by Allison Williams, President and CEO at Wyman
How does your team size up seismic events? How do they recover?
I work in and among nonprofits that comprise the social safety net, a system of agencies designed to strengthen and facilitate positive impacts on our communities. These impacts are about real people, with real lives, and real consequences.
Yet what happens when seismic events disrupt the foundation for these impacts, as we’ve experienced now for over a year? At least seismologists have the moment magnitude scale* to track quantifiable data during an earthquake. What do nonprofit leaders have to track the disruptions to state and federal funding of the safety net and the depth of its impact?
Because the impact is always more than just the funding loss. Daily headlines can change the foundation of this work in an instant. Is it a cut? How deep and to whom? Is it a reinstatement? How soon and what changed? And why? How does policy change impact foundational access and opportunity for our communities?
As 2026 unfolds, the social safety net continues to be rocked by earthquakes and after-shocks, such as:
- new funding cuts,
- funding being restored,
- an atypical budget and appropriation process,
- elimination of government departments or their staff,
- mandates that conflict with existing policy,
- new policies, orders, and actions anchored in fear and with little regard for people’s dignity and humanity.
Social safety net services support people living their best lives, yet repeatedly, these systems are delayed, cut, or diminished. What happens to the safety net when these seismic events occur? It means team members are pulled off the task of meeting their goals; executives confer, commiserate and counsel; board members engage with often little additional detail; important innovations and learnings are derailed as confusion becomes the constant. Additionally, critical institutional knowledge and systems are at risk of being lost when time, effort, and talent should be focused on driving impact to meet real needs of real people. And our neighbors pay that price.
Following any major earthquake – immediate needs must be met. There is a new landscape with new hazards to navigate, and what is past has passed. The path forward requires vision, community, and leadership. So, I’m curious today about navigating aftershocks.
Will you share an insight from your world? How does the barrage of seismic shifts change your reality? How do you prioritize impacts? What are you learning about leadership in the face of turmoil? How are people and organizations coming together around mission and impact in the face of these challenges? Because moving forward in partnership with and in support of our communities is still a must.
And as always, impact can be had by contacting your elected officials and by voting.
*BTW, did you know scientists don’t rely on the Richter Scale anymore and that there is a thing called the moment magnitude? We didn’t! Learn more here.