We Are All Activists Now

Civil Society Needs to Switch Gears...And Fast

For years, many of us working in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors have quietly believed in a certain kind of progress. We’ve honed our technocratic expertise, built robust data systems, refined elegant theories of change, and partnered with government agencies to deliver incremental social good. We’ve lived in the promise of rational policymaking and evidence-based solutions.

But that world is gone.

The actions taken by Donald Trump and his enablers have not just bent the guardrails of democracy—they’ve shattered them. We are living through a rapid shift toward autocracy, and the institutions many of us counted on to drive positive change are either compromised, dismantled, or rendered irrelevant. If you’re feeling disoriented, that’s because the ground has shifted beneath your feet.

The Collapse of the Technocracy

Consider the nonprofit sector's traditional toolbox: research reports, policy briefs, sophisticated data modeling, program evaluations. What happens when the data goes offline? When public agencies no longer want your evidence, because evidence itself is a threat? When USAID, once a bedrock of international development, is gutted beyond recognition, leaving partners and communities in the lurch?

In the face of autocracy, carefully laid strategic plans and five-year outcome metrics aren’t just insufficient—they’re rendered largely irrelevant. Well-crafted theories of change are being blown up in real time by executive orders, authoritarian posturing, and the active dismantling of democratic norms.

Back to Our Roots

For those of us who entered this work with a calling to build a more just world, this is not the time to manage decline or retreat into our nonprofit industrial complex ways. This is a moment to rediscover the fundamental power of collective action. Historically, the most significant social and political transformations have not emerged from nonprofit programs alone but from movements that demanded systemic change. The abolition of slavery, the labor movement, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, and LGBTQ+ rights all came about because people organized, took to the streets, and forced political institutions to respond. While nonprofits play a role in supporting social causes, real power comes from the people—mobilized, unified, and unwavering in their demand for justice. If we want to meet the perilous moment in which we find ourselves, we must embrace movement-building as the engine of progress, rather than relying solely on incremental policy shifts and programmatic interventions.

We have to go back to the roots of social change:

• Organizing, not just optimizing. We must refocus on bringing people together to build collective power. This means getting out into communities, listening deeply, creating shared agendas, and mobilizing people to take sustained action. Optimization is irrelevant if there’s no base of people ready to push for change.

• Building movements, not just managing programs. Programs deliver services; movements demand transformation. Now is the time to connect across sectors and issues, uniting our work under a common banner to resist authoritarianism and promote a vision of justice and equality.

• Speaking truth to power, not just submitting proposals. We can no longer rely on polite advocacy and carefully crafted white papers. We must confront power directly and publicly, calling out injustices and demanding accountability through every platform we have.

The skills we need now aren’t just about data analysis or logic models—they’re about mobilizing people, telling compelling stories, and holding the line against creeping authoritarianism.

A Call for a Sector-Wide Shift

Philanthropy cannot stay on the sidelines, treating this as just another funding cycle. Nonprofits cannot behave as though business as usual is possible. We need an abrupt, unapologetic shift toward protecting democracy itself.

This means funding and participating in:

• Grassroots organizing. This includes funding community-led initiatives, training local leaders, and providing sustained financial support to organizations that mobilize people on the ground. Resources should be directed toward expanding grassroots networks and ensuring long-term engagement rather than short-term projects.

• Movement lawyering. Legal defense funds, impact litigation strategies, and pro bono legal support should be scaled up to protect activists, challenge unconstitutional laws, and defend the rights of marginalized communities. Funding should also go toward training a new generation of movement lawyers who are prepared to take on cases that defend democracy.

• Civic education. This means supporting programs that counter disinformation, teach civic engagement, and equip communities with the tools to participate in democracy. Initiatives should focus on historically disenfranchised populations and include digital literacy components to combat online misinformation.

• Voter protection. This requires significant investment in election monitoring, legal challenges to voter suppression laws, and public education campaigns on voting rights. Funding should go toward grassroots organizations that assist with voter registration, provide transportation to polling places, and ensure that every vote is counted.

• Protest infrastructure. Movements require logistical support—funding should go to providing bail funds, legal aid, medical teams, technology tools, secure communication channels, and safe spaces for organizers. Protecting the right to protest is crucial in resisting autocracy.

• Digital security for activists. As authoritarianism rises, so does surveillance and repression. Investments should be made in encrypted communications, cybersecurity training, and tools that allow activists to organize safely. Funders must support digital rights organizations working to ensure activists can operate without fear of government retaliation.

In short: If the U.S. slides further into autocracy, virtually nothing else we do will matter.

There Is No Neutral

We’ve crossed the threshold where neutrality is complicity. Every nonprofit, every foundation, every leader in this space must grapple with this reality. Are we doing what this moment demands? Or are we clinging to what worked when democracy was relatively stable?

The terrain has shifted. The maps are outdated. But the work of building power, defending rights, and standing up for a multiracial, pluralistic democracy is as vital as ever.

It’s time to trade in our strategic plans for protest signs.
It’s time to move from boardrooms to the streets.
It’s time to become activists—every single one of us.

This post was developed in conjunction with Chat-GPT.