During the time of year when many impact leaders are preparing their 2026 budgets – and making their case for sustained or increased funding — NationSwell convened a virtual Leader Roundtable dedicated to providing a space for our community to connect on best practices, talking points, and novel approaches for making the case for investment, accessing adjacent budgets through deeper business alignment, and navigating stakeholder dynamics with confidence.
Some of the key takeaways from the discussion appear below:
Key takeaways
Advance multi-channel resourcing strategies. Organizations can adapt to flat or reduced budgets by creatively aligning with discretionary funds, cross-departmental resources, and pro bono assets. Embedding impact priorities into broader business strategies supports continued relevance and resilience in constrained financial environments.
Elevate holistic definitions of corporate giving. Leaders are moving beyond foundation dollars to account for the “totality of giving,” including volunteerism, product donations, and operational investments. Tracking and celebrating these broader contributions helps unlock hidden value and provides a fuller picture of corporate impact to key stakeholders.
Benchmark against peers while embracing discretion. Companies are increasingly willing to share impact data in aggregate but hesitant to disclose specifics, reflecting reputational sensitivities. Collective benchmarking can guide strategic planning while respecting privacy, and offers opportunities to highlight product-based and in-kind giving models as complements to cash philanthropy.
Embed executive sponsorship in impact initiatives. Executive champions can unlock access to budgets, headcount, and expertise across the enterprise. Formal sponsorship programs and structured “away models” for employee participation provide scalable ways to extend impact teams without new headcount.
Balance visibility and employee engagement in shifting climates. With many corporations opting for quieter public-facing stances, there is a growing emphasis on internal employee engagement. Nonprofits can adapt and embrace this momentum by providing safe and risk-aware opportunities to corporate partners.
Promote cross-sector collaboration to meet systemic challenges. Leaders are eager for truth-seeking and collective momentum in a moment where organizations are largely working in silos. Building integrated approaches that link corporate assets, nonprofit expertise, and public funding streams can build shared resilience in the face of economic, environmental, and compliance pressures.
Leverage AI and technology responsibly for capacity-building. With fundraising and impact teams already stretched, enterprise AI tools can provide efficiencies – but must be deployed with clear guardrails to ensure ethical use, compliance, and trust.
Board service can be one of the most meaningful and influential ways to contribute your leadership, but only if you’re on the right board, and clear on how to drive value once you’re there.
On August 14, NationSwell hosted a virtual roundtable designed to explore the full board journey: how to identify and pursue the right opportunities, what various types of organizations truly need from their board members, and how to show up with strategic clarity and purpose.
Some of the key takeaways from the discussion appear below:
Key takeaways
Understand the differences between serving on a corporate and a nonprofit board. For corporate boards, you have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders of the company. The expectations for how you will engage are high, as you are being compensated and are expected to hold your service as your first priority. Nonprofit boards require a fiduciary responsibility to the organization, and more specifically, a commitment to raise funds and open doors.
Assess how the board landscape is adapting to pressing issues of the day. Boards are highly responsive to changes in policy and regulation for topics like cybersecurity, sustainability, diversity, etc. Knowing if and how you can leverage your expertise will indicate your fit and add value to your service.
Serve knowing that you are entering a mutual commitment, not just a resume-builder. Serving on a board requires you to contribute time, energy, resources, and a willingness to share your expertise. Understand that you bring distinct value to the role, while also respecting the unique mission and leadership of the organization.
Recognize that board service is both opportunity and risk. While board service offers visibility, influence, and professional growth, it also carries accountability. Public company directors may be targeted in activist campaigns or voted off by shareholders, while nonprofit directors carry fundraising expectations and reputational risks. Enter with eyes wide open.
Balance oversight with trust to enable strategic governance. The most successful boards know how to ask strategic questions and provide accountability without overstepping into day-to-day management. While access to the entire management team is an indicator of a highly functioning board, always remember, “noses in, fingers out.”
Evaluate the best time for you to serve. Factors that contribute to ideal timing include your capacity, your employer’s willingness to support your service, and your ability to weather the storms of a company or organization. Mutual readiness can also be evaluated by undergoing a financial and cultural assessment of the company/organization to determine fit.
Threats facing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) accelerated dramatically in early 2025 as new Executive Orders exerted significant pressure on companies, funders, and nonprofits to retreat from their DEI practices. The EOs and surrounding political scrutiny have led some organizations to walk back their commitments and decrease their investments. Others – propelled forward by their investors, employees, and organizational goals – are finding new ways to sustain momentum while remaining in compliance with relevant laws.
On August 5, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable dedicated to taking stock of the latest developments shaping the future of DEI and surfacing the practices, models, and pivots that are helping organizations navigate challenges, protect gains, and create more inclusive, equitable workplaces and communities.
Some of the key takeaways from the discussion appear below:
Insights:
1. Flexibility is a strength — but values must remain non-negotiable. Organizations are adapting language, public messaging, and branding in response to political pressures, but those with the most clarity and confidence are grounding decisions in their mission, legal frameworks, and long-held values. This internal consistency and moral clarity helps to ensure that external adjustments don’t dilute internal commitments.
2. Internal alignment and transparent communication are essential. Clear messaging to staff — especially during times of change — helps maintain trust and cohesion. Leaders are prioritizing employee engagement, addressing concerns proactively, and reinforcing shared purpose in order to sustain morale and minimize confusion. Internal stakeholders and employees need to understand that the mission hasn’t shifted — just the framing.
3. Crisis response teams and task forces are becoming essential infrastructure. Organizations are formalizing cross-functional groups to navigate fast-moving political, legal, and reputational risks. These teams — which often include legal, HR, communications, and policy stakeholders — enable coordinated responses and reduce the burden on DEI leaders to go it alone.
4. Fear and confusion among leadership requires intentional re-grounding. Allies who once championed DEI work are now hesitant, unsure of legal limits or public repercussions. Supporting leaders to revisit their “why,” and equipping them with clear, values-driven language, helps prevent unnecessary retreats and builds back courage.
5. Staff engagement and inclusion remain top priorities. Changes to DEI language or visibility can be felt deeply by internal teams. Organizations are leaning into listening sessions, transparent rationales, and co-created strategies to ensure staff feel included and aligned — even when choices are tough.
6. DEI work is becoming more decentralized — but must remain coherent. In large or distributed organizations, responses to the current climate can vary across regions, teams, or departments. While local nuance matters, leaders are working to ensure that the organization’s equity efforts remain coherent, consistent, and strategically aligned.
7. A shared learning and support ecosystem is crucial for leadership stamina. This work is emotionally and politically taxing. Leaders are finding strength in peer networks, cross-sector convenings, and informal “circles of care” that offer solidarity, shared tools, and a place to strategize in real time.
8. Courage is contagious—and still required. Amid a climate of uncertainty, principled leadership remains essential. Whether through bold public statements or quiet consistency, organizations can lead by example — affirming that even strategic compromise can be paired with moral clarity.
amidst challenging leadership moments and an ever-shifting political landscape, it is more important than ever that leaders continue to prioritize their mental and physical wellness.
On July 24, NationSwell convened a virtual conversation designed to surface some of the most effective and compassionate ways leaders are pausing to prioritize their own well-being as they continue to prioritize the wellbeing of their constituents. Below are some of the key takeaways from the discussion:
Insights:
Success needs a new definition – one that includes well-being. Too often, we tie success to output, speed, and sacrifice. But working harder can come at a high cost. Leaders, organizations, and ultimately society must reframe success to include rest, healing, and sustainability. Consider building rest directly into your calendar as you would any strategic priority.
Rest is leadership, not luxury. Pausing isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a signal of trust in your team, your systems, and yourself. Leaders who design their schedules with space to breathe are often the ones who perform more consistently and inspire more deeply.
Well-being must be designed into the system. You can’t expect wellness without infrastructure. That means clear organizational values around self-care, adequate time off, accessible benefits, and consistent tools like anonymous feedback surveys and employee pulse checks – all backed by leadership commitment. Build cross-functional teams to own wellbeing, use data to identify pain points, and report progress transparently.
Cultures of care require both help-seeking and help-giving. Mental health isn’t just an individual responsibility. Teams need to be trained not just to ask for help, but to proactively offer it by checking in when something seems off and having clear protocols for stepping in and covering for one another.
Vulnerability is a leadership skill. When leaders name their own limits, they give others permission to do the same. Modeling moments like “I’m not okay today” or “I need to step back” signals to your team that care isn’t conditional.
Psychological safety has to be intentional. People won’t take emotional risks in environments that punish uncertainty. Leaders must codify psychological safety into how meetings run, how feedback is given, and how mistakes are handled.
Curiosity is an underused superpower. Real leadership starts with self-inquiry. Asking “What am I not trusting?” or “What story am I telling myself that might no longer serve me?” helps unlock authenticity and opens space for honest team communication. External culture shifts only stick when leaders have done the inner work. That means questioning outdated self-identities, naming your own fears, and leading from alignment.
Manager training is critical, not optional. You can’t build a healthy culture if the people managing day-to-day interactions aren’t equipped to handle hard conversations with care. Invest in developing emotional fluency, conflict navigation, and compassion-based leadership at every level.
Within the social impact ecosystem, there is widespread commitment to collaboration and partnership. Yet true collective impact remains challenging for many organizations and leaders. Structural silos, misaligned incentives, and resource constraints often stand in the way of catalytic, cross-sector action.
On July 24, NationSwell hosted a virtual leader roundtable designed to explore what it really takes to move from good intentions to meaningful progress. Some of the most salient insights that surfaced during that discussion appear below:
Insights:
Build with, not for — shifting from transactional partnerships to transformational relationships. Designing together and listening deeply to partners leads to more meaningful, inclusive outcomes. Be intentional about trust-building by consistently showing up and acknowledging power dynamics.
Engage your community continuously, not episodically. Building trust requires regular, structured engagement throughout the year. This goes beyond one-time listening sessions and reflects a long-haul investment in shared learning.
Avoid duplication by aligning efforts, clarifying purpose, and reducing unnecessary convenings. Streamlining meetings and mapping resources promotes more effective use of time, helps eliminate redundancy, and fosters better collaboration.
Embrace healthy tension as a part of the process. Tension between governance-building and action, between urgency and trust-building, and between funders and partners is inevitable. Recognizing and naming that tension upfront allows groups to move through it productively, rather than stalling out.
Participate in cross-pollination to unlock innovation and increase impact. Move beyond traditional silos to intentionally engage diverse actors across sectors. By designing multi-stakeholder strategies that reflect the full ecosystem, collaborations can create more resilient solutions.
Use intermediaries to accelerate timelines in ways direct funding may not. Strategic use of intermediaries allows for flexible deployment of resources while reducing burden and capacity constraints on grassroots partners. Additionally, funders should think strategically about how policy changes (like the 1% tax floor on charitable donations) affect capital flow, and how to advocate for approaches that ensure funds reach those most in need.
Ask the right questions and focus on meaningful indicators to avoid data paralysis. For example, “Ripples of Impact” is a reframe for ROI that considers how collaborations shift practices, build trust, and catalyze long-term ecosystem change. It’s not about volume of data, but whether it drives action and adaptation.
Networking doesn’t stop when you reach senior leadership—it evolves. Maintaining strong professional connections is essential for staying ahead of industry trends, fostering innovation, and building strategic partnerships that drive success.
On June 11, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable designed to explore why networking remains critical at the highest levels of leadership and provide actionable strategies to strengthen and utilize networks for personal and organizational success.
Some of the key takeaways from the discussion appear below:
Key Takeaways
Be grounded in who you are, and build your network with that identity in mind. Your geography, industry, and function shape your networking identity. Reframing how you position yourself depending on which of these three you emphasize can unlock new opportunities, especially when transitioning between industries or roles.
Focus on authenticity, clarity, and brevity to strengthen your outreach. When initiating new contact, be concise and clear about who you are, what you need, and why it matters. Thoughtful communication builds trust and leaves a lasting impression.
Remember that the scope of networking is broad and personalized. Networking can serve many purposes from seeking board roles and public speaking engagements to navigating a career transition. Use your network as both a sounding board and a launchpad. Additionally, networking is most effective when it’s simplified and personal.Whether you’re exploring new career options or looking for a restaurant recommendation, treat networking as a tool for mutual exchange. Even transactional requests are welcomed; most people are flattered to be asked for help or to be known as a go-to resource.
Make networking for a career transition a volume and timing game. A thorough job search may take 5–6 months and involve 120–150 conversations, each interaction building momentum. While outcomes will vary, meaningful opportunities often come from a few individuals who go the extra mile. Relationships are often the key to opening a new door.
Invest in a multigenerational, cross-sector network. Engaging with people across industries and age groups broadens your perspective, expands opportunity, and keeps you relevant. Building internal, cross-functional relationships within your organization is also essential for increasing visibility and bridging teams.
Tend to your network like a garden. It requires consistent care, outreach, and attention. Use travel, spontaneous calls, or quick notes to nurture connections even when you don’t need anything. Intentional relationship-building starts long before a need arises, and continues over time.
Across the country, too many young people are doing everything right — working jobs, enrolling in training, and seeking advice — only to find themselves stuck. Despite their effort and ambition, the pathway to a stable, fulfilling adulthood has grown increasingly murky. New research from the Schultz Family Foundation and HarrisX puts a name to this disconnect: a broken marketplace. In this labor and education ecosystem, jobs go unfilled while talent goes underrecognized, and the traditional systems of guidance — school counselors, college degrees, even parental advice — no longer align with what the market demands. It’s a system that leaves too many behind — particularly young people from under-resourced communities, who are often navigating without a map.
To surface solutions and spark collaboration, SFF teamed up with NationSwell and LinkedIn on July 15 to convene some of the leading thinkers, practitioners, and changemakers exploring what it will take to fix this broken marketplace. The conversation spanned everything from the promise and pitfalls of AI, to the cultural overvaluation of four-year degrees, to the structural barriers facing youth who are working hard but treading water. While the dialogue surfaced powerful models and bright spots, it also revealed a shared hunger for something deeper: a reimagined system that meets young people where they are, honors their full potential, and builds pathways that are truly navigable, equitable, and aligned with the future of work.
Below are some of the most salient insights that surfaced during the discussion — and a few questions we’re still asking.
Fast Stats:
30 million young people in the U.S. are struggling, with roughly 15 million classified as underemployed or unemployed.
Only 8% of high schoolers feel confident about their post-graduation plans.
86% of high school leaders say they recognize the importance of postsecondary planning — yet workforce readiness is still not meaningfully integrated into most school systems.
While 71% of employers say there are enough opportunities for job seekers, only 43% of young adults agree
Only 24% of parents claim to leverage school resources like guidance counselors and teachers.
73% of parents see their child as having direction or purpose on their own and not needing help.
Only 35% of young adults report knowing exactly what drives them
More than half of young adults say they do not believe that college offers the guarantee of a good job.
Insights:
The labor market is experiencing a skills and credential mismatch. There’s a growing imbalance between the number of college-educated workers and the actual demand for degree-dependent roles. Simultaneously, there are increasing opportunities for non-degree workers — especially those with the right technical or vocational skills — which signals the need to reassess postsecondary education strategies.
Millions of young people — especially women — currently feel unprepared to enter the current U.S. job market. Despite performing well academically in adolescence, a growing number of young women report feeling unready for the workforce as they approach adulthood. This decline in self-confidence appears to stem from a mix of systemic and social pressures: cultural expectations around caregiving, implicit biases in hiring, and a lack of tailored support for young mothers or women from low-income households.
AI offers both promise and risk; it’s up to us to shape the outcomes. While artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize education, guidance, and workforce development, its impacts will depend entirely on how we design and deploy it. Leaders must proactively steer AI toward equitable and beneficial uses instead of passively responding to its disruptions.
The jobs of the future will demand radically different skills. By 2030, 70% of the skills required for many jobs are projected to shift. This rapid evolution places tremendous pressure on workers, educators, and employers to anticipate change, reskill continuously, and adapt to a moving target.
We must not leave vulnerable communities behind in the AI era. Historically marginalized populations — especially those without college degrees — face the greatest risk of being left out of the AI-driven economy. It’s critical to design tools, supports, and systems that center their needs from the start.
There is a growing mismatch between college degrees and job outcomes. Despite a rise in college attainment, many recent graduates are struggling to find roles that match their education level, particularly as AI begins to automate white-collar tasks. This disconnect suggests a deeper misalignment in how we prepare people for the labor market.
A surge in bachelor’s degrees hasn’t been matched by a surge in opportunity. The number of people earning college degrees has increased substantially, yet this hasn’t translated into better job placement or upward mobility for many graduates, hinting at a broken promise in the education-to-employment pipeline.
People without degrees are outperforming expectations. Contrary to common narratives, employment rates among non-college-educated workers have improved in recent years. This trend challenges assumptions about where economic opportunity lies and signals a need to rethink credentialism.
Career navigation must be reimagined for the AI era. Many young people are navigating a job market that no longer matches traditional pathways. They need updated guidance systems that reflect today’s labor market realities and help them develop adaptable, durable skills.
Parents are desperate for modern tools and resources. Many parents feel unprepared to help their children thrive in today’s complex world. They are seeking updated, accessible resources that reflect current realities and equip them to support their kids in meaningful, future-ready ways.
A place-based, community-driven parenting curriculum could be transformative. There’s an opportunity to create parenting supports that are deeply rooted in local needs, shaped by cross-sector collaboration, and tailored to the real conditions families face on the ground.
Young people need proximity to possibility. Exposure to mentorship, networks, and real examples of success is critical. Youth are better able to envision and pursue meaningful futures when they can see what’s possible through trusted relationships and intergenerational support.
Today’s guidance systems are woefully outdated. School counselors and other advisors are often overwhelmed, under-resourced, or operating from outdated assumptions. Young people need future-facing guidance tools that reflect the fast-changing world of work.
AI could play a role in personalizing and scaling guidance. With the right design and data, AI has the potential to provide tailored, real-time guidance that meets each learner where they are — offering suggestions, pathways, and encouragement in a scalable way.
The current job market is brutal for Gen Z. Some young people are submitting hundreds of AI-generated cover letters with little success, reflecting both the hyper-competitive nature of today’s labor market and a growing sense of disillusionment about career readiness. Simultaneously, AI-laden recruiting software imposes strict parameters on even the most qualified of candidates, filtering them out of the hiring pipeline unnecessarily.
Employers are caught in a Catch-22 of their own making: they demand experience yet offer few pathways to get it. Many employers list “prior experience” as a prerequisite for entry-level roles, even as they shrink internship programs, reduce on-the-job training, and fail to create clear earn-and-learn pathways. This paradox disproportionately affects young people — especially those without access to well-networked mentors or unpaid work experience—who find themselves locked out of opportunity before they’ve even begun. The result is a self-perpetuating loop: a talent pool deemed “unprepared” not because of lack of potential, but because the system never gave them a chance to prove it.
We need more bilingual talent fluent in both tech and impact. There’s a critical shortage of people who understand both advanced AI systems and the complex realities of the social sector. Building cross-functional, technically capable teams will be essential to making AI work for good.
The most effective nonprofits will couple tech with deep human expertise. Organizations that integrate AI into their strategy while staying grounded in pedagogy, community trust, and lived experience will be best positioned to deliver meaningful outcomes.
We need faster feedback loops between experience and evidence. Too often, it takes years to understand whether a policy or program has worked. Investing in data infrastructure and short-term proxies for long-term outcomes will help systems learn and improve more quickly.
A better future requires both urgency and imagination. It’s not enough to simply react to AI; leaders must act urgently to reshape the system — and also imagine radically different, more inclusive possibilities. Otherwise, we risk reinforcing the same inequities under new technological wrappers.
Questions we’re still asking:
1. How can we build career navigation systems that truly reflect today’s labor market realities?
There’s a clear consensus that existing guidance systems (from high school counselors to college pathways) are outdated and disconnected from the fast-moving job market. But what would a truly modernized system look like? How can it be both data-informed and deeply human, scalable and personalized, responsive to local labor conditions but aligned with broader trends like AI disruption?
2. What’s the right role for AI in supporting young people’s transitions into adulthood?
AI came up repeatedly as both a tool of promise and a source of unease. How do we ensure it amplifies human insight rather than replacing it? Can it truly offer equitable guidance without deep community input in its design? And how do we build trust in AI tools among young people who already feel the system is stacked against them?
3. How do we rebalance the perceived value of college versus non-college pathways?
The traditional “college or bust” mindset is breaking down, but what comes next is still murky. What should replace the old hierarchy of credentials? How do we create a labor market and cultural narrative that values skilled trades, apprenticeships, and alternative pathways just as much as a bachelor’s degree?
4. What does it look like to design truly place-based solutions in a national context?
Participants voiced strong belief in localized, community-rooted solutions. But questions remain: How do we balance the nuance of place with the efficiency of national models? Can we scale what’s working locally without flattening what makes it powerful? And what infrastructure is needed to make place-based innovation replicable and sustainable?
5. How do we support young people who are “doing everything right” but still stuck?
A deeply felt tension emerged around the young people who are working hard, following guidance, and still not progressing. Why aren’t their efforts yielding returns? Is it a failure of systems, expectations, or opportunity design? What does justice look like for this group — and what kinds of interventions (navigational, relational, structural) will actually help them move forward?
6. How do we square the inherent tension between the power of industry and the power of the American education system?
Calling on employers and educators to rectify a broken system exposes an uncomfortable truth — businesses have the capital; educators do not. While both employers and the education system will need to make changes in order to better serve young job seekers, the pace of change is unlikely to be equal.
NationSwell’s Workforce Innovation Collaborative:
As SFF’s research reveals, the workforce landscape is shifting rapidly — shaped by AI, automation, shifting demographics, and economic uncertainty. The labor market in the next decade will face urgent challenges and opportunities across every sector and industry. Impact leaders need a trusted space to align on what’s next.
Launching in Fall 2025, NationSwell’s Workforce Innovation Collaborative is where cross-sector leaders come together to explore trends, surface bold practices, and co-design scalable solutions. Collaborative members join a peer-driven learning and action journey — building cross-sector relationships, surfacing bold solutions, and advancing shared impact through strategy, storytelling, and collective action.
Join the collaborative to access curated research, insights, and expert-led workshops that will help you to stay ahead of workforce trends and technologies. Alongside a trusted cohort of senior leaders across sectors, participants will move from insight to action through targeted workstreams and strategic planning designed to unlock aligned, real-world progress.
If you are interested in learning more, please get in touch.
Across the country, employee ownership models are quietly transforming what’s possible for workers — delivering increased wealth, stronger employee retention, and better business outcomes for investors. In this session, we spotlight models that shift power and equity to the people who help create value every day. From ESOPs to worker co-ops to hybrid models, we’ll examine what’s actually working, what it takes to transition, and how capital and policy can play a catalytic role in expanding these approaches.
On July 15, NationSwell hosted a virtual Leader Roundtable designed to give leaders a space to talk about the models that are working the best approaches for continuing to expand pipelines to economic opportunity.
Some of the most salient takeaways from the conversation appear below:
Insights:
Promote employee ownership as a scalable wealth-building strategy. Integrate employee ownership into your organization’s wealth-building, economic mobility, or shared value strategies. Emphasize not only the wealth-building and business performance benefits, but also the proven outcomes like increased retention and engagement.
Implement employee ownership models that correspond to your business type and readiness. Identify the best-fit ownership model and tailor it to company size, financing, and exit plans. Encourage other ecosystem actors to build pipelines and decision-making tools to help assess and prepare for transitions.
Design ownership programs for transformational impact. Prioritize models that meaningfully shift power and wealth, not just offer symbolic shares. Aim for payout structures that exceed typical bonuses, while advocating for equity to be additive for wages or benefits.
Build cultures of ownership, not just equity plans. Equity alone isn’t enough. Build cultures of ownership where employees have voice, trust, and the tools to engage—such as financial education, leadership pathways, and inclusive governance practices.
Act on the silver tsunami of business transitions. With many baby boomer-owned businesses approaching retirement, create conversion campaigns or community ownership pipelines. Collaborate with local partners to convert these businesses to employee-owned and avoid closures or exploitative sales.
Adopt a “big tent” strategy to champion multiple models. “Big tent” doesn’t result in diluting impact, moreover, it recognizes that different ownership models serve different sectors and capital contexts. Encourage coordination across ESOPs, co-ops, trusts, and equity participation efforts to avoid fragmentation and build a more unified field identity.
Support field-building through shared messaging, tools, and policy advocacy. Alignment across funders, intermediaries, and advocates is critical to unlocking capital and legitimacy at scale. Use shared language, frameworks, and tools to help mainstream employee ownership across the range of models. Highlight its bipartisan value and its ability to create civic, economic, and business benefits.
On a warm July afternoon in Atlanta, a group of corporate, philanthropic, and community leaders gathered to experience what place-based impact looks like when it’s rooted in history, shaped by community voice, and powered by a shared vision. As part of NationSwell’s Place-Based Impact Collaborative, and in partnership with The Annie E. Casey Foundation, this immersive, two-day experience offered a firsthand look at Atlanta as a “tale of two cities.” Throughout the experience, participants learned how bold, collaborative investment is helping communities reclaim land, preserve and celebrate identity, and build a more just economic future.
Day One: Grounded in history, connected by movement
Our time together began with something deceptively simple: a walk. Led by a close partner of NationSwell, GirlTrek, the walk to Centennial Park focused on presence and intentionality. “We walk, talk, and solve problems,” our leader shared, describing GirlTrek’s model of wellness and connection. It was a chance to move through the city, feel its energy, and open space for reflection.
Later that evening, we headed to a welcome reception, setting the tone for what would be a day of honesty, inspiration, and exchange. In a circle, we heard from visitors and locals alike about their personal and professional motivation for joining the immersive. Participants were welcomed to Atlanta as a city of neighborhoods, of legacy, of resilience.
Day Two: A tale of two cities
Breakfast opened with a powerful panel, “Atlanta’s Path in Perspective,” laying bare the complexity of the city’s narrative. As Courtney English, Interim Chief of Staff to Mayor Andre Dickens noted, “Atlanta is a tale of two cities and two stories.” On one hand, it is the cradle of civil rights, home to Black leadership and cultural innovation. On the other, it is among the lowest in economic mobility for Black families, shaped by redlining, disinvestment, and policy decisions that still echo today.
Site visits followed, including a deep dive into the Atlanta Beltline’s evolution – a project that has generated both opportunity for entrepreneurs and concern for displaced residents. Led by the Atlanta Beltline team, we saw examples of responsive solutions: affordable housing built to combat gentrification pressures; shipping containers repurposed into microbusiness spaces; and ongoing work to address basic infrastructure, like stormwater and sewage management. We also heard from a small business owner, Sarah Pierre, owner of 3 Parks Wine Shop, about her partnership with the Beltline.
We then made our way to Pittsburgh Yards, standing out as a living example of what it looks like when development is done collaboratively with a community. Built on land acquired by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the space has grown into a hub for locally-owned businesses, creatives, and entrepreneurs – including some that have transitioned to brick-and-mortar storefronts in retrofitted shipping containers (check out Carrot Dog and PinkPothos). Individual co-workers, businesses, and events hosted at Pittsburgh Yards bring in revenue, helping sustain the space without compromising its mission. “We would like to think that the Annie E. Casey Foundation is a collaborative partner and listener,” Tomi Hiers, vice president of the Center for Civic Sites and Community Change at the Annie E. Casey Foundation said, reflecting on the ongoing effort to ensure that the people closest to the challenges are closest to the decisions. As we stood outside Pittsburgh Yards, a child played on his bike, calling out “Hey, neighbors!.” As one participant noted, “The fact that a little boy came up and called us ‘neighbor’ — that’s what success looks like.”
Our visit included a Partnerships for Collective Action roundtable, held in the heart of Pittsburgh Yards’ Nia Building. Amanda Jaquez, Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation opened by naming the legacy of the neighborhood — founded by formerly enslaved people and long a center for Black self-determination — and reminded the room that development must build on, not erase, that foundation.
The panel explored what makes cross-sector collaboration work, with Mindy Binderman, Executive Director of GEEARS, emphasizing that shared purpose and trust must come before action. Natallie Keiser, Executive Director of HouseATL, added that structure, sustained engagement, and clarity of roles are important, especially when tackling entrenched challenges like affordable housing and displacement. The cost of inaction was made clear: unchecked infrastructure investments can rapidly raise property values and inadvertently displace the very communities they intend to serve.
Jay Bailey, President and CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), offered a powerful charge: “Collaboration beats competition every day of the week.” But he cautioned against “collaborative theater” — partnerships formed for optics rather than outcomes. He urged leaders to confront uncomfortable truths, including the stark contrast between Atlanta’s image as a Black mecca and the reality of its low Black economic mobility. “Let us have the courage to say no…because we are worth investing in.”
The day ended at The Third Space, where a happy hour and signature dinner prompted deeper conversation and laughter. Over shared plates, attendees unpacked the day’s learnings: how land becomes leverage, how rest becomes resistance, and how institutions can be built to last.
Day Three: Collaboration and continuity
Our time together concluded with a tour of RICE. The impressive center, which supports Black entrepreneurs with space, mentorship, and capital access, sparked conversations about ecosystem thinking. During the tour, participants saw how the organization is cultivating Black entrepreneurial success at scale. The 54,000 square foot space was built with intentionality: every wall, quote, and photo was curated to inspire ownership, legacy, and possibility. As Bailey summed it up: “We don’t need another symbol of hope. We need institutions that manufacture hope.”
As attendees began to head home, there was a palpable sense of momentum. Participants reflected on what they had seen and learned, and how they can apply it to their own communities and work.
What Atlanta taught us
Atlanta is not a monolith. It is a microcosm of the broader American story — a city where systemic harm and radical possibility coexist. Place is not neutral here, it is contested, storied, and powerful. From listening sessions designed with dignity to equitable housing strategies and entrepreneurship ecosystems, the visit to Atlanta reminded us that place-based work requires honesty, trust, and collaboration.
As one participant shared, “The system isn’t broken. It’s working how it was designed to work.” But in Atlanta, people are redesigning it — together.
This immersive experience was offered to NationSwell through the NationSwell Collaboratives. To learn more or get involved, visit nationswell.com/nationswell-collaboratives/
Nonprofit organizations today are facing a range of significant challenges related to federal funding cuts, adoption of and adaptation to emerging technologies, workforce strain, and more.
On July 8, NationSwell convened nonprofit leaders and funders for an open, solutions-oriented dialogue on how to strengthen organizational resilience across the sector and explore the most promising strategies for building nonprofit capacity, increasing organizational durability, supporting team members, and ensuring mission-driven organizations are able to thrive in 2025 and beyond.
Some of the most salient takeaways from the discussion appear below:
Key takeaways:
Resilience in the nonprofit sector must evolve its orientation from survival to impact. Many organizations are operating reactively, focused on enduring budget cuts, staffing strains, and shifting demands. Building resilience should not just mean staying afloat, but developing the internal capacity and adaptive systems needed for long-term mission delivery.
Nonprofits must embrace their role as businesses with a mission — not just tax-exempt entities. While driven by social outcomes, nonprofits function in dynamic, competitive markets and must adopt mindsets and practices that reflect this. Financial discipline, strategic agility, and resource efficiency are as vital here as in any other sector.
Capacity-building is not a luxury, it’s the structural foundation of organizational health. Investments in leadership development, systems, infrastructure, and collaborative learning are essential to sustainable impact. Rather than being deprioritized in lean times, capacity building should be viewed as non-negotiable.
Intermediary organizations must be better equipped to defend and represent the sector. As political headwinds intensify, many nonprofits are finding themselves underprotected at the federal level. There’s a growing need for advocacy networks to modernize their tactics, elevate member voices, and build political literacy across the sector.
Strategic partnerships and nonprofit mergers are underutilized tools for sustainability and scale. Unlike in the private sector, where mergers signal strength, consolidation among nonprofits is rare and often stigmatized. Encouraging more open exploration of mergers, acquisitions, and shared services could improve outcomes and reduce inefficiencies.
Continuous learning and intentional unlearning are prerequisites for innovation. To be truly innovative, organizations must embed learning practices into their culture — not just as a response to funder evaluation, but as a tool for reflection, iteration, and growth. This includes letting go of legacy practices that no longer serve mission or community.
Building comfort with ambiguity is essential to adaptive leadership. Social impact work exists in complex, evolving ecosystems. Strengthening a team or organization’s capacity to navigate the unknown, rather than seek false certainty, can improve decision-making, creativity, and long-term resilience.
