Learning Exchanges. We’ll be increasing the frequency and depth of these exchanges which are paramount in vitalizing our interpersonal relationships and surging the direction of our work alongside current or prospective partners. The absolute highlight of our 2022 staff retreat in Puerto Rico was an exchange with the feminist nonprofit organization Taller Salud. Located in Loiza (roughly 30 minutes from San Juan), a town settled by formerly enslaved Blacks in the 16th century and now the present-day Black epicenter of the island, Taller Salud enhances women’s health care access, promotes community violence reduction, and fosters economic development through education, organizing, and advocacy. In our time together at the Loiza Community Center and at Rancho Amor Mio, where community violence interrupters led us in horseback riding, and we drank from coconuts, we bonded over our shared missions promoting well-being and safety through community-centered dialogue.

Expanding our Certificate Training Series. We intend this successful new initiative to increase the accessibility and availability of our Structural Well-Being approach. To date, participants have come from throughout the US, including Baltimore (MD), Austin (TX), Washington, DC, Asheville (NC), Santa Cruz (CA), Boston, and Albuquerque (NM).

Navigating through political shifts. We expect that the upcoming national elections will influence the field of racial justice and system transformation, as well as philanthropy’s major role in seeding, supporting, and increasing mainstream interest in this sector through their vast networks of influence and social capital. Long-standing race-based political strategies intended to foment tensions, divide citizens, and mobilize party membership have silenced many philanthropic partners. Consequently, philanthropic institutions increasingly adopt a “bipartisan” approach to advance policy priorities and charitable giving—shifting away from an explicit focus on racial equity—to appear neutral, avert potential political pitfalls, and maintain their “big tent” approach. This often involves avoiding any explicit language used in political rhetoric regarding race, racial justice, and references to power-shifting/sharing and community organizing.

As a racial justice organization that receives and relies upon philanthropic giving, we know that this silence is harmful and hurtful. While we recognize the need to develop and maintain partnerships across the political party spectrum, we believe those relationships must always be anchored in the well-being of all people, while shaping a more honest and accurate discussion of the very issues these partnerships must consider to achieve universal well-being. We know to expect upheaval, partisanship, and change, and will remain vigilant in our commitment to centering people’s well-being. This is what steadies us.