Resource Type: Event recaps

Not Business as Usual: Being an Effective Social Impact Leader in the Year Ahead

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

The discipline of social impact is evolving quickly, driven by sociopolitical shifts, technological advancements, and stakeholder priorities. Meeting the moment will require us to home in on trends facing the practice of social impact, forecast the demand for new strategies and approaches, and collectively brainstorm around what’s needed most to lead our field into the future.

During a NationSwell virtual Leader Roundtable on January 16th, a group of cross-sector leaders gathered to discuss how we can energize, advance, and even reimagine the work of social impact into 2025 and beyond.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the event:

Encourage proactive leadership conversations to align on forward-looking strategies.  Convening leadership outside of crises helps companies fortify their positions and respond confidently when challenges arise. Bringing key decision-makers, such as all leaders that report to your CEO, together regularly to discuss and preemptively resolve key issues (e.g. how to navigate political headwinds on material issues) can lessen the need for reactivity during moments of external scrutiny, ultimately promoting consistency in your work. 

Simplify messaging, align on definitions, and stay grounded in principles to stand the test of time. Amidst politicization of DEI and ESG, organizations are grappling with how and when to use these acronyms. While there’s no right answer for terminology use, it is important to ensure that your board and leadership teams are aligned on a unified vision of how you communicate about social impact, building a strong foundation for persistence in the face of internal and external shifts. To maintain focus and clarity with key stakeholders, consider simplifying your communication, focusing on principle-driven and business-focused messaging.

Stay informed on legal and political developments impacting ESG, DEI, and more. Monitoring legal and political shifts is critical to safeguarding social impact initiatives. For example, Judge Reid O’Connor’s recent ruling in Texas challenges the legality of ESG investments. While appeal options exist, the ruling underscores the need for organizations to remain vigilant about regulatory trends that could affect their ability to operate in this space. Companies should collaborate with legal, investor relations, and government affairs teams to proactively develop strategies that address emerging risks while maintaining a commitment to their principles. Get familiar with and follow a credible ESG legislation tracker. 

Align social impact initiatives with business goals to drive shared value. Integrating social impact efforts with core business objectives promotes durability amidst political headwinds. Identifying a key business challenge that can also generate social value (e.g. skills-based training) can secure leadership buy-in for continued investment. Evaluate your impact strategy’s shared value by answering questions like:

  • To what extent does this initiative address a pressing business challenge?
  • Does the initiative address a clearly defined societal need?
  • Does the initiative leverage the company’s unique strengths (e.g., products, expertise, supply chain)?
  • Are there clear metrics tracking the initiative’s contribution to business goals (e.g., revenue growth, cost savings)?
  • Are there measurable societal outcomes (e.g., number of people impacted, carbon emissions reduced)?
  • Are key internal stakeholders (e.g., business leaders, employees) engaged and supportive of the initiative?

Get innovative and holistic with your funding strategy to fill gaps amid policy shifts. As you build your social impact strategy for the year(s) ahead, consider how your full capital stack can address emerging challenges for your business and communities. For example, blended financing (e.g. impact investing, philanthropy) and collective impact models can be used to support innovative, untested ideas or provide critical funding for markets that are at risk of being deprioritized amidst policy shifts. Collaboration with peer funders and aligning on co-investment opportunities can amplify your ability to support a significant funding gap. 

“Make talent instead of take talent:” Be intentional about talent development and inclusion. With shifting social impact priorities and roles, it is important to consider strategies to invest in and nurture your existing team’s growth, focusing on both skills and adaptability. For example, prioritize mentorship, hands-on coaching, and shadowing opportunities that prepare team members for their next roles while creating an environment of empathy and inclusivity.

The Intersection of Caregiving and Business: NationSwell Summit Explores the Care Crisis

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

As we enter a new era of workplace dynamics, the critical issue of care support for workers has become increasingly urgent. According to a survey led by AARP and S&P Global, 67% of caregivers face difficulty in balancing their employment with caregiving duties with 27% of caregivers needing to switch to part-time work or reduced hours. Furthermore, 16% of caregivers have needed to decline promotions due to their care responsibilities and 13% have been forced to change employers to meet their care needs. Between April 2022 and March 2024, the U.S. Census collected data from 1.1 million parents who said child care has kept them from working, up from 939.7K between 2018-2020. Care directly impacts the economy and both private sector solutions and public policy are needed to support the sustainability of the workforce. 

In response to this urgent need, Pivotal, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation highlighted caregiving at the 2024 NationSwell Summit through an Impact Spotlight and a panel discussion, which was punctuated with an on-site immersive experience including a ‘Care Lounge’ that highlighted key stats, quotes and figures from  the expanded Childcare for All site created by the Case for Childcare Collaborative.

We’ve summarized key insights from this portion of the Summit below:

Public-private partnerships are key to sustainable, systemic change.

Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, shared her inspiring story through an Impact Spotlight showcasing how the nonprofit revolutionized childcare in Vermont alongside the business community, ultimately passing Act 76, which committed $125 million to the childcare sector annually through a 0.44% payroll tax. During the spotlight, Richards emphasized the critical role of childcare in both economic and social development, calling the state’s care crisis a “market failure.” Through her passionate storytelling, Richards highlighted the urgency of early childhood education on workforce participation, stating, “90% of a child’s future is baked by age 5.”

As seen by Richards’ work in Vermont, public investments can fill care gaps. Through a grassroots campaign, Let’s Grow Kids mobilized 40,000 citizens and business leaders and secured bipartisan support for Act 76. Now, more families are eligible to receive financial assistance for child care than ever before, and the state is paying programs at higher weekly rates to provide that care. Since implementation, slots have surged, boosting access for many families and relieving employers of staff shortages with a more stable workforce.

Caregiving is an economic issue with investments yielding huge economic returns.

The NationSwell caregiving panel brought together visionary leaders to discuss the urgent challenges and groundbreaking solutions shaping the future of caregiving. Moderated by Jennifer Stybel of Pivotal, the panel featured Reshma Saujani, founder of Moms First; Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, CEO of Wellthy; and Stephan Dolling, Vice President at Merck, who each shared their personal and professional perspectives on the critical care issue.

Stybel set the stage by emphasizing caregiving as a universal challenge, stating, “None of us can do it alone. The solution lies here together.” Saujani underscored the transformative potential of prioritizing caregiving within policy and business frameworks. “We need to convince the nation that childcare is an economic issue,” she said. She credited the pandemic for shifting perspectives, noting, “We’ve slammed the door on whether childcare is a personal problem or an economic problem.”

Jurist-Rosner shared her personal caregiving journey and explained Wellthy’s mission to partner with families through personalized care coordinators, alleviating the complexities of a fragmented healthcare system. “Families need someone who can get things done,” she explained. Dolling highlighted Merck’s commitment to employee well-being and the ROI of caregiving benefits. “Providing caregiving support shows your people you truly care,” he said, sharing how Merck implemented Wellthy’s services during the pandemic resulting in overwhelming employee appreciation and support.

The conversation also spotlighted the significant economic case for caregiving. Saujani noted, “Investing in childcare offers a 425% return,” emphasizing that solutions must extend beyond privileged workforces to include hourly and shift workers.

The panelists concluded by exploring bold, actionable strategies for change: join national coalitions advocating for policy reform, foster open discussions about caregiving in workplaces, and leverage data to drive leadership buy-in. As Stybel aptly concluded, “Caregiving isn’t a niche issue; it’s a challenge that unites us all.”

Workers with the most to gain from employer-sponsored care support are traditionally excluded from care benefits.

Following the inspiring spotlight and panel, NationSwell announced the launch of the expanded Childcare for All site, which builds the case for gig, hourly, part-time and frontline workers to be included in employer benefits to support caregivers. Frontline workers represent about 70% of the workforce with 90% of companies relying on these workers. 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. 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. 

The site serves as a resource for employers to better support employees who are caregivers, highlighting 35+ actionable strategies through an interactive solutions visualization. Packed with resources, firsthand stories, insights, and examples, the site empowers businesses and individuals to advocate for and implement impactful caregiving solutions. This launch reinforces the call to action for systemic change and collective responsibility in addressing the childcare crisis. Visit the Case for Childcare Collaborative’s site to publicly commit to implementing solutions and find downloadable resources to share 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. 

To learn more about the Case for Childcare Collaborative, click here

Strengthening Our Social Fabric: How Connection and Care Shape Public Health, a Fireside Chat with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

Posted on Sara Danver

NationSwell’s 2024 Summit concluded with a fireside chat with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and a sing-along. Bestselling author and television and podcast host Kelly Corrigan hosted an incredible conversation with Dr. Murthy that covered the urgent loneliness epidemic facing our country and solutions big and small that help us build community with each other. And don’t worry, we’ll explain the singing. 

Dr. Murthy started out by providing important context for the root causes and impact of the loneliness epidemic, which impacts half of all young people and a third of adults in the United States. The consequences of social isolation can be serious – people who are socially isolated face an increased risk of heart disease, dementia, and stroke. And while there is no single root cause, Dr. Murthy pointed to several societal, cultural, and technological shifts that have contributed.

Here are some of the critical insights Dr. Murthy provided into varying intervention strategies: 

Federal policy has not met the urgency of the moment. 

For Dr. Murthy, Congress has let the proliferation of these harms go on far too long. While Congress is sitting on some legislation, we have yet to see any major bills pass beyond the state level. 

Studies have shown that while social media can help young people make connections with each other across shared interests and identities, it can also encourage feelings of exclusion, as well as several other significant mental health challenges. By capturing our attention, and by creating and reinforcing virtual connections, social media can often take the place of in-person community, leading to further social isolation. 

“We can applaud the progress that’s been made but the truth is at the end of the day that if you’re a parent trying to manage social media for your child, if you’re a young person being mercilessly bullied over social media or being exposed to really harmful content or having your privacy completely eviscerated and then being blackmailed online, all that progress isn’t meaningful.” 

Dr. Murthy went on to add, “If there’s ever a time to take a stand, to do things differently, it would be on issues like this when our kids’ health and wellbeing is at stake.”

Communities are coming together to address the loneliness epidemic. 

When it comes to addressing loneliness at the community level, Dr. Murthy was much more hopeful. 

When asked if he saw a role for business in stemming the loneliness epidemic, he said that there’s a lot that corporations and nonprofit organizations can do. “Having spaces where people can gather is important. Not just spaces, but a structure that can help people to get to know each other and their stories.” Dr. Murthy shared a few examples from his own office, including an activity called Inside Scoop, where at each all-hands meeting, one person gets to share pictures from their life outside work. 

“If this sounds familiar, it was called Show & Tell,” Dr. Murthy said, to warm laughter. “There’s a lot of kindergarten wisdom that still applies now – nap time, show & tell, sharing.” 

It’s no surprise then, that while the loneliness epidemic is affecting young people the most, they are also coming up with some of the most innovative solutions. Dr. Murthy described “hope squads,” where kids are chosen by their peers to watch and respectfully and responsibly reach out to other kids who are struggling. This was only one of many programs Dr. Murthy identified where kids and adults are creating community and supporting one another.  

“People aren’t waiting for an act of Congress to solve the issue of loneliness in America. They are figuring out what they can do in their communities,” he said. 

Intentionality is the watchword of technology’s role in building community. 

Kelly Corrigan asked the question that is top of mind for everyone as we consider how technology can improve our lives: is there a role for AI? 

“With AI we have an opportunity to think about how we can bring accurate helpful information to people in a tailored way to help them with things like their health, to be a bridge to offline, in-person connection,” Dr. Murthy said. But he was also quick to point out that we need to approach AI with intentionality, rather than view it as an unqualified good. Much like social media it can quickly become damaging if we are not vigilant about identifying harms and benefits, and then designing to those benefits. 

He went on to emphasize that this can’t be left in the hands of individuals. Social media provides another prime example here. The best product developers in the world are using some of the most advanced neuroscience to try to keep us on our phones. To put individuals up against these platforms is an unfair fight. “We can work for [tech],” Dr. Murthy said. “Or it can work for us.” Pushing back against tech special interests, ensuring that our tech works for us, must be a community effort. 

And now, to explain the singing:  

To conclude, Dr. Murthy reminded us that we are called in this moment to figure out how to rebuild a culture that values relationships, purpose, and service – in our own lives, and in what we model for our children – by building workplaces and schools centered on these values, and applying them at the policy level. 

But community is not just about policy and social science. 

“The arts have a really powerful role to play in stitching back together the social fabric of our country,” Dr. Murthy added. “Music and the arts are the language of the soul, the glue that keeps people together.” 

So it stands to reason, then, that the only way to conclude the chat, and thus the Summit, was all of us joining together in song and a reminder that we are stronger together, and that the world we want to see is ours for the building. 

For more moments from NationSwell Summit 2024, click here.

Augment and Evolve: Empowering Workers in an AI Driven World

Posted on Sara Danver

At a moment of unprecedented technological evolution, we stand at the crossroads of digital transformation and human potential. NationSwell Summits’ thought-provoking panel, “Augment and Evolve: Empowering Workers in an AI-Driven World” — presented by Omidyar Network — explored just this. Featuring an all-women lineup, moderated by Michele Jawando, Omidyar Network, joined by Nicole Johnson, Cadence Design Systems, Molly Kinder, The Brookings Institution, Carri Twigg, Culture House Media, and Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative, the panel illuminated a critical pathway forward: focusing not just on how AI will shape the future, but how we in turn can shape the future of AI. 

As moderator and Senior Vice-President at the Omidyar Network, Michele Jawando pointed out, AI has dominated the public conversation since Chat GPT first launched, but that conversation has been baked in fear as much as possibility. The panel situated their conversation at the intersection between the two as they discussed who will be most impacted by this new technology and how we can ensure that we all have a voice in shaping its advancement. 

Here are some key takeaways from the discussion: 

Workers must play a role in the development and implementation of AI technology and policy.

Jawando first turned to Molly Kinder, David M. Rubenstein Fellow at The Brookings Institution, to lay the groundwork for the conversation with her research into the impact of AI on workers. 

“The reason this is capturing our anxiety and our imagination,” she said, “is that generative AI is upending a lot of experts’ advice about how to stay ahead of technology.” She went on to elaborate that in the past, that advice focused on developing expertise, creativity, and empathy. But AI is advancing so quickly that its ability to mimic those qualities is putting white collar workers and creative industries on the frontline of technological disruption. 

U.S. Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai also noted that we have seen disruption like this before, particularly in trade. We are still reaping the consequences of the development of globalization and free trade, which left workers behind as it reshaped the economy. 

“Trade and technology actually have very similar impacts on the economy and on the workforce,” she stated. “They both have displacing effects, and they both go to this capitalistic pursuit of efficiency and cost minimization.” 

But both Kinder and Tai reminded us that who gets to participate in conversations around AI is critical in ensuring that AI can be a force for good. And the NationSwell audience is uniquely suited to that goal. “You are the people who are focused on figuring out how that power is used, and how that power can be used for good,” Tai said, addressing the room. 

“A lever that this room in particular can be so impactful on,” Kinder said, “is at the workplace, and as employers… making sure that employees and workers have a real seat at the table.”

Women are on the frontline of AI as a disruptive technology. 

Kinder highlighted that her research also shows that women are more exposed to the impacts of generative AI, for two reasons. First, because the jobs most likely to face automation by this technology are predominantly held by women – clerical and customer service work, as well as positions like bank tellers and paralegals. And second, because women are underusing this technology compared to men. 

But fellow panelist Nicole Johnson, Global Director of Social Impact at Cadence Design Systems, is on the case. Johnson shared that at Cadence Design Systems, they’ve seen a 50% increase in women in technical positions over the last ten years and they are taking that playbook into the world with the launch of Fem.AI and a $20 million commitment to close the gender gap in AI. 

“We looked at this AI development, this AI economy, the AI revolution that’s happening and we looked at it as an opportunity space. How can we ensure that unlike the development of the internet that happened 30 plus years ago there’s intentionality about the workforce that is behind this technology?” she said. 

As creative industries face challenging shifts in technology and the attention economy, how can we protect art’s breadth as well as its depth? 

“[Artists] have the most to gain, and we have the most to lose,” said Carrie Twigg, Co-founder and Head of Development for Culture House media. “But that’s also true for audiences, and people who consume art.” 

Creatives, particularly in media, face significant pressure. Not only does AI already have a foothold in how we edit movies and TV, but consumers frequently split their attention between several screens at once. As Twigg noted, we’re always half looking at our phones, and that creates a downward pressure on creatives to make content that doesn’t require as much of our attention or discernment. And she added that while there has always and will always be high art, it’s that middle class of media, the shows that everyone watches but that don’t usually win awards that are most vulnerable. 

“That medium tier where people really spend their time has this awesome power to shape who we are and who we become and that is the most threatened by the AI landscape…and what we’re really going to miss if we don’t build in protections for it. It may not make immediate obvious economic sense but we have to think about it in a longer term way.” 

The panel provided critical insight on the challenges AI presents, and the importance of intentionality throughout the process of developing technology and integrating AI into our lives – not just in how we use it, but in who is in the room, and what we should preserve from AI’s influence. But how the panel channeled the theme of Hope in Action can best be summed up by Michele Jawando’s last words. She got into tech policy because of Star Trek and left us with the image of Captain Picard using technology to boldly go where no man has gone before to save civilizations all over the galaxy.

“Humans first, technology second,” she said. “Let’s do it together.”

For more moments from NationSwell Summit 2024, click here. 

Creating Opportunity: Building Equitable Communities for the Future, a Fireside Chat with Julián Castro

Posted on Sara Danver

On November 21, 2024, the NationSwell Summit opened with a riveting and in-depth fireside chat between the current CEO of the Latino Community Foundation and former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, and NationSwell CEO, Greg Behrman. Although the uncertainty of our current political moment was at the forefront of both the conversation and our minds, so too was this year’s theme, Hope in Action. 

Castro started by providing his perspective on this year’s election results and how we understand them within the context of our work. He noted that across the country, Americans continue to feel the impact of high prices and anxiety about the future, making economic opportunity a critical focus in the coming years. And while there have been questions and even unwarranted derision about the rightward swing of the Latino vote Castro was quick to deconstruct the stereotypes and false narratives around a monolithic Latino experience. No one issue, experience, or campaign addresses that complexity. 

Pushing back on these oversimplified and harmful narratives is even more important in the face of the incoming administration’s proposed mass deportations. Castro pointed to the role of all of us in pushing back against this policy by supporting organizations doing vital legal work in immigration services and civil rights, and by using our voices and influence to demand resistance at the city, state, and federal level. 

“We’ve seen part of this before a few years ago,” Castro said. “And so just as the new administration has experience accomplishing whatever it wants to accomplish, there’s also a lot of experience in trying to make sure that we continue to be a nation that lives up to its best values. So, that makes me optimistic for what’s possible.”

Castro is no stranger to that endeavor, and he comes by it honestly. In response to a question about a leadership-defining person or experience in his life, he went straight to his mother, Rosie. 

“My mom was a hellraiser, a Chicana activist, a civil rights activist,” he said, adding later that “She never pushed us to go into politics, but she gave us this sense that you should get educated and do well for yourself and then figure out how you’re going to do good for other people.” 

In fact, service in the Castro family is a multigenerational project. When asked about what 2024 Summit’s theme, Hope in Action, means to him, Castro spoke movingly about his kids. “Every time I think about their lives, and what they are going through, I think that it’s time for us to live up to our values,” he said, “the values of treating each other with dignity and respect and compassion and trying to find the places where people can work together and compromise.”

Julián Castro lives the values of hope in action, as evident in his lifetime of service, and that continues in his work with the Latino Community Foundation. LCF was first formed in 1989 as an affinity group of United Way of the Bay Area, and became an independent foundation in 2016 with the mission of building a movement of civically engaged philanthropic leaders, investing in Latino-led organizations, and increasing political participation of Latinos in California. And while philanthropy is quite a bit different from his work as a public servant (Castro noted with a laugh that he’d never heard the word ‘proximate’ as much as he had this last year), both feature the core themes that have guided his life so far – lifting up community, and doing good work that makes a difference in people’s lives. 

LCF’s projects and investments are wide ranging, but Castro highlighted with particular pride the work they do ensuring that workers at all levels can share in the success that they help create, and building capacity at nonprofits and other organizations whose leaders often have the ideas and the determination needed to enact them, but not the resources. 

“Less than 2% of big philanthropy dollars go to Latino led organizations,” he noted. By providing operations support and financial investment, LCF bolsters community-led initiatives improving the health and wellbeing of thousands of Latino families across California. 

In spite of the differences over the word proximate, however, Castro sees an opportunity space in the overlap between public service and private organizations like LCF. Recognizing that politics is often a fraught endeavor, Castro emphasized the untapped potential presented by public private partnerships. 

“I can count on one hand the number of times that anybody in philanthropy set up a meeting [when I was a councilman, and then mayor],” he noted, but his advice for the room was to be willing to have those conversations because there are a lot of good public servants out there with good ideas that could benefit from that connection with philanthropy. “We have this opportunity to make a lot of progress when you have stronger public private partnerships because from the philanthropy standpoint, there’s no way, even with all the philanthropic dollars, to make changes on housing or other issues. You need government.” 

Willingness to have the conversation was the running theme of Castro’s fireside chat. Whether in communities of practice that share information and resources, or amongst public servants and philanthropic leaders, parents and children, and Republicans and Democrats, it is conversation that leads to community, connection, and compromise. These are the values that we will need to build a future where we can all thrive. 

But that’s not all we’ll need. “This is going to be a time to be bold, to be in partnership, to be strategic, thoughtful, but to stand up,” Castro said, his last advice to the NationSwell audience. “It’s a time to stand up in [whatever] way you can.” 

For more moments from NationSwell Summit 2024, click here.

Hope in Action at NationSwell Summit 2024

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

On November 20 and 21, NationSwell convened changemakers, innovators, and thought leaders in New York City for our Summit 2024. This year’s theme was Hope in Action — a nod to both the radical optimism this moment requires and the intentionality needed to create a more equitable and prosperous world.

Throughout the event, we heard from some of the nation’s leading social impact, sustainability, and philanthropic leaders on the innovative solutions and game-changing partnerships they’re pioneering. Below are a few of the moments that left us feeling hopeful and inspired to be standing shoulder to shoulder with this community of changemakers for all the work still to come:

Fireside Chat with Julián Castro

“We have an opportunity in this moment to model what we want the world to look like and to do that as leaders in our own organizations; to recommit ourselves to that vision and to breathe more energy into the values that we want to prevail.” – Julián Castro, CEO of the Latino Community Foundation and former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Impact Spotlight by Maria Kim

“What I’ve learned through my work and my life over the years is that lived experience is not what you’ve done or what’s been done with you; it’s sometimes this catalyst that makes you most beautifully, gloriously, affirmatively who you are.  So in a way, my lived experience is more aptly described as my lived expertise.” – Maria Kim, President and CEO, REDF

“I know we can do this if we put our back into it. And if we do it, we end up shifting from a generational transfer of poverty to a generational transfer of joy.” – Maria Kim, President and CEO, REDF

NationSwell founder and CEO Greg Behrman

Impact Spotlight by Scott Pulsipher

“To me, Hope in Action is about changing one life for the better and doing that hundreds of thousands of times, if not millions of times.  And it’s incredible to actually imagine a different world in which we rethink education, we imagine how it can actually operate. Not just for the good of the few, but for the good of the many.” – Scott Pulsipher, President, Western Governors University

“The U.S. higher education system is, in fact, failing those that it was designed to serve.”  – Scott Pulsipher, President, Western Governors University

NationSwell’s Books of the Year panel, moderated by Alesha Washington and featuring Nicholas Kristof and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

NationSwell’s Books of the Year

“Hope is a muscle.” – Nicholas Kristof, Journalist, The New York Times

“Find the way to connect the dots to your work. I offer a simple diagram: what are you good at, what needs doing, and what brings you joy? The joy part is what keeps you going and will welcome other people into the work. Pick one and roll up your sleeves and see how far we can get.” – Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Co-founder, Urban Ocean Lab

Impact Spotlight by Vilas Dhar

“Leadership in this moment is no longer about just individual courage; it’s no longer about many conversations that happen across society, but a world where we make decisions together.” – Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

“We can be architects, we can build blueprints for tools and technologies in the future that incorporate our morals, our values, our norms, our beliefs, and the voices of the people around us.” – Vilas Dhar, President, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Impact Spotlight by Aly Richards

“[Affordable and accessible childcare] is a market failure – it is a broken business model. Early educators can’t afford to make less, parents can’t afford to pay more. The sooner we can understand that we need help from local, state, and federal, the sooner we can fix it.” – Aly Richards, CEO, Let’s Grow Kids

The Stonewall Chorale Chamber Choir

The Case for Care: The Business Imperative of Investing in Care

“In many ways, motherhood is the unfinished business of gender equality.” – Reshma Saujani, Founder and CEO, Moms First; Founder, Girls Who Code

“You can make a very strong business case for [child care], to do the right thing to help your people.” – Stephan Dolling, AVP, Global Benefits and Well-Being, Merck

“Let’s talk about the challenges more. Talk to me, or talk to your employers, about the caregiving challenges that we’re all experiencing.” – Lindsay Jurist-Rosner, Founder and CEO of Wellthy

The Lounge featured an interactive hopscotch with facts around childcare, a pamphlet with more information on the Collaborative, and signs highlighting childcare solutions
The Care Lounge, presented by the Case for Childcare Collaborative

Creative Forces for Social Change: The Power of Art in Action

“There’s a war on the storytelling of our authentic selves and truth and history.” – Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony- and Grammy Award-Winning Actress and Singer

“I put all my hope in art. For one, art never cared who was in power.”  – Rahsaan Thomas, Documentary Filmmaker, Podcaster, and Producer

“There’s a lot of misunderstandings going on in our country right now, so we need art more than ever to translate the truth.” – Rahsaan Thomas, Documentary Filmmaker, Podcaster, and Producer

“I think my greatest resource as an artist is my most authentic self.” –  Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony- and Grammy Award-Winning Actress and Singer

Impact Spotlight by Dr. Carmen Rojas and Tara Raghuveer

“Our country faces an unprecedented housing crisis. Not only are more than 3 million people homeless, housing insecure, or living in shelters, but rents have gone up more than 30% since 2020. This is in a context in which we have 16 million vacant homes in the United States. So this means that we have made a choice not to house our brothers and sisters, our cousins, people that we might fall in love with, slow dance with, sing karaoke with – it’s a decision that our political leaders have made.” – Dr. Carmen Rojas, President and CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation 

“The rent is the biggest bill in most working people’s budgets. When people need to cut back on living expenses, making cuts to housing is not an option – the alternative is homelessness. The rent is too damn high.” – Tara Raghuveer, Founding Director of Kansas City Tenants

“Derek is one of the tenants who will strike another month. He said, ‘My rent is my power. And I will use my power with my neighbors until we win what we’re owed.’” – Tara Raghuveer, Founding Director of Kansas City Tenants

Impact Spotlight by Jay Bailey

“You want to talk about innovation? Show me someone more innovative than a single mother with two kids making $17,000 a year. She problem-solves, she makes sure there are gifts under the Christmas tree – send her to business school and she’ll run circles around everybody.” – Jay Bailey, President and CEO, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE)

“Hope in action is black prosperity through ownership.” – Jay Bailey, President and CEO, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE)

The Augment and Involve panel, featuring Molly Kinder, Nicole Johnson, and Carri Twigg

Augment and Involve: Empowering Workers in an AI-driven World

“We look at the AI development and economy that’s happening as an opportunity space. How can we ensure – unlike the internet – that there’s intentionality to the workforce that’s behind this technology?” – Nicole Johnson, Global Director of Social Impact & Inclusion, Cadence Design Systems

“Tech is all of us – each of us has the ability to engage and change for the tech future we want.” – Michele Jawando, Senior Vice President, Omidyar Network

“The human spirit is indomitable, and art is a fundamental part of that. We will figure out how to fulfill the promise of increasing representation, increasing stories using AI, and we will see more people fight for the art that gives their lives texture.” – Carri Twigg, Founding Partner, Culture House Media

“What gives me hope is that when workers are at the heart of our design of this technology and the decisions around deployment, this is not only good for society and workers, but there’s a lot of evidence that it’s good for employers, too. Workers are assets. They’re experts. They often know their space the best. AI is not something that’s top-down.” – Molly Kinder, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, The Brookings Institution

“Just as we celebrate innovation and we’re awed by it, it creates opportunities for creation and destruction. We need innovation in our policies, badly – we’re at an intersection of technology where it impacts workers, and there’s a role for the government in all of this.” – Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative

Impact Spotlight by Dreama Gentry

“The hope I’m holding – the hope that I’d ask you to join me in – is hope that this great nation can be a place where all of our children and young people are supported and have a choice-filled life.” – Dreama Gentry, President and CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

“We know what will create upward mobility from cradle to career – we just need to invest in that, and we can’t do this work alone.” – Dreama Gentry, President and CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

A fireside chat with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

Impact Spotlight with Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

“When your friend is in a crisis, showing up doesn’t mean coming up with a ten-point plan to solve all problems. The truth is, people derive tremendous comfort from knowing that they’re not alone.” – Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

The NationSwell Council on influencing social and economic mobility in America

Posted on by Brianna Provenzano

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:

  1. Mentorship is vital to economic and social mobility
  2. We’ve created a narrative of a post-secondary path that is not the reality for most
  3. Policy and legislation are key for advancing mobility
  4. AI will change how society calibrates social mobility
  5. Is social mobility a proxy for proximity to whiteness?
  6. How much coercion are we willing to assert to increase social capital?
  7. Psychological barriers to success can be overcome by strategies that address the mental models of family and community 
  8. Is scale the enemy of impact?
  9. To be truly inclusive, DEI initiatives must include the ex-offender population 
  10. 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:

  1. 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. 
  2. 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?)

Brian Lovins, President, Justice System Partners

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.

Kanene Holder, Manager, Create Labs Ventures

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.

Susan Mason, Founder, Susan Mason Consulting

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.

Errika Moore, Executive Director, STEM Funders Network

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. 

Resources shared: