So what? Because the challenges facing civil society today—declining trust, weakening advocacy, and intensifying social fragmentation—require nonprofits, philanthropy, and community partners to move differently. The 2025 Independent Sector National Summit made one thing abundantly clear: building collective power depends on rebuilding trust, embracing advocacy, nurturing movement-building, and acting together with intention.
Last month, I attended the Independent Sector National Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, where the theme was Building Collective Power for Nonprofits and Philanthropy. From plenary sessions to skill workshops, one message rang clear: our sector must move differently in this moment. The Summit challenged us to look beyond simple calls to action and grapple with deeper tensions. We confronted hard truths about our sector’s current state, notably that public trust in the charitable sector—once a given—has declined, and nonprofit engagement in advocacy has waned over the past decade[1]. In fact, recent research shows trust in nonprofit organizations rebounded to just 57%, while trust in philanthropy lags around the low 30s[1]. More broadly, only about one-third of Americans today say they trust their neighbors[3], layering the broader loneliness epidemic affecting communities with over 60% of Americans feeling lonely in recent years[4]. These trends paint a stark picture of the current state of civil society [civic health]. How do we turn the tide? For me, the Summit’s answer was about trust, movement, advocacy, and collective action—and it starts with community listening practices.
Rebuilding Trust through Listening
A recurring theme was the vital importance of trust—within communities, across organizations, and between the sector and the public. Many speakers noted that change moves at the speed of trust. In fact, one reminded us that we might even strive to move at the speed of love, as author Adrienne Maree Brown suggests[5], underscoring that social change is fundamentally about relationships and care. To rebuild trust, we must first listen deeply [equitable community engagement]. Several community leaders shared how listening to diverse voices—especially those we don’t always agree with—can begin to mend ruptures in trust. Several presenters challenged us to build the “muscle” to bridge divides: talk to people we don’t always agree with, and resist the urge to use values as a weapon to “other” those outside our bubble. Naming that we can’t build collective power if we’re only collaborating with those who think and look like us.
Re-centering on a shared north star—a unifying vision of a fair and just society—helps diverse groups align without requiring uniformity. Movement-building may be organic, but it benefits from a common purpose that each person, organization, and community can rally around in their own way. The Summit underscored that nonprofits are most effective as trusted voices when they build authentic partnerships in community. It’s clear that without trust—in each other and in our institutions—any collective action will stall. If we want movements that move, we must invest time in relationship-building, meeting communities where they are, and following through on our commitments. Trust isn’t a given; it’s earned through consistent, relevant, responsive action to community needs.
Movement Building as an Ecosystem
Change. Movement. Collective action echoed throughout the Summit, emphasizing that real progress requires groups working together to challenge inequities built into our systems. A key insight was to view movements with an ecosystem lens. Social change isn’t a single organization’s task—it’s a constellation of individuals, nonprofits, funders, and communities aligning toward a shared north star. One speaker used a powerful metaphor: movements are organic, like living ecosystems with many nodes, spokes, and hubs. The question is, how can we achieve alignment across this diverse ecosystem without stifling its grassroots energy?
One answer lies in the concept of fractals—the idea (popularized by Adrienne Maree Brown’s work) that small actions replicated at scale create massive, complex systems[11]. In other words, local and regional efforts are not “small potatoes” but essential parts of system change [local systems change]. When each community initiative models the values and changes we seek, those patterns can scale up. The Summit highlighted examples of local collaborations driving wider change, reminding us that thriving local efforts are the building blocks of national movements.
Equally, movement-building requires shared infrastructure and coordination. Participants discussed creating “a shared direction of travel”—common goals that different organizations can contribute to from their unique angles. This doesn’t mean forcing uniformity; it means identifying where our work intersects and reinforcing each other’s impact. We talked about embracing the “messy middle” of collaboration—the fact that working across sectors and ideologies can be challenging. Yet, by sticking with that messy process, we can forge new constellations of partnership that are stronger and more resilient than anything we could do alone.
Crucially, funders have a role here too: supporting convening spaces, trusting intermediaries, and providing flexible resources that allow collaborative work to flourish. I was struck by conversations on funders asking themselves how they can demonstrate trust—for example, by funding advocacy efforts and capacity building, even if outcomes aren’t immediate. The energy in Atlanta made it clear: this is a movement moment for our sector. If we choose to move together, intentionally and strategically, we can create a future that is more equitable and just.
Connecting Summit Themes to Our Work at Community Science
At Community Science, our mission is to help communities achieve greater impact through the science and practice of social change. The Summit’s themes of trust, movement building, and collective action are the very themes that underpin our services—from evaluation and technical assistance to capacity building and continuous learning for strategy development [evaluation and capacity building]. The emphasis on ongoing learning resonates with our approach. We know that effective strategy is not a one-time plan but an iterative process of informing, acting, reflecting, and improving.
In our projects, we use a systems lens to help partners identify where inequities persist, determine levers of change, and adjust course based on real-time feedback. This aligns with the Summit’s call for a systemic, ecosystem mindset—seeing the big picture while learning from each small effort. With each partner playing a role, supported by data and learning, moving toward a common vision.
Standing in a room of nonprofit and philanthropy leaders, I felt a renewed sense of possibility. Yes, the challenges—distrust, division, inequity—are daunting. But the solutions are already emerging from all of us, together. Our sector’s north star, as many voiced, is a fair and just society where everyone thrives. To get there, we must trust one another enough to move together.
References[1], [6] Home – Independent Sector’s National Summit
[2] Trust in Civil Society 2021 – Independent Sector
https://independentsector.org/resource/trust-in-civil-society-2021/
[3] Americans’ Declining Trust in Each Other and Reasons Behind It | Pew Research Center
https://www.pewresearch.org/2025/05/08/americans-trust-in-one-another/
[4] From Loneliness to Love | National Affairs
https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/from-loneliness-to-love
[5], [11] adrienne maree brown on creating the future — Deem Journal
https://deemjournal.com/adrienne-maree-brown-on-creating-the-future
[7], [8] Independent Sector-Commissioned Research Finds Significant Decrease in Nonprofit Advocacy – Independent Sector https://independentsector.org/blog/independent-sector-commissioned-research-finds-significant-decrease-in-nonprofit-advocacy/
[17] Trust in Nonprofits and Philanthropy 2025 | Independent Sector
https://independentsector.org/resource/trust-in-civil-society/
About The Author
Amber Trout, Ph.D., Managing Director, has extensive organizational and leadership development, change management, and capacity building experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Most recently, she worked with the Institute for Nonprofit Practice to manage the implementation of their new learning agenda, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to manage the evaluation of the Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative, and the Knight Foundation to map pathways of change and more for an equitable revitalization project. She leads Community Science’s practice area on organizational effectiveness.