🔄 The four shifts reshaping social impact (+ what you need to know)

⏱️ Reading time: 6 minutes

Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share insights and advice from my experience as a woman of color leader championing values-driven leadership and preparing for the future of social impact.

In today's letter:

1. A quick note about January
2. Help shape Flourish Fellowship (2-min survey)
3. Two shifts that matter most right now
4. Join me for a free upcoming workshop on January 20​

📬 1. A quick note about January

You might hear from me more than 1x per week as Flourish Fellowship launches February 1.

Email going to spam? Mark my emails as "not spam" or add hello@fearlessproject.co to your contacts.

Too much? Update your email preferences here to reduce frequency, or unsubscribe anytime - no hard feelings. 🧡

📋 2. Help shape Flourish Fellowship (2-min survey)

Tell me which topics we should tackle in 2026: responsible AI? money trauma? work-life harmony? hybrid models?

Take the survey and get early workshop access + be the first to get Flourish updates (ends Jan 31).

📋 3. Two Shifts That Matter Most Right Now

At Opportunity Collaboration in November, I kept hearing the same two questions underneath every conversation:

"How do we actually shift power when donors still control everything?"

"How do we survive when traditional funding models are collapsing?"

The panic about Trump's return. The uncertainty about USAID funding. The exhaustion with performative "localization" that never actually shifts power or resources.

But here's what I noticed: the leaders who weren't panicking were already making four critical shifts - around POWER, FUNDING, LEADERSHIP, and SKILLS.

I'm going to focus on the first two in this email (because they're the most urgent right now), but we'll go deep on all four at next week's workshop.

SHIFT 1: POWER - From Northern NGOs to Proximate Leadership

The old story: Western organizations "help" the Global South. Partnerships mean Northern NGOs subcontracting to local implementers while keeping decision-making power and funding streams.

What's actually happening: Organizations like Adeso are redefining what African-led development actually means.

Their 2025-2029 strategic plan doesn't just talk about "local capacity building" - it centers African agency, feminist approaches, and decolonial practice as core organizational values.

Not as buzzwords. As operational reality.

Look at what they're doing:

• Decision-making power sits with African leadership
• Program design comes from community needs, not donor priorities
• Funding flows directly to local organizations, not through Northern intermediaries
• Partnerships are peer-to-peer, not patron-client

This is what power redistribution actually looks like.

The leadership question: If you're in a Northern organization, are you asking "How do we make ourselves obsolete?" If you're in a Southern organization, are you claiming power or just accepting participation?

SHIFT 2: FUNDING - From Grant-Dependency to Hybrid Models

The old story: Social impact organizations are charities. They depend on donor goodwill and foundation grants. Earned revenue = selling out your mission.

What's actually happening: Organizations are building hybrid models out of necessity AND principle.

Take The Resilience Project. As founder Kasper Benjamin writes:

"Grants stretch us too thin and incentivise us to undervalue ourselves... We are literally just trying to make a living wage."

They're not abandoning grant funding. They're diversifying it:

• Training young activists (grant-funded core mission)
• Offering corporate workshops on burnout and eco-anxiety (earned income)
• Creating income-generating opportunities for activists (sustainability for the movement)

Companies ARE willing to pay for expertise on resilience building because a 90-minute workshop provides real, immediate value.

This isn't capitalism. It's fair market exchange. And it's the difference between burnout and sustainability.

But here's the controversial part: Some argue this entire approach is flawed.

A recent Stanford Social Innovation Review article claimed "there's no such thing as impact investing" - arguing that markets fundamentally cannot solve social problems.

The backlash was fierce. Some said it's too cynical. Others said it doesn't go far enough.

I think both sides miss the point.

Markets are good at some things (efficiency, innovation, scale). They're terrible at others (equity, redistribution, long-term stewardship).

The leadership shift isn't choosing between grants OR investments OR earned income. It's being honest about what different funding models can actually achieve - and using the right tool for the right purpose.

How these shifts connect

Here's what I realized:

You cannot redistribute power without diversifying funding.

Why? Because as long as you're 100% grant-dependent, you're 100% accountable to whoever holds the purse strings.

Northern donors talk about "shifting power" to local partners. But if those partners still need your grants to survive, who really has power?

And you cannot build sustainable funding models without addressing power dynamics.

Why? Because "social enterprise" and "earned income" often just recreate extractive relationships with a new label.

If you're a Northern organization selling "capacity building" to Southern partners, you haven't shifted power - you've just monetized the same old dynamic.

But POWER and FUNDING don't exist in isolation.

They require new LEADERSHIP approaches (values-driven, trust-based, psychologically safe) and new SKILLS (AI-enhanced, relationship-focused, adaptive). We'll explore those shifts in depth at next week's workshop using the VALUES and THRIVE frameworks.

For now, here's what organizations getting this right are doing:

Adeso's approach to funding:

• Diversified revenue streams (grants, contracts, partnerships)
• Strategic reserves (not living grant-to-grant)
• Investment in African-led fundraising capacity
• Peer partnerships with other Southern organizations

This financial sustainability enables their power-centered model. They can say no to donors who want control. They can fund programs that matter to communities, not what looks good in reports.

The Resilience Project's approach to power:

• Youth activists aren't just "beneficiaries" - they're paid facilitators
• Corporate workshops are led by the people doing the frontline work
• Revenue flows to those closest to the problem
• Expertise is valued and compensated fairly

This power-centered model enables their financial sustainability. They're not depending on philanthropic goodwill - they're offering valuable services by people with lived expertise.

What This Means For Your Leadership

At Tuesday's workshop (Jan 20), we'll help you:

• Assess where power actually sits in your partnerships
• Identify earned income opportunities that align with your mission
• Determine if you're operating as a boss, follower, or leader
• Map the strategic relationships you need to build

The answer looks different if you're:

• A Northern NGO trying to shift power to Southern partners
• A Southern organization claiming space and resources
• A social entrepreneur building a hybrid model
• A funder trying to redistribute power through grantmaking
• An individual leader navigating all of this inside a broken system

Join me for a free upcoming workshop on Jan 20

Tuesday, January 20, 9am EST (90 minutes) - We'll map all four shifts (POWER, FUNDING, LEADERSHIP, SKILLS) and you'll create your 30-day pivot plan.

You'll leave with: Workbook, network map template, strategic networking guide, and recording.

Limited to 300 participants.

The future of social impact won't look like the past.

The question isn't whether power will redistribute and funding models will diversify. They already are.

The question is: Will you be part of shaping what comes next?

Maya 🧡

P.S. If you're thinking "I need ongoing support to navigate these shifts" - that's exactly what Flourish Fellowship is for. Monthly deep dives on frameworks like POWER and SCALE, peer accountability, and a community who gets it. We launch Feb 1.
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