Today’s challenges demand a new level of agility and creativity from philanthropy. Traditional models of giving are evolving as funders seek innovative ways to deploy resources, drive systemic change, and respond to urgent needs without sacrificing long-term impact.
On May 6, NationSwell convened senior leaders for a candid discussion on Innovative Philanthropy in Times of Uncertainty and Urgency. Some of the key insights that surfaced during the course of the discussion appear below:
Key takeaways:
Be in community; talk through the anxiety and surface needs among your partners and peers. Amid pervasive feelings of “stuckness” among funders and grantees alike, continuing to have tough conversations and be in relationship with those who can appreciate the unique difficulties of this moment will be an invaluable tool. Connecting with others who want to solve problems — even when the problems seem insurmountable — and conducting regular pulse checks with grantees can sometimes be the best antidote to malaise, anxiety, and fear.
If your organization doesn’t have the right support to offer, help connect to those who do. Even when funders don’t have the right tools or expertise to directly support their grantees or partners, they can still play a valuable role by acting as connectors. By brokering relationships, making introductions, or spotlighting other resources to tap, funders can help ensure their partners get the support they need without overextending their own capabilities. Influence and networks can be just as valuable as dollars.
Adjust your strategy with the long view in mind — and stay true to it. Especially in times of uncertainty, crafting intentional and precise strategies around your funding philosophy and partnership strategies will help you to stay true to your mission, goals, and organizational identity. Once established, hold to the strategies you’ve crafted so thoughtfully and intentionally. Push through the inclination to “freeze”; move forward with confidence, clarity, and adaptability.
Explore “pooled funds” and strategic coordination with fellow funders. By sharing financial commitments, funders can support innovative or high-risk projects with less individual exposure, making it easier to pilot new ideas or respond to urgent needs. Pooled funds can also help to streamline support for nonprofit partners, reducing the administrative burden of managing multiple relationships and reporting requirements and allowing them to focus on driving impact.
Consider the value of forging fewer, deeper partnerships. Some funders are focusing on larger, more impactful strategic collaborations with a few key partners to maximize impact and efficiency.
When possible, support partners with multi-year, unrestricted grants. Knowing that funding is secure for several years makes organizations more likely to experiment, innovate, and take calculated risks that could lead to greater impact without the added pressure of fundraising. For funders, multi-year grants support a more strategic, long-term approach to philanthropy, allowing for deeper alignment with organizational values and mission.Engage your internal stakeholders. Actively bringing in employees, agents, and other internal stakeholders in partnership activities can help to deepen your organization’s relationships and extend the reach of your partnerships. Particularly in times of deep division, taking the time to forge and fortify deep personal connections will be a critical component of long-term resilience.
As political turbulence converges with new return-to-office mandates, AI-driven labor disruption, and shifting workplace power dynamics, now is a good time to ask: are the employees alright? Data shows employee engagement is at a 10-year low, and impact leaders may have an important role to play in creating a positive inflection.
On May 1, NationSwell brought together cross-sector leaders to explore strategies for fostering authentic employee connection, sustaining momentum on social impact, and navigating changing internal expectations in an era of heightened scrutiny. Some of the key takeaways from the event appear below:
Takeaways:
Anchor employee engagement in business-critical priorities. Programs that connect directly to strategic business goals are more likely to endure through organizational change. At one company, engagement efforts were preserved during a leadership transition by aligning volunteerism with learning, development, and belonging. A measurement framework built in collaboration with people analytics helped secure executive support.
Use measurement as a lever for influence. Data creates the language leaders listen to. One company links employee voting on grant recipients to follow-up participation, showing that 75% of those who vote go on to volunteer. Another organization uses data to understand volunteer participation, and found that 80% of promoted employees were active volunteers. By surfacing these data points and aligning them with talent outcomes, leaders are better positioned to communicate the ROI of engagement programs.
Earn employee trust through transparency. Employees crave clear, consistent communication, especially in uncertain times. Multiple participants emphasized the value of regular, authentic updates, both from leadership and peer-driven campaigns. “Unmute yourself” emerged as a motto: don’t wait for perfect messaging; lead with openness and frame updates with “this is what we know right now.”
Model the behavior your culture aspires to. Culture is shaped by visible actions at the top. Regular leadership communications about personal boundaries, time off, and volunteerism can help normalize healthier habits across an organization. Creating regular forums for open dialogue – modeling transparency and presence, even without perfect answers – can build trust and empathy across teams.
Design with accessibility in mind. Reaching frontline and distributed employees requires intentional design and policy choices. One company adapted their engagement communications for workers in warehouses and on the road, using QR codes, mobile-friendly newsletters, and on-site leadership champions. These adjustments helped employees without company email or office connect with impact opportunities.
Create intentional space for human connection. Structured time for reflection, learning, and emotional engagement is beneficial for employees, especially in remote-first cultures. One organization holds monthly no-meeting “Endays” with rotating themes like sustainability and wellness. These experiences foster shared culture across offices and time zones, reinforcing purpose beyond the to-do list.
Programs scale more effectively when employees are trusted to lead them. Empowering individuals to shape initiatives builds long-term engagement. One organization trained nearly 100 social impact champions across global offices – employees who volunteered to activate colleagues in local offices and remote settings. These champions received in-person training, face time with senior leaders, and resources to launch programs aligned with company values.
Adapt messaging to meet the moment. In highly regulated or politically sensitive environments, traditional engagement strategies may need recalibration. When constraints limit what can be said or supported publicly, reframing programs to tap into current employee curiosity about what the organization’s plans are for addressing uncertainty can drive participation.
In the first quarter of 2025, the NationSwell Council set out on a cross-country journey for a Salon series dedicated to unlocking The Power of Community.
Designed to explore the ways that a strong sense of community can serve as the foundation for shared purpose, empathy, and mutual support — particularly in times of division — the series convened a number of incredible and diverse cross-sector leaders concerned with the creation and maintenance of robust communities. From incentivizing collective action to the bridging of generational divides to empowering youth to facilitating leadership development, our members shared a number of heartfelt, resonant insights on the ways they’re helping to make their communities stronger.
We’re proud to present a selection of those insights — along with some of the most powerful resources that were shared during the course of the series — below:
Key Insights:
Urgency shouldn’t only arrive with disaster: In moments of crisis, we say yes quickly, clearly, and without hesitation. What would it look like to show up with that same energy and commitment for our communities absent a crisis?
Empathy is a muscle, not a trait: It needs consistent practice. We can build it into our daily habits, our systems, and our institutions. The question is not if we have empathy, but how often we choose to use it.
Be more human, more of the time: In a world that often prioritizes efficiency over connection, how can we slow down and really see the people around us, in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and our communities?
Community involvement and collective action: Effective community development relies on the active participation of individuals who are invested in their local area. These community members play a crucial role in identifying and addressing issues that affect their neighborhoods. The collective effort of residents is essential for creating sustainable solutions, as their proximity to the problems allows for a nuanced understanding of local challenges.
Bridging generational gaps: Even in relatively homogeneous communities, a diversity of generations exists, each with its own perspectives and experiences. This generational diversity can lead to conflicts, particularly when young people with innovative ideas clash with older generations who may be more resistant to change.
Youth engagement and empowerment: Engaging and empowering youth is crucial for the long-term sustainability of community development efforts. Key issues that concern young people include: physical safety and mental health; equity and justice; economic mobility; and sustainability
Digital landscape and education: Today’s youth are digital natives, primarily using mobile devices for online activities. However, this familiarity with mobile technology does not necessarily translate to proficiency in computer skills required for higher education and professional environments. Additionally, young people may be more susceptible to online fraud compared to older generations.
Leadership development and empowerment: Creating strong leadership pipelines is essential for the long-term success of community development initiatives. This process should begin early, ideally in junior high school, to build people capital and prepare the next generation for leadership roles.
Cross-sector collaboration and engagement:
Cross-sector partnerships are indispensable for community building, as they bring together diverse expertise and perspectives. This collaboration enables communities to leverage a wide range of skills and resources, ultimately leading to more effective solutions.
Authentic Engagement: Genuine engagement with communities is crucial. This involves active listening and observation, ensuring that the needs and voices of community members are heard and respected.
NationSwell is excited to reintroduce our pilot NationSwell Fellows Accelerator Program, sponsored by Jon & Wendy Stahl, which offers young leaders the strategic support, connections and leadership development needed to turn their interventions into sustainable and meaningful interventions. This cohort has been moving on the four key areas of the program – building and refining a theory of change, building organizational structure and presence, stakeholder engagement and storytelling. We are honored to remind our networks of the incredible fellows who have been working with us and introduce a new pair of co-founders joining this pilot program.
EMILY BACH (ANY PRONOUNS)
Emily Bach is an organizer and educator based in Oakland, California. Her research on community-based consent education has been presented across 9 universities, and they currently serve as a peer reviewer at the American Journal of Sexuality Education. Emily sits on the Board of Directors at SafeBAE, Stories of Consent’s fiscal sponsor.
MAYA SIEGEL (SHE/HER)
Maya Siegel is a digital strategist based in Denver, Colorado. Her work focuses on narrative-centered initiatives to foster a more sustainable and equitable future. She currently serves as the Platforms Manager at FEMINIST, the largest (6M+ followers across platforms) women-owned nonprofit media platform for women, girls, and gender-expansive people, and is a founding board member at Intersectional Environmentalist.
Together, they are the co-founders of Stories of Consent, the first and only national organization in the United States that uses a youth-led, peer-education model to provide consent education in states without educational mandates. In just a year and a half, they initiated conversations about consent with over 462,000 individuals and have implemented an educational model that impacts middle and high school students across 45 U.S. states. They are excited to be joining NationSwell’s pilot Accelerator Program.
ALEX ANG (SHE/HER)
Alex Ang is a content creator and mental health advocate living in Saint Paul, MN. Through her work, she is dedicated to increasing access to mental health resources and developing storytelling around cultural competency, anxiety awareness and workplace mental health. She currently sits on the NAMI StigmaFree Advisory Board for Workplace Mental Health, and is the host of a mental health podcast, a is for anxious.
Through these last few months of the accelerator, she has been working on her project, Mental Health Mailboxes, a community-based campaign aimed at increasing access to free mental health resources and acts as a catalyst for mental health awareness, using the power of collective aid and resource exchange to curate a source of mental health stories and resources. The idea is a simple one: Place a Mental Health Mailbox in your community and watch as community-members populate its shelves with an abundance of resources, suited to each community’s culture and location.
JORGE ALVAREZ (HE/HIM)
Jorge Alvarez is a first-gen Latine Social Impact Strategist, Mental Health Advocate, & Creator who has taken his mental health advocacy from lecture halls on his college campus, to millions online, and even to The White House. After being recognized by MTV as 1 of 30 participants to be part of the inaugural Mental Health Youth Action Forum at The White House where he spoke alongside Selena Gomez, the U.S. First Lady, and the U.S. Surgeon General, Jorge went on to consult companies and nonprofits alike on campaign messaging, program development, and BIPOC/youth engagement strategies. Most recently, he advised MTV and sActive Minds, a youth mental health nonprofit, on their national mental health campaign called A.S.K.– the stop, drop, & roll for young people to emotionally support their friends! Online, he uses his love for storytelling to spark dialogue for collective reflection, unlearning limiting beliefs, and breaking cycles leading to his community of +130,000 across social platforms. While he loves creating, Jorge works directly with communities by speaking at venues, universities, and institutions across the U.S. to empower and educate young people and allies about mental health, social media, advocacy, and more.
JAZMINE ALCON (SHE/HER)
Jazmine brings over 7 years of experience in the mental health advocacy space and is dedicated to transforming the mental health narrative to be more culturally relevant, engaging, and accessible. Her work has been rooted in empowering BIPOC communities, which she has executed through health equity, community, and marketing initiatives in the non-profit and corporate sectors. Jazmine is an Ilocana immigrant who believes that storytelling is fundamental in creating systemic and collective change in how we address youth mental health. Jazmine holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a minor in Health and Society. She is also the co-founder of AAPI Mental Health, a digital platform dedicated to redefining the mental health conversation in the Asian and Pacific Islander community. In her free time, Jazmine likes to create art, hang out with her friends and cat, and be outdoors!
Together, the pair have been building on their work in the Accelerator Program. Titled, I’ve Been Meaning to Tell you, this campaign consists of a non-scripted interview-style video web series featuring difficult yet sincere intergenerational dialogue between BIPOC parents or guardians and their children (ages 18-26). Given the impact of cultural, ethnic, and racial nuance, each episode will spotlight how vulnerable and intimate conversations between parents and children of color can lead to a place of understanding. This campaign will not only invoke emotion and demonstrate that having intimate and vulnerable conversations between different generations is possible and why it’s important to do so, but it will also inspire others to have these same conversations. Ultimately, our goal is to use digital content to drive traffic toward culturally relevant resources with actionable next steps with viewers to continue the conversation.
Learn more about the NationSwell Fellows Program here.
The Business Case for Childcare Benefits for Every Employee
Today NationSwell is proud to announce the launch of our expanded Case for Childcare Collaborative site advocating for childcare for all workers. Employees—especially gig, hourly, part-time and frontline workers— across the country continue to face an uphill battle, punctuated by the ongoing childcare crisis in the United States. Frontline workers represent about 70% of the workforce with 90% of companies relying on these workers (BCG, Fortune). And yet, while only 14% of full-time workers have access to employer-sponsored childcare support, that number falls to 8% for part-time workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). This demonstrates a childcare benefits gap, revealing those with the most to gain from these benefits are traditionally excluded from qualifying. The detrimental effects of a broken childcare system are glaringly apparent, with parents forced to leave careers in order to take care of children, and businesses suffering huge workforce losses.
This was the instigation for NationSwell to launch the Case for Childcare site in February 2024, showcasing two years of research making the case for employer-supported childcare benefits, revealing the business opportunity of supporting employee childcare needs.
Why focus on frontline workers?
But–a gap in our research remained—frontline workers have the most to gain from childcare support yet are traditionally excluded from benefits packages that are reserved for full-time, salaried employees. So we set our sights on an expansion of this site to build the case for employers to provide childcare benefits for all workers. Over the last year, we’ve focused our research on frontline workers, speaking with workers, advocates, and employers alike. This research highlighted the importance of these workers for businesses and the overall economy—leaving this demographic out of conversations around employer-based childcare support is a missed opportunity for companies to improve their retention, attraction, loyalty, and engagement of workers, ultimately boosting their bottom line. Today, we’re exposing the data that employers should support their worker’s childcare needs because it is both the right thing to do for people and the company.
Educate
With this launch, our Collaborative aims to put the spotlight on the research-backed value of supporting employer-sponsored childcare benefits for frontline workers so that more leaders can educate their colleagues and advocate for change. If you need to make the case for childcare at your company, you can find easily downloadable materials that can serve as a pitch to leadership on why childcare benefits should be implemented or expanded for your workforce. Visit our site and request the synthesized research and solutions that you can use to pitch leaders and HR managers on the expansion of your childcare support for all workers.
Commit
You might be asking, “After I get buy-in, how can we get started? What can we offer as an employer to support caregivers?” The newly launched site includes a visualization of childcare solutions that range to fit any business, no matter where you’re starting from, whether it’s just starting to think about childcare support for the first time or adding cutting-edge policies to your already comprehensive benefits package. Explore each solution with resources and organizations to help you get started and examples of other companies who are implementing these kinds of support. Then commit to change, perhaps making a plan to reevaluate your care policies each quarter with executive leadership or starting to pilot one solution over the next six months. No matter where you start, start somewhere. Join others by committing publicly on our site—submit your story or commitment to be uploaded on our wall of examples. Together we can build a community of care.
Share
Finally, we encourage you to share this site with your networks. Caregiving is undervalued in the United States and we’re on a mission to showcase the value of care for businesses and our economy. This site not only portrays the data on the clear business value in providing employer-supported care benefits for every employee, but it also features firsthand stories from business owners and workers who are parents. Listen to employers share how to accommodate childcare needs in the workplace for all workers—it’s not only possible, but practical. Hear from advocates on the unique barriers these workers face in regards to care. And listen to parents share their stories on the impact of employers who support the care movement. Post the site on your LinkedIn, text the link to a friend or family member, or reshare NationSwell’s social posts. Help us reframe the narrative to value care.
Conclusion
This site is a go-to hub for businesses and leaders to find information they need to not only build awareness of the business case for employer-supported childcare, but also, to provide tactical solutions that more employers can implement to grow the support for all workers to have access to affordable, quality childcare that fits the needs of their family.
Visit the Case for Childcare Collaborative’s childcare for all expanded site to learn about the case for care for all workers, commit to implementing solutions, and share the information with your team and network. Help us forge a world where childcare is no longer a barrier for workers to remain and thrive in the workforce. Thank you to our partners at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation and Pivotal Ventures for supporting this important work.
The $2.1 million commitment will advance career pathways and deepens the firm’s 155-year investment in Columbus.
NationSwell is honored to partner with JPMorganChase, One Columbus Foundation, Columbus City Schools District, Ohio Excels and Zora’s House in support of the critical work of the newly formed Columbus Regional Workforce Collaborative. Together, the Collaborative will bring in local stakeholders, drive equity by addressing employment disparities, and strengthen the systems needed to support both employers and employees as the Columbus Region’s economy continues to grow and flourish.
“We are committed to transforming how we prepare our employees and others to compete for well-paying jobs and successful careers,” said Corrine Burger, Columbus Location Leader for JPMorganChase. “We’re proud to deepen our investment in the region by joining forces with some of our city’s leading business and community organizations, including NationSwell, to create a more prosperous and inclusive workforce.”
Read below to learn more.
September 12, 2024 (Columbus, Ohio) — Today, JPMorganChase announced its support of a newly-formed regional workforce collaborative that will strengthen the Columbus Region’s economy by breaking down obstacles to employment, advancing equity, and equipping job-seekers with the skills and experience needed to thrive. The collaborative, funded by a $2.1 million commitment from JPMorganChase, will enable five organizations to better align the Columbus Region’s workforce system to address employment disparities, enhance workforce development, and create an environment where diverse individuals and families can fully benefit from the region’s economic growth. The funds will be distributed amongst the organizations to support their involvement and initiatives within the collaborative.
Led by One Columbus, central Ohio’s leading economic development organization, the new workforce collaborative will convene business, education, community, and elected leaders for facilitated discussions to modernize the regional workforce system strategy. Its focus will be on emerging industries that demand highly technical skills. Specifically, the collaborative will develop:
A landscape assessment of regional attributes and case studies of successes and pitfalls
A regional workforce roadmap that articulates business needs and priorities
Data and research on the needs of diverse community members
A comprehensive workforce system plan, with robust community input, identifying strategic implementation steps, critical partners, and potential resource alignment
“Today’s announcement will help to ensure the Columbus workforce is equipped with the knowledge, skills and experience needed to compete for high-quality careers in emerging industries, ” said Tim Berry, Global Head of Corporate Responsibility and Chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Region for JPMorganChase. “Drawing on our experience, we know it’s critically important to bring the right local stakeholders together to ensure the workforce has the skills needed to meet the evolving needs of the region.”
The Columbus Region is one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation. However, like many urban areas, the available job opportunities have not been equitably shared among all workers and residents, leading to a racial wealth divide. The workforce collaborative announced today will help address this challenge by preparing individuals for jobs that can jump-start careers.
“As an employer with such a long-standing history in Columbus, we’re proud to deepen our investment in the region by joining forces with some of our city’s leading business and community organizations to create a more prosperous and inclusive workforce,” said Corrine Burger, Columbus Location Leader for JPMorganChase. “Together, we’re making a difference and ensuring that every resident can thrive.”
“When it comes to workforce training, the Columbus Region is program-rich, but by addressing skill gaps within our workforce, we can advance opportunity for all residents,” said Kenny McDonald, president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership. “This new commitment from JPMorganChase will go a long way toward helping us strengthen the systems and strategies that will improve our workforce for both employers and employees.”
Partners Include:
One Columbus Foundation: One Columbus will lead the integration of workforce efforts across the region, aligning regional initiatives to meet the needs of emerging industries. By facilitating collaboration among businesses, educational institutions, and workforce partners, One Columbus will develop a more cohesive system that supports sustainable economic growth, enhances skill development, and ensures equitable access to job opportunities for all residents.
Columbus City Schools District: Columbus City Schools will support this project by ensuring connectivity between their high school redesign work and the opportunities and skills articulated by the business community throughout the process.
NationSwell: NationSwell will support OneColumbus with the overall project design, conducting research on challenges and opportunities, facilitating convenings, and developing key assets, including a regional workforce system roadmap.
Ohio Excels: Ohio Excels will provide project management support to One Columbus, ensuring alignment, coordination, and communication among all grant partners throughout the process.
Zora’s House: Graduates of Zora’s House Women of Color Equity in Design Institute (WECDI) — a program that upskills participants in design thinking skills and then embeds them in critical community conversations and projects to ensure that the lived experiences of women of color are adequately engaged and informing the work — will develop processes to ensure that the voices and experiences of women of color—the fastest-growing population segment in our region—are adequately addressed in strategy planning and design.
JPMorganChase in Ohio
JPMorganChase has a 155-year long history serving Columbus and has committed $11 million over the last five years to strengthening career pathways for Central Ohio residents. As one of the state’s largest private employers, JPMorganChase is proud to serve more than 18,000 employees, 725,000 consumer customers, and 59,000 business customers. As leaders in business, the firm works in partnership with local government officials, businesses, and nonprofits to advance inclusive economic growth and drive a stronger, more inclusive economy.
About JPMorganChase
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $4.1 trillion in assets and $341 billion in stockholders’ equity as of June 30, 2024. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com
Over the past year, as anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) efforts have hit the headlines, I’ve talked with countless leaders who are wary of potential catastrophic impacts for their work – layoffs, lawsuits, the list goes on. The irony? Those imbedding fear in DEI leaders are scared themselves.
Anti-DEI forces are tapping the intrinsic human fear of exclusion to build their take-down of DEI. They want to convince people that they are being left out of the economy, left out of having a voice, left out of fair access to opportunities, and left out of being relevant.
When we believe we are left out, it is easy to feel scared. Scared of losing what we have and scared of what else we can lose. When we feel like we’re being left out, we believe that the fight must be a zero-sum game – it’s me or them – never us winning together.
When ideologies and identities are conflated into opposing forces (as we’ve seen recently in the U.S. political landscape), winning together can feel like an oxymoron. In reality, winning together means moving away from finger-pointing and debating the reality that most things don’t exist in dichotomies. DEI is about shaping our systems, policies, institutions, and conditions so no one is left behind and everyone can thrive in their own self-determination.
DEI’s unifying powers in action are seen this week, in the Paralympic Games.
With origins to honor injured veterans, so they could be actively included and celebrated, not left behind and forgotten, the Paralympics have evolved to carry forward broader goals around inclusivity. The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games begin on August 28, and Paris has invested over €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) to improve education, employment, and accessibility for people with disabilities.
Even though the Paralympic Games last only 11 days, the investments to make host cities more equitable and accessible will endure long after – not only for people with disabilities, but kids, the elderly, those in recovery from medical procedures, those who are pregnant, weary travelers, and more.
While more than 4,400 Para athletes will compete for bronze, silver, and gold at over 549 sporting events, in between those events, they will get to live, eat, and train in spaces made with them in mind. “The residence areas and apartments do not have steps. The restrooms are spacious, and the shower has a chair that allows athletes to transfer from their wheelchairs. Electric sockets are even placed 45 centimeters above the floor to make it easier for athletes with different disabilities to reach them.” The completely accessible Paralympics Village is the physical manifestation of providing the Para athletes with everything they need to compete at their best.
The Paralympics is a testament to DEI’s charge and mandate – to broaden and expand resources, opportunities, information, and care so that everyone, inclusive of all identities and abilities, can access what they need to meet their highest potential. Even though most of the athletes won’t go home with a medal around their neck, they will have shown us that winning together is not about a singular medal but rather getting access to all the essential resources, opportunities, and care to be the best versions of ourselves.
That doesn’t sound scary at all.
AiLun Ku is the Senior Strategic Advisor at NationSwell
At a moment of growing inequality and division, who is advancing the vanguard of economic and social progress to bolster our most vulnerable communities? Whose work is fostering the inclusive growth that ensures every individual thrives? Who will set the ambitious standards that mobilize whole industries, challenging their peers to reach new altitudes of social impact?
In 2024, Impact Next — a new editorial flagship series from NationSwell — will spotlight the standard-bearing corporate social responsibility and impact leaders, entrepreneurs, experts, and philanthropists whose catalytic work has the potential to shape the landscape of progress amid urgent need for social and economic action.
For this installment, NationSwell interviewed Becky Ferguson — Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at Salesforce and CEO of Salesforce Foundation.
Greg Behrman, CEO and Founder, NationSwell:Tell us a little bit about your journey into leadership in this field. Were there any defining moments, experiences, or mentors that helped you to get here?
Becky Ferguson, Salesforce: For me, a really foundational experience was my first job out of college back at a small, community-based nonprofit in the community where I grew up.
When I look back, I appreciate it for a number of reasons. First, the support services we provided across the entire county made me appreciate just how interconnected so many social issues are — I learned to look at things holistically and try to get beneath the surface and understand the root causes.
It also gave me an appreciation for every single dollar. When I look back, I realize how much we made happen as a small organization with a limited budget. And through my career, as I’ve worked with larger organizations, partnerships, and budgets, I still try to think about the power of every dollar.
And then the other thing I really took from that experience was that when you work at a startup or a small nonprofit, you wear a lot of hats. One of the hats I wore in that period of time was running the hotline — making sure that any day of the week, any hour, if someone called, there was someone on the other end to pick up that phone. I learned that oftentimes what people really needed in that moment was someone on the other end to listen. There is so much power and importance that comes with presence and listening.
Behrman, NationSwell: What makes your approach to your work differentiated or sets it apart in the field?
Ferguson, Salesforce: At Salesforce, we’re celebrating our 25th year anniversary as a company this year, and one thing that has grown with us over the years is what we like to call the 1-1-1 model. Early on, we made a pledge to look at how we could give back our financial contributions, our time, and our product, and the ways in which we have been able to watch and see those contributions grow over time is really remarkable. As we look back over the years and see things like over nine million volunteer hours from our employees, thousands of nonprofits that now use Salesforce technology to help power their missions out in the world, and much more. The layering of that impact over time is really powerful. We’ve also always really believed in the power of partnerships and it has been so inspiring to see other companies adopt the 1-1-1 model and make it their own with now over 18,000 companies joining the Pledge 1% global movement.
Behrman, NationSwell: Salesforce has really built a reputation for being out in front and on the vanguard. Is there anything you can point to that has helped you to stay in alignment with those expectations over time?
Ferguson, Salesforce: To start, it is very much a part of the origin story of the company — it’s the fabric of who we are and our values.
I think another element of it is that at Salesforce, we’ve really embraced a more distributed or integrated model of impact in the company — meaning it lives in different parts of the business; it’s not just one person or one team’s responsibility alone. At times that can be a little bit messy, but we’ve always felt that that is actually the most powerful way to make lasting change happen.
Behrman, NationSwell: There’s a lot of energy around employee engagement, volunteering, folks wanting to see how to push to the next level of impact, engagement, design. Is there anything you are particularly proud of that you might speak to?
Ferguson, Salesforce: A couple of years ago, we decided to shift away from just celebrating the number of hours people have volunteered — which is really impressive, and which we still have ambitious goals around — in favor of thinking about how we can also inspire and celebrate a deeper kind of giving back journey for employees.
We dug in with our in-house design team and got a lot of feedback from employees to create a new impact journey. We now have a set of impact milestones people can earn that encourage them to not only volunteer, but to volunteer more than once with an organization, to volunteer and donate, to perhaps join a board — the ultimate goal is to build deeper and deeper engagement. And then as we reward, recognize, and celebrate those milestones over time, we’re able to connect employees with different opportunities that they can then use to continue to further their impact journeys.
We’re hoping to reach over a million employee volunteer hours this year. The way in which Salesforce employees engage and give back, whether it’s individually or collectively with their teams, is really inspiring.
Behrman, NationSwell:I have this impression that you guys have a differentiated way of communicating, and using narrative, to further ingrain this work and inspire employees. Can you bring us into that a little bit more?
Ferguson, Salesforce: We are a company and a culture of storytellers, and we bring our work across the company to life through stories — be it stories about customers that we work with, stories about our employees, stories about our community partners. We often refer to the individuals in those stories as trailblazers — people who are forging a new path forward — and the idea is that any of us can be a trailblazer in all sorts of ways, from how you’re using new technology to how you’re inspiring teams.
We’re also definitely intentional about the ways we create moments and avenues to share those stories. We were just at the company kickoff, and we ended the time together by recognizing three employee trailblazers who were rewarded with golden hoodies and recognition from the entire company. They were three really different employees, working in very different roles and parts of the company — making a unique impact not only in their day jobs, but also in their communities.
At the end of the day, we are community builders: We think a lot about our ecosystem of partners and trailblazers and the ways we all come together in community. And people really feel that sense of community.
Behrman, NationSwell: What has helped you to be an effective leader in the space? Are there attributes or proclivities or parts of your philosophy of leadership that are central to your leadership
Ferguson, Salesforce: I’ve worked in a lot of different organizations, sectors, and settings. I’ve done work in the UN, research, corporate venture capital, private philanthropy, corporate philanthropy, and I think across all of those roles, I have gained an appreciation that there are many different ways and styles of leadership. I think there are two things that really resonate with me: first, trying to reorient my mindset around failure — this idea that to do hard things, you’ve got to take chances, you’ve got to make bets, and it’s not always going to work or go exactly as planned, and that’s okay.
Behrman, NationSwell: I’d love to hear about a few things you might recommend that have been influential to you in your leadership journey or current state of mind.
Ferguson, Salesforce: There are a couple things that are on my book stand right now, and one of them is Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teaching of plants. What I love about it is it’s a blend of stories and science. Another is a book by Bob Sutton called Scaling Up Excellence that was recommended to me by another leader here at Salesforce. One thing about Bob Sutton’s work that has been sticking with me lately is he talks about this idea that in organizations and companies, things layer up over time and you need to step back and look at what is no longer adding value and strip those things away.
He refers to them as barnacles, and that is something I’ve been thinking about lately — what are the barnacles in the work, in the field I’m in, that have layered up over time and are no longer serving us? What do we need to chip away at or strip so that our ships can sail much faster to where we’re trying to go?
Behrman, NationSwell: Who are some of the peer leaders you really admire — folks more or less in your role at other companies or organizations who you think are really great leaders doing great work?
Ferguson, Salesforce: I’ve met a lot of incredible people through the NationSwell community actually. Being around a table, sharing meals with folks. For instance, Alicia Vermaele, executive director of the Starbucks Foundation, is someone I love to run across town and have a cup of coffee with and hear what’s on her mind, what she’s working on and thinking about. And then Shamina Singh and the team at MasterCard, that’s another group I have come to know through the NationSwell community that I think are doing great things in the world.
In Q2, members of the NationSwell Council and team set out across the U.S. for a Salon series dedicated to exploring Mobility in America.
Specifically, our members were interested in unpacking the role our education, government, communities, and families have to play in influencing social and economic mobility — and how our own personal narratives are indelibly intertwined with broader mobility trends.
The series brought us face-to-face with transformative leaders from diverse sectors, sparking discussions that were as rich as they were enlightening. Some of the Council members who were in attendance came together to describe the most actionable insights, resources, and practices that were shared during the events — our full recap appears below.
Key Insights and Questions:
Mentorship is vital to economic and social mobility
We’ve created a narrative of a post-secondary path that is not the reality for most
Policy and legislation are key for advancing mobility
AI will change how society calibrates social mobility
Is social mobility a proxy for proximity to whiteness?
How much coercion are we willing to assert to increase social capital?
Psychological barriers to success can be overcome by strategies that address the mental models of family and community
Is scale the enemy of impact?
To be truly inclusive, DEI initiatives must include the ex-offender population
How do we shift narratives when media norms aren’t built for narrative shifts?
What leaders who attended are saying:
NationSwell asked members in attendance to respond to two key questions:
In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc.
In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?)
At JSP, we work closely with justice involved individuals and find that while our society says they believe in 2nd chances, we often create significant roadblocks to bringing people back to our communities after a prison sentence. Two major challenges–housing and employment. We have amazing people who have served their sentences and need legitimate pathways forward so they can be their best self. Finding ways to eliminate the labeling of people as ex offenders, convicts, and inmates; centering their humaness, giving grace, and providing direct paths to housing and employment would be great first steps.
Baffour Osei, Robotics Lab Manager, Princeton University
In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc.
We can intentionally create spaces and validate them with the authority structures that currently exist in our organizations. E.g. We’ve created a spontaneous book club in our lab focused on our library of books of autobiographies, analyses, etc. around individuals and groups of people from various socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, nations, and other dimensions of diversity. Conversations centered around these topics don’t usually happen in engineering settings and so this library along with the spontaneous book club events are meant to change that by creating spaces where these conversations that touch all of us can happen. We’ve had books donated to our library by other guests and faculty as well and continue to seek ways to grow attendance and encourage our lab residents to come and keep returning. I think a big portion of this is my attendance as the manager of the space and also getting faculty to attend as well as encourage their lab groups to attend. People will leave our robotics program to become leaders in academia and in industry and so it’s imperative that they have proper social frameworks with which to engage their future mentees, coworkers, and customers in person and with their products and services.
In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?)
We can and have been doing this with the spontaneous book club. Among the books in our library are Crippled, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freedom is a Constant Struggle, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, Viral Justice, The New Jim Crow, and so many more titles. The Spontaneous Book Club structure allows our patrons to pick any book, read for 40 minutes, and then share what we read with the group and discuss. This allows us to learn about different authors’ perspectives on different topics and view tying lines between our various books since we’re all reading something different. Topics that we would’ve never discussed all of a sudden arise in these conversations and many of our patrons have shared taking action and changing behaviors as they learn new information. Our patrons also share how their personal experiences are reflected in these writings or may even contradict some of them. The point is this setting opens up all of these conversations and elevates these ideas, individuals, and institutions for discussion and adjusted behavior moving forward with a new respect and honoring for elements that have been invisible to us in the past.
As a former educator turned diversity trainer and ethical AI advisor, I’m often called in to manage a crisis. Too often it’s too late. My answers don’t focus on fixing the issue, but rather on preventing the issue and building the capacity to navigate disequilibrium.
Linkedin is filled with infographics and cheat sheets to maximize productivity and leverage IQ to boost KPIs but rarely are there tools to unleash EQ- emotional intelligence. This overemphasis on people being an ends to a means and a series of data points and accountability measures can trigger mental health issues due to their rigid adherence and reward for those who “succeed” at all costs. The costs include frayed relationships with family, friends, their self concept and their health.
The culture of work is starting to evolve beyond the ruinous compartmentalization that forces people to choose between their personal and professional goals, but not fast enough. GenZ is leading the charge but too often a culture undergird by a Puritanical work ethic is weaponized to shame them into submission rather than make accommodations that would benefit the mental health of all workers.
Additionally post Covid, I observe what I call “the trauma class”. People who regardless of social economic status are experiencing trauma and triggering the trauma of others. Trauma is no longer relegated to a tragic few or a large majority of those experiencing poverty. The trauma class is diverse. From those who experience school shootings to the opioid crisis and dealing with mourning due to Covid or not being able to afford healthcare, increasingly trauma looks like you and me. Even. when you are minding your own business, isolation from trauma is becoming more difficult. Due to rising rates of homelessness you might experience vicarious trauma as you witness the mental breakdown of someone on a train or in the street.
The solution is a paradigm shift that centers soft skills and is trauma informed to ensure people feel valued regardless of their ability to “perform”. Having a workplace that is conditional on performance is one fueled by fear which too often metastasizes into stress, resentment, overwhelm, burn out or worse. A workplace that values the whole human being can inspire more innovation, creativity and resilience because fear is replaced with trust. Leaders that master emotional intelligence can model how to balance personal and professional goals and co-create healthy ways for coworkers to deal with stress, grieving, health and other issues. Mental health can be a culture of wellness if designed with human potential and connectedness in mind.
In your own work, how can you support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world—be they whiteness, US exceptionalism etc.
I focus on amplifying diverse voices and perspectives. This includes:
Prioritizing Underrepresented Narratives: Centering the experiences and insights of people impacted by the system first, instead of as an afterthought.
Encouraging Proximity: The lived experiences of others helps the dominant culture understand exactly how systems impact individuals and communities. This promotes a deeper understanding of systemic issues.
Strive to Operationalize: By consistently integrating best practices, organizations can move from constantly being in the education phase to truly achieving equity and inclusion. Inclusion is the only way to move past the dominant frames mentioned above; while learning is essential, incorporating these principles is the key.
In your work, how can you support and elevate the ideas, individuals, and institutions that are often overlooked or marginalized by mainstream perspectives? (Who can you lift up and how?)
Promoting Inclusive Practices: Keep sounding the alarm that organizations must prioritize operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Collaborative Projects: Partner with organizations that want to elevate their inclusion and create joint initiatives.
Advocacy and Awareness: Use my platform to raise awareness about the systemic issues faced by people with conviction histories and continue to push for inclusion.
On many occasions, philanthropy is automatically invited to the table when unfortunately fellow community partners are not. Thus, philanthropy must leverage its circle of influence to effect change, ensure more inclusive dialogues, and create equitable space at traditionally exclusive tables. In my role as a leader in and representative of a philanthropic organization, I encourage our partners to give grantees access to their circles of influence to enhance their strategic partnerships, openly market their grantees to provide visibility, and overtly stand with their grantees to empower them during challenging times. We are currently operating within a troubling and divisive landscape within education. Thus, this is an opportunity for philanthropy to serve as champions for justice reflecting persistence amid resistance. In this heightened capacity and positioning, we can support the strength, the visibility, the power, and the influence of ideas, individuals, and institutions from outside the dominant frames that shape and distort our world. The decisions we do or don’t make now will have multigenerational effects.
In my role with the STEM Funders Network, I have the opportunity to illuminate the ideas and initiatives of marginalized organizations or organizations that represent and support marginalized communities. The STEM Funders Network is a community leader and partner. As such, it has an obligation to community service and uplift. As I engage in events like the Science Summit hosted by the Simons Foundation, the NSF ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening, or the CONECD conference I meet organizations and STEM leaders from around the country that are making a difference and making an impact. Through our social media platforms, via our Power of Positive InfluenceTM webinar series, or through partnerships with national media leaders such as STEM Magazine we have an opportunity to leverage our social capital and give voice and agency to overlooked, under-resourced, and marginalized organizations or communities. Not because they “need” us to…but because their great work deserves elevation and illumination. So often our systems give credence to mainstream or “big box” entities and devalue leaders in marginalized communities. Philanthropy has an opportunity to be a catalyst for innovation, a change agent, and a positive disruptor of systemic challenges.
Anthony Brian Smith: August 26, 1989 – December 30, 2023
Greg Behrman:
Anthony Smith was a singular gem.
To our organization and team, he was so many things: a brilliant editor, writer, and thinker; an amazing teammate who injected everything — large and small — with warmth, humanity, and fun; a supportive and encouraging collaborator, who made us all think harder and strive to be better.
To me, he was a cherished teammate and friend. I had the good fortune of working with Anthony on what now seem like a million things. Everything was better for having Anthony’s pen, take, or touch. I loved seeing Anthony on a NationSwell stage; he seemed to make the spotlight brighter.
What I treasure most is the time in between; our time connecting, catching up — accompanying each other in our work and our lives. Anthony knew a lot about a lot of things that I didn’t even know were things. I learned from him, admired him, and looked forward to every encounter.
In recent days, I’ve thought about that Maya Angelou quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I’ll never forget Anthony’s brilliance and originality; his genius for seeing dimensionality in so many things I might have overlooked; his passion for social justice and commitment to work for a better world; his great gift of language; his compassion and kindness; the great fun I had with him — it was so much fun to be in Anthony’s presence. I’ll never forget the lasting impact he’s had on NationSwell — and the world.
You made us all feel so good, Anthony.
Thank you.
We will carry you forward with us, always, my dear friend.
ANTHONY SMITH | VP Published Content + Growth NationSwell welcome email, Day One, Aug. 2, 2018
You’d never believe that I was almost a reality tv star.
I Love to cook, especially French pastry and Roman Italian.
I don’t love pearl onions, ricotta cheese, red wine, or bean sprouts.
Recently I took a trip to Marrakech and fell in love with the city, and saw shades of green and blue that I don’t think I’d ever seen before.
I make people laugh when I sneeze. I have a ridiculous sneeze that maybe you will hear one day, but for both our sakes, I hope you don’t!
My hidden talent is interior design. I’ve been playing the Sims ever since the first game came out when I was in middle school, and I love coming up with a concept/story for every room I make.
Born in the Philippines, grew up in the Bronx, went to boarding school in New Jersey, and I’ve found my way to Brooklyn like every other Millennial with a big city dream :]
Started career in restaurant criticism.
Proudest moment was breaking the story of concerns about ethical concerns around Secretary Ryan Zinke’s travel schedule at the Department of the Interior. I don’t think there are a lot of journalists’ eyes on the Interior the way there are on other parts of the Trump (or any president’s!) administration, and in my reporting here, I received a lot of handwritten notes from a lot of people for whom corruption at the Interior can ruin everything. It felt good to break out of the bubble and actually reach people.
I really demonstrated my baking talent when for my old office’s weekly baking challenge, I baked a gluten-free dairy-free Queen Victoria’s Sandwich from scratch without consulting a recipe. And it was great!
When I was little I always sobbed whenever “You Gotta Be” by Des’ree came on the radio.
My favorite place in the world is probably the Parc de Buttes Chaumont in Paris, or Louie & Ernie’s Pizza in the Bronx.
My “bucket list” trip would be a trip to that underwater hotel in the Maldives.
A roaring thunderstorm on an early Saturday morning makes me joyful
The dinner party scene from The Birdcage makes me laugh for hours
Comedy or drama? Drama! The best dramas all have these incredibly funny moments.
Dogs or cats? I want to say both for different reasons, but dogs eke out the victory here.
Sweet or savory? Sweet, for sure. Eating an entree is just an excuse to eat a dessert.
Alison Kotch:
It’s not often in one’s career that you meet someone who inspires you to be a better colleague and human: Anthony was one of those people. His warmth and positive energy made me look forward to working at NationSwell, and was an example of what it means to lead with empathy, good humor, and grace. I’ll always have fond memories of our team outings outside the office, too: He was an expert at making everyone feel heard, valued, and appreciated, regardless of their role on the team. Sending him good vibes as we celebrate his one-of-a-kind spirit. We love you, Anthony!
Marc Anthony Branch:
When I joined NationSwell and visited NYC to figure out where I might move, it was Anthony and Taekia who came to the office to work with me as my first in-person staff interaction in the COVID world. From that point, whenever I connected with Anthony, he was the bright spot to my day. He brought energy, laughs, compassion, and encouragement, and left you feeling better than before your interaction. I’ll never forget him consistently uplifting me and calling me a smart, Black king. Anthony — you are a gem, and I am forever grateful to have crossed paths with you.
Ellie Fox
This planet won’t be the same without our exuberant, brilliant, talented, wonderful friend Anthony. He wrote stories, and games, and jokes, and entire worlds. Don’t get me started on the Shakespearean genius that is his Twitter. He used words like “rule” in earnest to describe things he liked, as if it was 2003 forever. He befriended ghosts and sought opportunities to be haunted. He taught you how to salt brine a chicken to perfection. He read for filth your astrological chart in one glance and was the trivia quizmaster to end all others. He committed to the bit, like when he told everyone at work that his most coveted dish was Amy Klobuchar’s “tacotots” recipe. He practically had stock in Win Son, Crown Fried Chicken, and haggis — the Scottish delicacy (and did not care what the haters had to say). Need a recommendation for where to eat anywhere in the world? He sent you on your way and was friends with the chef. Maybe you needed a highly detailed review of a play you were considering seeing? He already saw it (in previews) and wrote something hilariously scathing about it.
CMo (Christina Montero):
One time back in 2019 we were all at the office on 5th Ave and I went out to grab a coffee. I happened to walk by the comedian John Mulaney and his (now ex)-wife on 20th and 5th. Who was the first person I texted? Anthony. His reactions:
“NO”
“omg”
“Which way was he walking?”
“did u say hi?”
My second memory was that I was one of the few people that liked Andrew Yang when he was trying to run for President in 2020. I sent his campaign lots of micro-donations and became part of the #yanggang. Who was the one person that I could talk to about my love for Andrew and his ideals? Anthony. Anthony would send me tweets and updates a plenty so I had a pulse on how Andrew was faring.
There were many more instances where we would gossip about celebrities and discuss for hours the state of our country, and we could be open about our fears and feelings. I always loved my Anthony talks. Most of all, I will miss that smile and laugh of his. I actually bet he’s laughing right now at how things turned out. He helped me find humor in tragedy and always will.
Love you 4EVA AS.
Kylie Madden:
Anthony was his own brand of magic and he made everyone feel seen, cared for, and appreciated. He embodied the concept that small things mattered — whether it was ordering you your favorite meal from a go-to restaurant for lunch and presenting it to you (which I appreciate more than I could have ever expressed), sharing a random thought with you in the middle of the night, remembering something you mentioned offhand one time six months ago, or making sure you got to experience something *he* felt was special or unique.
Sreya Belbase:
Anthony had a smile that emanated innocence, generosity, and acceptance. Those qualities embodied his essence, and his warmth was felt far and wide. From bonding over astrology, helping me draft my first LinkedIn post, to sharing unexpected food preferences (e.g. noodles for breakfast and black sesame ice cream), Anthony will forever leave his impression on me and our team as a cultural juggernaut. May his legacy live on.
P.K. Weiland:
Dear Anthony,
I promised you homegrown lemongrass and never got to share it with you.
In every fragrant stalk, I hold you close, my friend, a garden of love and remembrance blooming forever.
Anthony and I delighted in discussing all of pop culture’s highs and lows — our latest high was the 2023 Broadway cast recording of Merrily We Roll Along, an album which he called “relentlessly good,” “crackling with life,” and the “best cast recording in years” (he is correct on all accounts.) Since his passing, the lyric I have returned to the most is not one of sorrow, but one that encapsulates his deep love for life and the ways we can come together to make it better: “It’s our time, breathe it in / worlds to change and worlds to win / our turn coming through / me and you, man / me and you.”
Brooke Josebachvili:
At last year’s Summit, as we were kicking off the Shared Conversation, Anthony and I found each other solo at a back corner table. I was hesitant to participate, but Anthony immediately disarmed me by posing the question with his soft voice and gentle smile. He offered to answer first. He opened up so immediately, sharing his personal stories as only a gifted storyteller like he could. By sharing of himself, he reminded me there are people who offer safe, soft landing spaces to share the full you.
Joseph Ingraham:
Every other Monday, I’d get up just before 5 am, head to the airport, and fly into New York City. I’d get to the NationSwell office around 9:30 AM, feeling a little tired and in need of caffeine. Coffee helped — but my pick-me-up of choice was ten minutes spent at Anthony’s desk. From the other side of the office, I could see his cheeky smile and mischievous eyes saying, “Get over here! I have something I simply must tell you.” And he always did. Sometimes, it was a review of a show I had never heard of (but which would inevitably clean up at the next year’s Tony Awards). Other times, it was juicy political gossip. Often, it was a hot tip on a new restaurant or a wild recap of his weekend antics. Whatever the story, it would lift my spirits, nourish my mind, and make me feel deeply grateful that we were both there.
Maddy Allison:
ABS
The funeral home was packed
Overflowing with people
Laughing and crying
Reaching to hear the stories being shared
100 more people on the zoom which
stopped working halfway through
So we stood still
Being with each other
Reaching for Anthony’s presence
Someone said “he would have found it
hilarious”
Technical difficulties at his funeral
Someone else “maybe it was his final joke”
When I first met Anthony we discussed
chili crisp
How delicious it is, what best to put it on
He said the best gift he ever got was
homemade chili crisp from a friend, because he knew
how meticulously it had to be made
How difficult it is not to burn the garlic
The next time I saw him he said he had a jar of chili crisp
for me, his favorite brand
He brought it to the office to make sure I would have some
He told me to put it on vanilla ice cream
Anthony was like chili crisp
meticulous and specific, doling out care so
generously
He was like the unique spice atop soft and
sweet vanilla ice cream bringing fire and
flavor and surprise and delight
He made you stop and go, “wow!”
He made you present
The funeral home was packed
Busting at the gills with people who were
lucky enough to love this man
I’ve been eating chili crisp all week
Caroline Mak:
While my path only overlapped with Anthony for a few months at NationSwell, he will always be remembered as the colleague who unfailingly checked in when the world was rough, and as a generous soul who always strove for making the world a better place. My Slack messages with him were always the most fun, and uplifting. His spirit will always be remembered. Thank you.
Taylor Chapman:
Anthony was a treasure of an individual; one of my favorite remarks from the memorial service compared him to “a golden apple, casually dropped into the banquet of our lives.” When he and I met in a work context and went for a beer, I assumed it would be a typical colleague get-to-know-you. How wrong I was! Hours later, I left with my head spinning, having learned about all kinds of fascinating cultural phenomena I never knew existed — and with a new friend, someone I knew I’d treasure.
Brianna Provenzano:
If you were here, I would Slack you: “So this Anthony memorial post… some of it’s there but it’s way underbaked like Claire Saffitz brown butter choc chip (derogatory)” and you would respond “AUWHFJSFKSKSK okay lemme look,” and then you would come back to me in 60 seconds with something eloquent and fully-formed and more beautiful than anything I could’ve ever put together. I need you back right now so you can punch up your own memorial post… do you see what a mess you’ve left me with?
Here are some random scraps for you:
I saved a screenshot of a Slack that you sent me on my first day on the news desk at Mic that just said “hey B — sit next to me today when you get in :)”
There was drama at your funeral, and everyone laughed and cried; you would have loved it
In the grand tradition of court jesters and fools, you always said the true and obvious thing that the main characters were oblivious to, and you always played it for laughs
Did you really have a Flintstones fan fiction called “A Feetcar Named Desire?”
Did you really use black magic to put a curse on Antonin Scalia the night before he died?
Did you know that I loved you very much and felt very protective of you, especially towards the end of our friendship?
Did they really let you go behind the counter at the Dunkin Donuts on Graham Avenue and make your own coffee coolatas?
I wish I could take all of the scraps and shape them into something coherent and meaningful, but not just yet. In the meantime, I promise to buy myself more little baked goods as a treat; to pour more intention, energy, and vulnerability into my writing; to be a little weirder and lighter on my feet; to text people more often and tell them that I love them; to Always Be Scheming. I love you and so I’m mad at you for using your death to catalyze me into being a better person, for leaving me with the kind of grief that is already starting to alchemize into something generative and hopeful. I hope that you haunt me and that your ghost takes the form of Clippy, the Microsoft Word paperclip.
Amy Lee:
My promise to Anthony:
Every time I come across something hilarious, weird, or artistically adventurous I am reminded again how much more fun life was when Anthony was there to share it with. Did you see that new satirical Gen Z comedy special on HBO? OMG why did that movie get overlooked at the Globes? Is that pop star’s new album an intentional piece of throwback genius or a collection of shallow songs we’ve heard before? These are the important questions I have wanted to pose to Anthony in just the last week alone. Yes, I also miss his encyclopedic knowledge of politics and pressing world issues. How can someone be that smart and serious about change and yet so irreverent? This election year, I will be forced to do all the reading and understanding of candidates and the minor details of democratic operations that have major implications for people’s rights; all the learning that he did for me for the last five years. And, on the personal side, I will have to dig deep and give myself the little pats on the back that he would send me out of the blue in support of my own creative endeavors. I am feeling a little lost without his supremely confident opinions on the culture unfolding around us. I stare off into the distance more. I definitely laugh less. But I know that he would absolutely not stand for complacency, and would hate for any piece of life to slip past without squeezing the most joy, outrage, warmth, sarcasm and beauty out of it. Thank you, Anthony, for showing us how to use the time we have. I promise I will try to make the most of it, just like you did.
