This article was written by MCN President & CEO Nonoko Sato and originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of Nonprofit News: Protecting Your Mission. Read the full issue.
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Democracy is in peril. Public trust in institutions is waning. Market uncertainty is affecting charitable giving. The demands for services and costs of running nonprofits are increasing. Our personal rights are being attacked.
We have never experienced anything like this before!
…says we, so accustomed to privilege.
This moment is tough, there’s no doubt about it. The rapid pace of executive orders, federal funding freezes,
shrinking government agencies and workforce, confusion around compliance, and threats to our very existence as tax-exempt entities are all happening at once — just as many nonprofits are seeing increased demand for services and bracing for potential cuts to safety net programs.
However, many of the “unprecedented” challenges we face today have long been realities for others
— especially people who have been historically marginalized.
It’s not new for nonprofits to be asked to do more with less. It’s not new for social safety programs to be defunded. It’s not new for philanthropy to panic when the market dips. And it’s not new for our supposedly fundamental rights to be stripped, challenged, or taken away entirely.
It only feels new to people who haven’t faced this kind of adversity before. And that, my friends, is where we must check our privilege.
I’m not immune to this criticism. I’ve been humbled by the wisdom, resilience, and strength of people who have endured generational cycles of systemic oppression.
Here are some historical and life lessons that have been generously shared with me — lessons I’ve personally found helpful and hope you will too:
- Use storytelling and art to learn from our past, preserve history and culture, document this moment
in time, and demonstrate acts of resistance. - Embrace community, especially when systems fail us. Turn to one another for mutual aid, build power, and create our own solutions.
- Don’t be complacent, especially in victory. Grassroots efforts must continue to ensure policies, reforms, and solutions are enforced — and to serve as stepping stones toward further progress.
- Recognize patterns. If something feels familiar, we’ve likely faced it before. Oppression and resistance often occur cyclically across generations.
- Explore alternative solutions when what’s being offered doesn’t serve your community. Creative thinking gave rise to cooperative business models, nonprofit media, and community land trusts.
- Build coalitions and solidarity. These are critical for movement work. The liberation of one group is tied to the liberation of all — we must move together toward a common goal.
- Honor wisdom of both our youth and our elders. We are building a world for future generations. History and lived experience offer lessons, but so too do the perspectives, idealism, and hope of young people.
- Accept and adapt to evolving social norms and technology. Every generation experiences this. You don’t have to love how Gen Z navigates the workforce or how AI permeates our lives — but it’s here, and it’s shaping our world.
- Feel — deeply. We are complex beings capable of experiencing many emotions at once. We can grieve our losses, be angry about what we cannot control, and still celebrate the joy and beauty that persist in the world.
Every moment is unique — and this one is no exception. But our community is strong. Like those who came before us, we too will get through this — together.
In community,
Nonoko Sato
MCN President & CEO