In September 2023, I penned a series of memos to stakeholders that described what I was noticing in the national ecosystem. Specifically, I elevated signals within policy and governance position statements, national policy platforms, program structures, and political ecosystems that had the potential to radically shift federal, state, and local governance and public systems in the years to come.
As we’re witnessing, those signals are no longer subtle.
We’re not just seeing isolated shifts in policy, personnel, or resources. What’s unfolding around us is a whole-of-system redesign of governance and public systems. The impacts are being felt across communities, among our neighbors, within institutions and organizations, and political structures.
Every system produces the outcomes it was designed to create.
The question at this moment is: How can we design for resilience and a just future?
Designing for What’s Now and What’s Next
While visiting the Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam this year, I found myself mentally mapping the aligned strategies described in each exhibit. It was a powerful reminder: systems are not static, and building for resilience and the future is not random.
The moment demands intentional, networked, and whole system action rooted in shared values.
That’s the kind of work happening now — with growing momentum.
Amid uncertainty, fear, and fragility, we’re seeing our partners step into action: not just reacting, but designing for the future with the present in mind.
Key Patterns Emerging Across Partners and Ecosystems
Across many of our stakeholders and partners, patterns are emerging across ecosystems working to support public system and partner resilience, future proofing, and future casting. In collaboration with our teams, they are realigning systems, reimagining institutions, building trust across partners, and seeding resilience and power from the ground up.
Here’s a glimpse of what we’re tracking:
- Network Building: Cross-sector coordination and intra-group alignment among service providers, advocates, grassroots organizers, employers, researchers, public officials, and more — working to meet rising human, fiscal, and administrative needs while sowing seeds for a future rooted in solidarity and shared values, vision, and goals.
- Systems Change Mindset: A shift from one-off fixes to structural transformation, grounded in equity, root-cause analysis, and long-term resilience.
- Data-Driven Collaboration: Investing in local data infrastructure, person-level data, real-time tracking, and feedback loops — enabling grounded and reliable points of view, alignment, and action.
- Proactive Power-Building: Seeding the strategies, structures, and stories that will shape what comes next — rooted in workers, residents, participants, families, and voters.
- Strategic Alignment: Harnessing the power of inter-organizational and institutional alignment to adapt to the present and fuel the future.
The Choice Ahead
This moment demands scale and solidarity. The path forward won’t be enabled by a focus on isolated solutions, shiny initiatives, one-off campaigns, or zero-sum gamesmanship. It will be built through network alignment, possibility modeling, envisioning whole-of-system solutions and strategy, and sustained investment.
It’s time to build what’s next.