Something seismic happened on January 7, 2026 — something that extended far beyond Minneapolis. When Renee Nicole Good , a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and mother of three, was fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in broad daylight, the nation watched. Video circulated. Outrage swelled. And yet, the federal government chose not  to pursue a civil rights investigation into her killing, even as local leaders who spoke out were themselves investigated. Bu

There is an unspoken rule in leadership spaces — especially in the nonprofit industrial complex — that women of color learn quickly, often painfully: We must be exceptional  to be allowed in the room. And we must be grateful  for being there at all. Not confident. Not entitled. Not self-assured. Grateful. This expectation is so normalized that it often goes unnamed. But once you see it, you can’t unsee it. It shows up in hiring. In compensation. In board relationships. In phi

There is a particular kind of scrutiny that women of color in leadership know intimately. It is not curiosity. It is not concern. And it is certainly not accountability. It is surveillance . I’ve been sitting with the reality that screenshots of my salary at the Equity in Education Coalition (EEC) — alongside screenshots pulled from my personal Facebook and Instagram showing the material things I buy myself — were circulated and weaponized as “evidence.” Evidence of what,

As the year winds down and the language of the season kicks in — gratitude, joy, celebration, reflection  — I want to say something that feels both honest and necessary: I am grateful this year is ending. Not because it didn’t matter. Not because it didn’t teach me anything. But because it asked a lot — and I gave it everything I had. This was a year of reckoning. A year of loss and clarity. A year where systems showed their true colors, where leadership was tested, and where

There’s a special kind of cognitive dissonance that happens when elected leaders travel the state giving soaring speeches about equity, opportunity, and justice — while simultaneously sharpening their budget-cutting scissors behind closed doors. It would almost be funny if the consequences weren’t so devastating. Almost. Because here’s the truth: You cannot cut your way to equity. You cannot “fiscally discipline” your way to justice. You cannot tell communities, “We belie

There is a particular kind of grief — and a particular kind of rage — that comes from being harmed by the very systems that claim to protect the public good. It’s disorienting. It’s humiliating. And it’s profoundly lonely. Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the Equity in Education Coalition (EEC) and the painful reality that our organization, and 39 partners across Washington, were harmed by a public agency’s decisions — not by our own mismanagement, not by our own incompetence,

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of gratitude — a moment to pause, breathe, gather, and give thanks. But some years, gratitude doesn’t come easily. Some years, the losses and the lessons weigh as heavily as the blessings. Some years stretch us so thin that “thankful” feels like a word that belongs to other people, living other lives. This year was one of those years for me. It was a year of endings I didn’t choose and transitions I didn’t want. A year where doing the ri

Michelle Obama’s famous words — “When they go low, we go high”  — were meant to inspire moral strength in the face of cruelty. Dignity in the face of degradation. Grace when others chose pettiness or hate. But over the years, that phrase has been co-opted. Watered down. Used as a tool of respectability politics. Too often, it’s invoked not to encourage integrity, but to demand quiet. Especially by white progressives who have little to lose in this fight, “go high” has been w

Tomorrow, millions of families may lose access to SNAP and WIC benefits because of the government shutdown. For some, these programs are statistics. For others, they are survival. And yet, much of what I see online right now are nostalgic posts — people sharing how they “once” used WIC or SNAP, how it “helped them when they were a kid.” These stories are heartfelt, but they risk turning a systemic failure into poverty nostalgia . Gratitude narratives can unintentionally obscu

There's a mayoral race in Seattle this year. I'm just watching it because it's a fascinating distraction from the dumpster fire that is the decline of Democracy in the United States. Anyway, the current mayor is quoted as saying: " This is not the time for hope. Passion and great ideas and inexperience is just not going to get us there. Trump will walk all over a person without experience, period." And I get what he is saying -- mainly because he wants to be re-elected. A

Over the past week, the nonprofit world has been buzzing about GoFundMe’s revelation that it created more than a million nonprofit fundraising pages without permission. And sure — the outrage is justified. GoFundMe took liberties it shouldn’t have. It profited off the trust and labor of a sector already stretched to the breaking point. But while many are using this moment to lecture nonprofits about “fixing their follow-up” or “rebuilding donor relationships,” we need to stop

Lessons from My Time at the EEC I never wanted to be "in leadership". While from the outside it looked amazing to be the one to call the shots, have people do the work, and meet with V.I.P.'s, it also looked lonely as hell. In 2012, there weren't many people in my circle "doing equity work" that could mentor me or even warn me about what I was going to stumble into. Equity leadership is hard. Really hard. And it can be lonely. I learned this deeply during my time leading

In the world of nonprofits, crises can strike at any moment. Whether it is a financial shortfall, a public relations disaster, or a...

In the world of nonprofit organizations, challenges are a part of daily life. From funding shortages to staffing issues, the hurdles can...

In the world of nonprofits, leadership is not just about making decisions. It is about inspiring others, fostering collaboration, and...