Made for This Moment

By  Dr.Virginia Lacayo and Justin Foster

Social impact work in the United States has always been complicated. Now it’s dangerous.

The system isn’t just resisting change—it’s retaliating. The Trump administration has made it clear: if your work challenges dominant narratives around race, gender, equity, or justice, you are a target. Whether you’re a nonprofit executive, a social entrepreneur, a DEI consultant, or a liberation-focused educator, you’re no longer just a changemaker. You’re being positioned as an enemy of the state.

This is a threshold moment.

And here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud: most of our models were built for calmer conditions. They depend on some level of cooperation from the system we’re trying to change. That stability is gone.

So now what?

How do you keep doing your work when the ground itself is unstable? How do you lead when the very act of showing up is an act of resistance?

This is the invitation:

Stop trying to fix the system.

Start learning how to navigate collapse while building something else.

Stability is Not Coming Back. Build for Emergence.

Most social impact leaders were trained inside a predictable logic: plan, fund, implement, evaluate. That logic assumes a degree of institutional trust, linear progress, and rational actors.

None of that applies now.

This is not a temporary disruption. It’s systemic disintegration. That means you’re not managing change—you’re living inside a complex adaptive system that’s being reshaped in real time. Your job is no longer to improve the system. Your job is to steward life through the chaos and help prototype what comes next.

This requires shifting from control to curiosity. From permanence to adaptability. From logic to pattern recognition.

It’s not about having a 5-year plan. It’s about knowing how to sense what the moment requires and respond with integrity.

Redefine Impact: From Outcomes to Orientation

When the system is unstable, metrics become unreliable. What counted as “impact” last year may not even be relevant now.

That’s not failure. That’s a signal to evolve.

In complexity, success isn’t defined by outcomes—it’s defined by orientation. Are you staying aligned with your values? Are you creating the conditions for justice, even when results are ambiguous or slow?

Stop chasing proof. Start cultivating presence.
Stop trying to scale. Start learning to adapt in context.

Let your work be a living system—not a performance.

Like It or Not, Everything is Political.

Many leaders in the business world have tried to stay “nonpartisan” as a way to remain accessible or fundable. But in this climate, neutrality is a privilege the oppressed don’t have. And as much as you may want it, you don’t have it either.

The Trump administration has reframed human rights work as extremism. If your work affirms the dignity of trans youth, or calls out structural racism, or questions corporate feudalism—you’ve already been marked. The tendency is to hunker down and try not to be noticed.

But the people you are most wanting to support are watching you more than ever. They need to know that you will stand with them. No matter what. 

So stop trying to play small enough to avoid conflict. At this point, it is too late to avoid conflict. But you can choose HOW you want to be in conflict.

Start preparing to lead from the margins.

This doesn’t mean becoming reckless. It means becoming clear.

What values will you not compromise?
What truths will you name, even when it costs you?

This clarity is your shield. And your compass.

Your Organization is an Organism, Not a Machine.

Too many orgs are still operating like machines: rigid hierarchies, standardized outputs, top-down decisions. But you’re not a factory. You’re a living system. And living systems don’t survive collapse by becoming more efficient. They survive by becoming more alive.

Now is the time to treat your organization like an adaptive organism. That means:

• Flattening your structures.
• Sharing decision-making.
• Investing in emotional and relational intelligence.
• Letting go of legacy programs that no longer serve the moment.

Resilience doesn’t mean bouncing back. It means becoming different.

Branding Is a Spiritual and Strategic Act

In a destabilized society, people look for signals. They want to know who they can trust, what you really stand for, and whether your voice carries weight beyond slogans.

This is where branding becomes sacred.

Branding is not your logo, your fonts, or your messaging guide. It’s your energetic signature. It’s the public-facing manifestation of your inner clarity.

In a collapsing system, your brand is your resistance story.

When you speak clearly—without apology—about what you believe, who you serve, and what you are not here for, you become legible to the people who need you most. You attract aligned collaborators. You repel extractive partnerships. You create identity at a time when identity is being weaponized.

Ask yourself:

• Does your brand create safety for the people you claim to serve?
• Does it reflect the depth of your commitment—or just your marketing budget?
• Can your brand hold tension, complexity, and contradiction—or is it flattening your truth for palatability?

The brands that will endure this era aren’t the polished ones. They’re the ones rooted in soul, honesty, and unapologetic values. Your brand should feel like home to your people—and a signal fire to others building toward liberation.

Innovation Isn’t Optional. It’s Ethical.

If your model still depends on philanthropic gatekeepers who demand “neutrality” while the world burns, it’s time to reimagine your model.

We’re being called to innovate not as a growth strategy—but as a survival ethic. Innovation, in this context, is a way to remain useful to life. That might mean:

• Moving from grants to community-owned capital.
• From deliverables to distributed learning.
• From formal credentials to embodied wisdom.

Don’t cling to the system that’s collapsing. It’s not your job to save it. Your job is to ensure life continues—in forms that are more just, more liberated, and more interdependent than before.

Final Word: The Real Work Has Just Begun

If this moment feels disorienting, it’s because your nervous system is still expecting stability. Let it go. The era of predictability is over. But the work is not.

This is a moment for clarity. For commitment. For creative disruption.

Not because it’s exciting.
Because it’s necessary.

You’re not here to stabilize the old world.
You’re here to give shape to the new one.

You are not alone. If you would like support in navigating - and even leveraging - this moment, let’s talk. 

This moment is why Massive was made. This moment is what we are built for. Learn more here.