Prioritizing collective resilience
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The chaos, deliberate cruelty, and potential harm facing our communities today are real. Each morning, we wake to new challenges, scrambling to respond, protect, and fortify against an onslaught of change. Once again, the nonprofit sector is being called upon to be courageous, to stand against tyranny, and to build solutions that mitigate damage and safeguard our people. I hear leaders ask, "Can I do this?" "Am I up to the task?" "How will I care for my staff?" I have spent my career in the nonprofit world, and I know we are a resilient and steadfast community. We do not back down. We stand together, lifting each other, holding the line, and forging the path forward.
In reflecting on resilience, I am drawn to the necessity of pairing it with rest and joy as acts of resistance. True resilience—the ability to adapt, recover, and thrive—requires more than sheer endurance. It demands that we rest our minds, bodies, and spirits and that we seek out joy as nourishment.
Resilience is not just about bouncing back; it is about evolving and reimagining the way forward. It calls for intentionally exploring what fosters endurance in individuals, organizations, and communities. Resilience is best cultivated through collective pathways, joy, and rest.
Collective Pathways
Resilience is built individually, but it is sustained collectively. Grace Lee Boggs said, "Building community is to the collective as spiritual practice is to the individual." The healing power of community is essential for the road ahead. Adrienne Maree Brown, in Emergent Strategy, reminds us that change is a constant and intentional adaptation is critical. How we grow, remain purposeful, and move into action together shapes both our quality of life and our collective impact. She offers powerful principles for this moment:
There is always enough time for the right work. Movements are complex and require faith.
The conversation in the room is unique to those present—find it and nurture it.
Trust the people. Every member of the collective holds a piece of the solution.
What we pay attention to grows. Transformative justice asks us to move towards healing and coexistence.
Cultivating Joy
In The Creative Alchemy Cycle, Sarah Greenman writes, "The quality of your hours is the quality of your days is the quality of all the time you have here. Breath, nourishment, belonging, and joy are not negotiable; they are your birthright." Justice without joy is incomplete. Healing without wholeness falls short. We are here for joyful adaptation, expanding resilience through creativity, and discovering what is possible as we meet the challenges ahead.
The Power of Rest
In Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey speaks of rest as a form of resistance to capitalism and white supremacy culture. She reminds us that we cannot disrupt grind culture alone; we need each other. Valarie Kaur echoes this, urging us to recognize our worth beyond sacrifice: "We need you alive. We need you to last." Audre Lorde reminds us that "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."
As nonprofits, government agencies, and philanthropic institutions—still reeling from a global pandemic—are called to be resilient and responsive, we must prioritize collective resilience. We cannot simply plug holes in the dam; we must build something stronger together. Let us stand firm, find joy, and embrace rest as a revolutionary act.
In solidarity,
Jenny Niklaus
