unbankable. In order to mitigate those roadblocks, organizations like the Groundbreak Coalition focus on stacking resources to make it easier for people to find them and benefit from their collective impact — using tried-and-true puzzle pieces, but reconfigured in a more accessible way.

Employee ownership is a powerful way to empower people to build wealth. Organizations such as Ownership Works offer businesses of all sizes the opportunity to offer their staff stock – a vital pathway to wealth building, and addressing the imbalance that currently the top 1% wealth owners own 99% of the stock and mutual funds. 

Safety net reforms show promise when they mirror the values of trust-based giving. The principles of trust-based giving — like not having to prove your worthiness over and over again — a should be reflected in our social safety net and direct cash transfer programs. 

Targeted policy reforms like “baby bonds” help to reimagine the role the government has to play in closing the wealth gap. Baby bonds are government-funded trusts created at a child’s birth. California has started the largest baby bond program in the country aimed at children who have lost a primary caregiver through COVID or have long term stays in the state’s foster care system.

For underserved individuals, entrepreneurship can be a significant pathway for wealth generation. Undocumented and formerly incarcerated individuals are not always able to legally work as employees; and incarceration is shown to be a huge factor in the wealth gap. Entrepreneurship creates avenues to work as your own boss and can help to make inroads for wealth-building. Focusing on business development and supporting co-ops and CDFIs — as well as working with partners focused on seeding community-based organizations (CBOs) —  can help to strengthen such opportunities.

Narrative change is a necessary component of the wealth-building conversation. As a society, our tendency to attribute poverty to a moral failure or theorize that poverty is solvable through hard work and the “bootstraps mythology” help dictate the ways that policies are prioritized and shaped, creating tremendous barriers to entry that exacerbate the wealth gap. Using sociopolitical context and narrative storytelling can help to catalyze our communities into feeling like they’re part of a larger picture in wealth-building — helping to create buy-in, engender pride, and form a sense that this work is larger than ourselves.

Partnerships and collective action are essential for advancing transformational impact. But what are the most effective and boundary-setting approaches to collaboration today? What perspective, strategies, and frameworks are unlocking deep value between organizations and across sectors?

On February 20, NationSwell hosted a virtual roundtable discussion on the Impact Imperative: Innovative and Effective Partnership Models.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

Insights:

Invest in trust-building as a load-bearing feature of your partnerships. Successful collaborations are rooted in trust and relationship-building. Establishing trust requires ongoing engagement, transparency, and alignment on shared goals. Whether between funders and grantees or across coalitions, investing time in in-person collaboration and candid conversations strengthens long-term commitment and impact.

Create a backbone to facilitate cross-sector collaboration. Organizations that take on the role of a backbone entity can drive more effective cross-sector partnerships – coordinating efforts, providing structural support, and creating alignment among stakeholders. As a backbone organization, tap into real-time, data-driven insights, and third-party expertise. 

Identify the intersection of organizational self-interest and things that you absolutely can’t do alone. As a general rule, a strong understanding of your own opportunities for partnership starts here.

Engage third-party perspectives to spark new ideas and collaborations. Organizations often miss opportunities for innovation by staying within their own networks. External experts, intermediaries, and third-party organizations can help identify new collaboration opportunities, provide fresh perspectives, and facilitate partnerships that might not naturally emerge. 

Break down silos among funders to enhance collective impact. Many funders support the same nonprofits but fail to coordinate efforts, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Organizations should pool resources, align funding strategies, and pursue collaborative grant-making to maximize impact and reduce burdens on nonprofit partners. Independent conveners can play a key role in brokering connections and facilitating shared funding models.

Hire staff with cross-sector experience to strengthen partnership design and relationships. Having team members with firsthand experience in relevant sectors improves collaboration and bridges power dynamics between funders and grantees. For instance, staff with NGO backgrounds bring emotional intelligence and valuable insight into nonprofit challenges, making them better positioned to create more equitable, flexible, and responsive funding strategies at grantmaking organizations.

Support nonprofit sustainability during economic uncertainty. Given financial uncertainty and funding contractions, funders should explore operating support, flexible grant structures, and bridge funding to help nonprofits sustain their work. Small grants can provide immediate relief, while long-term investment strategies ensure stability in an evolving landscape.

The social sector is being broken down and upheaved in dramatic ways right now; therein lies opportunity to consider what a better model looks like. With many traditional funding and partnership models being challenged, this moment presents an opportunity to rebuild a more effective and sustainable system. Organizations should use this period of uncertainty to innovate, create new frameworks, and rethink how funders, nonprofits, and businesses collaborate to drive long-term impact.

In an era of rapid economic change and growing inequality, creating equitable career pathways has become a critical challenge for policymakers, educators, and business leaders alike. As we strive to build a thriving economy that benefits all members of society, innovative approaches to workforce development and career advancement are essential.

On February 18, NationSwell hosted a Leader Roundtable dedicated to unpacking the cutting-edge strategies and most effective initiatives, programs, and models for fostering equitable career pathways.

Some of the takeaways from that conversation appear below:

Insights:

Encourage skills-based hiring and employer investment in long-term workforce development. Skills-based hiring is on the rise, but still needs socialization and support. Continue to emphasize that traditional degree requirements often exclude qualified candidates, and that employers should reassess job descriptions to focus on competencies rather than credentials. Beyond immediate hiring needs, businesses should invest in reskilling and career advancement opportunities. Offering continuous education, apprenticeships, and mentorship programs helps employees grow within the company, reducing turnover and increasing economic mobility. 

Prioritize social supports to remove workforce barriers. Workforce development programs must go beyond skills training and job placement by addressing systemic barriers that prevent individuals from succeeding in the workplace. Providing wraparound services such as childcare, transportation assistance, and financial aid ensures individuals can fully participate in training programs and employment. These supports are often the difference between career success and workforce disengagement.

Leverage storytelling to drive awareness and action. Storytelling has the power to change hearts and minds at scale. Strategic storytelling outlets, such as films, that reach beyond typical workforce bubbles can help socialize and promote specific narratives about hiring practices. Employers and workforce advocates should use storytelling to highlight real-world challenges and opportunities.

Align workforce initiatives with business strategy. Successful corporate social impact programs are integrated into business strategy and continually aim to demonstrate return on investment. Leaders should aim to align their workforce development initiatives with core competencies, such as training talent in fields relevant to their industry, to create shared value and sustainable employment pipelines. Additionally, corporate foundations and philanthropic investments can be positioned as catalysts – providing seed funding to test and scale innovative models that demonstrate measurable outcomes. By leveraging data, organizations can make a compelling business case for continued corporate investment, turning short-term funding into long-term strategic commitments. 

Act as brokers of connection to create strong networks of support. Employers, nonprofits, and funders should focus on facilitating partnerships to ensure job seekers have access to the resources they need. Rather than duplicating existing efforts, organizations can focus on coordinating services, sharing best practices, and building collaborative models. A well-connected ecosystem enhances career mobility, supports talent development, and ensures long-term success for both workers and employers.

Adapt messaging to shifting political and social landscapes. As Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language faces political pushback, organizations should remain committed to their mission while adapting their messaging. Framing workforce initiatives around economic mobility, opportunity, and business success can help sustain momentum while addressing stakeholder concerns.

Telling a compelling impact story is critical to standing out and inspiring action, particularly when confronted with cultural narratives and storylines that seek to undermine the work.

On February 13, NationSwell hosted a virtual roundtable discussion to explore how leaders can craft narratives that resonate, engage, and drive support for their priorities.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

Prioritize human-centered, emotionally resonant storytelling. It is important that we never lose sight of the fact that there are human beings and human stories behind the data. In a particularly partisan moment, our shared humanity is the lowest common denominator that cuts through the divisiveness — and we have an opportunity to be the steady voice that lifts up those stories and communities in a way that cuts through the political noise. 

Internal storytelling is needed as critically as external storytelling is. Internal transparency around organizational values and decision-making processes are key to maintaining engagement and trust among employees — particularly in a moment when an organization might be pulling back its public messaging on social issues. Lifting up and engaging employees around social impact work and the ways it positively impacts people and communities is always vitally important, but particularly so now, in a moment when employees need inspiration, connection, and hope. 

Ask grantees and partners what they need from you in your storytelling. Nonprofits, grantees, and partners are currently facing increasing amounts of pressure, and there is no uniformity in what they need from you in terms of advancing their stories. Taking the time to make calls, check in on your partners, and communicating directly on what grantees need is necessary to ensure that amplification and storytelling is not inadvertently harmful to them at this time.

Build authentic equity with your audience and stakeholders. At a time when consumers and audiences are incredibly knowledgeable about their own communities, people crave the type of authenticity that can be found in the small details. Having a firm grasp of nuance, undertones, and subcultures can help to build authentic equity, and you can do this in two primary ways: First, by identifying trusted messengers who can act as proxies for their communities, helping to ensure that we are not speaking on anyone’s behalf. And second, by getting creative with the storytelling modalities —  thinking about the interactive ways that we can showcase our stories, data, and information, whether through online or offline interaction. 

Help people understand the “why under the why”. With headlines and a heightened political pitch competing for audiences’ attention, keeping messaging concise and strategic will help to ensure that you’re communicating as effectively as possible. Although it can be tempting to give in to the desire to be urgent and reactive around messaging, slowing down and taking a more intentional approach to which conversations you’re entering can help cut through the noise in real time and more effectively translate your values to your audience.

Consider storytelling through the lens of a hierarchy of needs. Because there are so many things that we need stories to do for us right now, we need to be very intentional about which are the most essential to pursue. Every organization has a critical and specific role to play in creating impact — doing internal audits on where our most urgent priorities lie will be crucial to ensuring we are maximizing our storytelling potential. 

As we step into 2025, AI technologies are primed to drive even greater innovation around societal challenges, from fostering inclusive growth to expanding educational pathways and beyond. But AI is also going to continue raising important ethical questions while carrying the potential to drive new inequities.

At NationSwell’s recent roundtable discussion, What’s Ahead in Social Impact and AI, leaders and innovators across sectors joined featured panelists Vilas Dhar of The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Nathan Froelich of Blackbaud, and Stephen Plank of The Annie E. Casey Foundation to share strategies on how AI is currently being leveraged to meet societal challenges and surface ethical considerations and best practices for responsible AI implementation moving forward.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

Insights:

Philanthropic funders have a key role to play in ensuring nonprofit partners get the AI  tools they need at scale. New technologies have the potential to serve vulnerable communities, including by organizing decades of longitudinal research and creating predictive engines that can improve community wellbeing. But given the corporate power dynamics surrounding how tech is built and deployed, we need philanthropies and companies to step forward and advocate for the technology solutions their partners need on the ground, in order for them to be created at scale. Funders have a unique opportunity to come together to build shared capacity, new institutions, and resources in order to ensure that future investments in AI go toward honing its potential to create new pathways to dignity and justice in the world.

A good intelligence strategy will require us to be extremely intentional about governance. One of the most pressing challenges posed by AI will be how we can leverage and deploy it in a way that doesn’t harm people and the planet. We need to set up effective systems of governance, paying attention to how we’re deploying generative AI both within our own organizations and in the marketplace. The development of a set of guiding principles will be instrumental in determining which technologies your organization ultimately adopts, ensuring that the tools you’re using meet your ethical standards.

The creation of empowerment councils can help you tap into the most salient use cases for AI. Convening grantees and employees and giving them the access and latitude to experiment with AI can be one way to fuel unfettered iteration and innovation. Providing the tools and encouraging experimentation and exploration can help to surface the most salient examples of how they’re using new technologies to be more productive and support goals effectively, which can ultimately be helpful in deciding when and how to scale solutions appropriately.

Private-public partnerships hold great potential in shaping AI decisions and adoption. Engaging directly with tech funders through roundtable discussions can help to surface innovative ways to leverage private sector partnerships for tool licensing and technical assistance. Similarly, building peer learning communities where government leaders can access AI expertise and collectively develop approaches to service delivery and technology procurement can be powerful ways to shape policy decisions. 

AI’s potential to displace or disrupt jobs depends on which workforce you’re talking about. While there is good research to suggest that corporate leaders do not expect AI to contribute to significant disruption in white collar jobs, those outside of traditional 9-5 roles still face challenges to upskilling, and in many cases AI is being developed with goals that run counter to the interests and livelihoods of low income and nontraditional workers. At the same time, new technologies also hold the potential to help workers maintain and build power by facilitating organization among union members, helping workers to file wage theft claims, visualize data, and influencing state policy decisions. Let’s explore that potential.