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By Deo MwanoOrganizations today are navigating a real and understandable tension: the desire to remain true to their mission while also protecting their long-term sustainability. In an increasingly charged social and political environment, this balance has become more difficult to maintain. Yet when organizations grow silent or overly cautious, the consequences are often felt most acutely by the communities they exist to serve.Over the past two decades in the United States, many organizations and communities have engaged in sustained efforts to address longstanding inequities. Groups that have historically experienced marginalization—across many dimensions—have received increased consideration in how their experiences are acknowledged and addressed. This shift has taken many forms: laws enacted to protect specific groups, resources distributed through nonprofits and grantmakers, and programs implemented by government agencies and community-based organizations. While these efforts have not been consistent or comprehensive, they represent a meaningful change in how institutions have attempted to account for diverse lived experiences.At the same time, individuals who did not see themselves reflected in these efforts often experienced frustration and exclusion. For years, these sentiments were largely expressed privately or within like-minded circles. Over time, however, political movements, media outlets, and social platforms amplified these differing perspectives. What were once quieter disagreements became increasingly visible and public.As social media accelerated engagement—often by rewarding conflict—differences hardened into division. Friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family members found themselves exposed to opposing viewpoints without the relational context needed to navigate disagreement productively. Rather than fostering understanding, many conversations shifted toward defending positions, citing selective data, or attempting to “win” debates. As polarization intensified, space for nuance, shared understanding, and thoughtful middle ground diminished.The erosion of shared understanding has had tangible consequences. Some of the principles and progress that guided American institutions over the past several decades—particularly efforts related to inclusion, dignity, equality, and equity—are now being questioned or rolled back. In this climate, many organizations have become hesitant to speak publicly about the missions they embraced in recent years, concerned about reputational risk, funding implications, or political scrutiny.As a result, organizations that serve marginalized communities often find themselves navigating uncertainty—wanting to stay aligned with their values while also ensuring organizational survival. This tension is real, and it is understandable. Yet silence or excessive caution can unintentionally deepen the very gaps these organizations were created to address.For leaders today, this moment raises difficult but necessary questions:How do you represent your mission responsibly in a polarized environment?How do you advocate without escalating conflict?How do you lead with integrity while managing real external constraints?It is important to recognize that the challenges faced by marginalized communities are not theoretical—they are lived realities shaped by ongoing harm and inequity. Leadership voices matter, especially in times of uncertainty. While not every organization can—or should—engage in public confrontation, leaders can still act with intention, clarity, and care.History reminds us that many leaders we now admire faced criticism, professional risk, and personal loss for standing by their convictions. While today’s context is different, the underlying challenge remains the same: balancing courage with strategy.For organizations whose missions center on supporting marginalized communities, the path forward requires planning—not silence. This includes developing thoughtful communication strategies, aligning internal values with external actions, and finding ways to demonstrate care and advocacy that are consistent with both mission and capacity.This season will pass for the better or for the worst. What will endure is how leaders chose to navigate it—how they supported those most affected, how they upheld their values, and how they guided their organizations through complexity with purpose and responsibility. The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.

By Deo MwanoCommunity resiliency in the face of challenges begins with a strong alignment between an organization’s mission and its daily work. When teams are grounded in why they exist, they are more capable of weathering uncertainty, adapting to change, and staying focused on the people they serve. For nonprofits and municipal organizations, this mission alignment—combined with resourcefulness, problem-solving skills, and the humility to ask for help—is the foundation of long-term strength.At DMC, we have witnessed firsthand how our partners across the nonprofit and municipal sectors overcome adversity by centering their mission. Their commitment to creating positive impact becomes the fuel that keeps them moving forward, even when the challenges feel overwhelming.A Resilient Mindset Must Come Before the ChallengeResiliency cannot begin at the moment the crisis arrives—it must be cultivated long before. When leaders anticipate that challenges will come and build mental and operational strategies in advance, their organizations are far more equipped to respond calmly and effectively.Building internal capacity is critical. This includes running scenario-based exercises, imagining different types of difficulties, and identifying potential pathways through them. Reflection is a powerful tool:What have you or your organization done in the past when similar situations occurred?If you’ve never faced a specific challenge, how can you mentally prepare for it?How will your leadership team show up—not just in action, but in mindset?Leaders should ask themselves: What do I need to remain grounded, calm, and strategic during difficult times? Resiliency is about staying hopeful, resourceful, and committed to finding solutions rather than allowing fear or scarcity thinking to take the lead.Even though scenario planning is hypothetical, fully stepping into the imagined situation—feeling the emotional response, noticing the instinctive reactions, and visualizing how you will remain grounded—builds resilience. Practicing discomfort prepares the mind and body to normalize future challenges and respond with clarity.Leadership Preparedness: Role-Playing the Hard MomentsLeaders must empower themselves and their teams to rehearse what challenging situations will look and feel like. Role-playing helps clarify responsibilities, strengthen communication, and, importantly, establish a shared mental and emotional approach.One of the most common gaps we see at DMC is that organizations make assumptions about how individuals or teams will respond during crises—but these assumptions are never discussed or demonstrated. When the challenge arrives, each person reverts to their personal coping style, which may not align with what the situation requires.This is why organizations benefit from clearly defining and demonstrating “How We Approach Difficult Situations.” Aligning on approach—not just tasks—gives teams confidence, trust, and a shared framework for action. This dramatically increases the likelihood of overcoming the challenge together.Resiliency Requires Multiple Pathways ForwardSome people give up when the challenge emerges. Others give up after Plan A fails. True resiliency is the commitment to keep going: to develop Plans B, C, D, and sometimes E and F. Every alternative approach is an opportunity to learn, adapt, and increase the chances of success.Resiliency is not about perfection—it is about perseverance, creativity, and mission-driven action. When organizations cultivate a proactive mindset, strengthen internal alignment, and prepare their teams mentally and strategically, they build the capacity not just to withstand challenges, but to grow through them. The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.

At DMC, in our work with nonprofits and grantmakers, we often see the trust and flexibility that funders extend to their long-time, legacy partners. This flexibility is built on trust, history, and repeated expectations—but it can also create leniency. Sometimes organizations are allowed to continue doing things the way they always have, even when the impact is no longer relevant, the outcomes are weak, or the funding is underutilized.These collaborations may still offer external visibility or carry weight from a branding or marketing standpoint. The association looks valuable, even when the real impact has diminished. This is why it’s critical for grantmaking organizations to analyze and reflect on these partnerships with honesty and rigor.Legacy partners are often the ones receiving the largest share of funding. Yet grantmakers must be able to measure the organization’s impact in relation to the funder’s mission. They need a barometer that evaluates whether the partner is still meeting community needs and fulfilling the purpose of the initiative, program, or study. This kind of honest evaluation reveals the truth.Once the results are clear, the grantmaker must decide whether to continue funding the partner at the same level or adjust expectations—giving the organization an opportunity to demonstrate whether it can meet those expectations moving forward. This is difficult work, but resources are limited, and they must be allocated where there is the greatest chance of achieving meaningful impact.The Role of TransparencyTransparent conversations are essential for navigating these decisions responsibly. In many of our engagements, we find that grantmakers have not been clear about their concerns. As a result, reducing or ending funding can feel abrupt or unfair to the nonprofit. Transparency begins with letting the data tell the story—then giving the organization a chance to respond, problem-solve, and either recommit to the work or acknowledge that community needs and effective methods have changed over time.Grantmakers have a significant opportunity to be intentional and transparent about what matters, what success looks like, and how expectations are evolving. Grantmakers must lead these shifts by providing clarity and guidelines while creating opportunities for partners to adapt.At DMC, we often advise our partners to engage directly with the populations most impacted by the issue being funded. This helps grantmakers develop a deeper understanding of what is happening on the ground. It is not a replacement for the nonprofit delivering the services—but rather a way to gain insight into the lived realities the funding aims to address.In our analyses, we sometimes see gaps between the impact data a nonprofit reports and what is actually happening in the community. This presents an important opportunity for all parties—grantmakers, nonprofits, and community members—to collaborate more effectively and strategically. Together, they can better address the issues communities are facing, improve nonprofit service delivery, and ensure funding is aligned with the greatest possible impact. The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.

Ten months ago, Deo Mwano Consultancy (DMC) partnered with RefugePoint to create a performance piece that would help tell the organization’s powerful story — their mission to reunite families and help refugees resettle safely around the world. RefugePoint, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, supports refugees across Africa and the Middle East. Trusting DMC’s creative vision, RefugePoint tasked the team with producing a piece that would amplify the emotional impact of their work on a global scale.DMC’s CEO, Deo Mwano, collaborated closely with RefugePoint’s CEO, Sasha, and his team to ensure the performance would deeply move the gala audience. Over the course of ten months, Deo experimented with different sounds, movements, and story structures to craft a piece that authentically captured a family’s journey — from being torn apart by conflict and atrocities to their desperate search for safety and reunion. His goal was to immerse the audience in the emotional reality of displacement, so they could truly feel the urgency and significance of RefugePoint’s mission: helping displaced families find safety, rebuild their lives, and reunite with loved ones.The Creative ProcessThroughout the creative process, Deo kept real stories of refugee families RefugePoint has helped at the forefront of his work. He cast a diverse ensemble of performers — a mother, three children, four soldiers, and one NGO worker representing RefugePoint.The story unfolds with the mother and her children playing outside when a militia group invades their village. As chaos erupts, the family becomes separated — the mother frantically searching for her daughters while the soldiers hunt them down. The lyrical choreography expresses the mother’s anguish, fear, and determination, allowing the audience to experience her emotional turmoil.Eventually, one of the daughters is captured, and the mother connects with the NGO worker, who pledges to help find her children. He ultimately reunites the mother with two of her daughters. When the mother realizes one child is still missing, she breaks down, pleading for help. The piece concludes with the mother standing center stage with her two daughters as the NGO searches for the last child — a haunting reminder of the countless families still separated today.Impact and ReflectionThe performance, titled “We Deserve to Live Too,” left a profound impact on the audience. Many attendees approached Deo and the cast afterward to share how deeply they were moved by the piece and how it renewed their commitment to refugee advocacy.RefugePoint’s 20th Anniversary Gala successfully raised $1.5 million, a testament to the generosity and passion of those who believe in the organization’s mission.Today, more than 100 million people worldwide are displaced, yet fewer than 5% will ever be resettled in countries like the U.S., Canada, or across Europe and Australia. The United States once resettled approximately 120,000 refugees per year, but that number has drastically declined to close to zero under recent policies. Refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable populations — people who have lost their homes, communities, and sovereignty in search of safety from war, persecution, famine, or disease.In our own communities, former refugees live and work among us. Some have found stability, while others continue to adapt to new lives. It is vital that we continue to support and advocate for refugees everywhere. Organizations like RefugePoint play a critical role in restoring hope and offering second chances — transforming lives and strengthening our shared humanity.Watch the behind-the-scenes journey of “We Deserve to Live Too,” the piece created for RefugePoint’s 20th Anniversary Gala.  The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.

By Deo MwanoNonprofits exist to address pressing community needs. Yet, too often, their strategies reflect a tension between two competing priorities: solving the problem at hand and preserving the organization’s sustainability. While stability is important, the incremental deployment of resources to ensure longevity frequently prevents nonprofits from making transformative change.Incremental Deployment vs. Maximum ImpactMany nonprofits deploy resources cautiously, spreading them thin to extend their operations. While this approach supports organizational survival, it rarely addresses problems at the depth or scale required. Incrementalism maintains the status quo—it allows an organization to exist, but it does not necessarily enable it to solve the issue that inspired its founding in the first place.Imagine if nonprofits reoriented their strategies to maximize impact by deploying more resources directly to the communities they serve—even if that meant serving fewer people at first, or even reducing their own lifespan as organizations. The question is worth asking: what would it look like if more nonprofits operated with the mindset of working themselves out of existence because the problem they set out to solve had been eliminated?The Case for Shifting PerspectiveSolving deeply rooted community challenges requires concentrated resources, focus, and a willingness to prioritize impact over preservation. When nonprofits approach their mission with the lens of maximum disruption—rather than incremental service—they create conditions for systemic change.Unfortunately, a review of many nonprofit financials tells a different story: a significant share of budgets is dedicated to administration and workforce management rather than direct service delivery. This imbalance limits an organization’s ability to drive lasting change. If more nonprofits could redirect resources toward frontline solutions, communities might see measurable shifts in long-standing issues.Why “Working Yourself Out of a Job” Should Be on the TableNot every nonprofit needs to operate with the goal of eventual closure. But more leaders should wrestle with the possibility. Some of our communities’ most entrenched problems—poverty, inequity, violence, health disparities—require the maximum deployment of resources right now to be meaningfully disrupted. Sustainability should not become a shield for under-resourcing the very problems nonprofits were created to solve.Nonprofits should be striving to:Allocate boldly. Direct more resources to high-impact interventions, even if it limits organizational longevity.Balance differently. Ensure that operational expenses do not outweigh investments in direct services.Reframe success. View “working yourself out of a job” as a marker of mission fulfillment, not failure.Closing ThoughtCommunities don’t need nonprofits to simply exist—they need them to solve problems. By shifting priorities from preservation to impact, nonprofit leaders can create real disruption, maximize resources, and bring communities closer to the outcomes they deserve. The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.

By Deo MwanoCommunity-Led Grantmaking: Shifting Power to the PeopleIn the grantmaking space, there has been growing momentum toward shifting decision-making power from funders to community groups. The idea is simple but powerful: community members often know the needs of their neighborhoods far better than funders do.This approach helps ensure that grantmakers don’t overlook causes, groups, or organizations that may not traditionally be on their radar. It also addresses unconscious biases that can arise when funders repeatedly invest in the same “legacy” organizations. By centering community voices, funders can align resources more closely with real, on-the-ground needs.At Deo Mwano Consultancy (DMC), we do not advocate for one model over another. Instead, we recognize the importance of reach, relationships, and impact. Over the years, we’ve partnered with many grantmakers to strengthen their ability to allocate resources fairly to address gaps and amplify impact in the communities they serve.A Case Study: Putting Community in the LeadRecently, DMC worked with two grantmakers on a project that illustrates how community-led grantmaking can work in practice. The grantmakers had set aside $100,000 to be distributed within a specific community. Rather than making those decisions internally, they asked us to study the feasibility of engaging community members directly.Our recommendation was to create a community advisory group composed of individuals who live, work, and serve in that community. The funders agreed, and with our support, we recruited a variety of members including school administrators, teachers, public health workers, firefighters, school board members, parents, and alumni.These individuals brought deep knowledge of community dynamics and were more than qualified to decide how funds should be allocated. They were supported by a coordinator from the grantmaking organization who helped manage logistics, deadlines, and questions, while ensuring the advisory group retained full decision-making autonomy.Over three months, the advisory group developed funding criteria, opened the application process, reviewed submissions, and made funding decisions. At the final meeting, members arrived prepared with evaluations of each applicant. Through discussion and thoughtful compromise, they reached consensus on how to distribute the $100,000 in one-time, unrestricted grants.As observers at the final decision-making meeting, we witnessed firsthand a process that was respectful, thorough, and deeply intentional. The group’s decisions addressed both the immediate priorities and the long-term needs of their community.Keys to SuccessThe success of this project stemmed from intentional preparation and thoughtful structure:Advisory Group Design: Selecting members who truly represented the community.Strong Coordination: Providing organizational support without interfering in decision-making.Clear Process: Establishing timelines, criteria, and tools for accountability.Respect for Autonomy: Allowing the community to lead while offering facilitation when needed.Compensation: Recognizing the group’s time and expertise with stipends or honoraria.When these conditions are met, community-led advisory groups can make grantmaking both effective and fairly. They bring fresh perspectives, build trust, and ensure resources directly address community priorities.Final ThoughtsCommunity-led grantmaking is not about replacing funders—it’s about collaboration, trust, and shifting power where it can do the most good. When grantmakers intentionally create space for community leadership, the result is greater legitimacy, stronger relationships, and more impactful outcomes.At DMC, we’ve seen how transformative this approach can be. With the right support and intentionality, community-led grantmaking works—and works well. The DMC Community Transformation Team brings over 25 years of combined experience, collaborating with nonprofits, cities and towns, grant makers, and other nonprofits to make a positive impact. DMC has successfully created programs and campaigns that bridge diverse communities, addressing root causes of problems and facilitating sustainable solutions.