I’m writing to you as the new President and CEO of Independent Sector. As you can imagine, my first few days have been spent meeting staff and learning about their important work, diving into key public policy and sector issues, and connecting with long-term funders and board members. Over the next several months, and I hope for the entirety of my tenure at Independent Sector, I aim to listen to our community of changemakers about how we might use our collective voice and power to move our sector and country forward.
Dr. Akilah Watkins
While I am personally holding on to the optimism this time of renewal and new beginnings naturally brings, I am also clear that the world around us continues to challenge our hopes and dreams of a liberated and just society. As I write, we are dealing with continued unimaginable heartbreak over three mass shootings in California, two appearing to target people of Chinese descent. We are also dealing with the continued effects of climate change in communities across the country and continued economic pressures of inflation on everyday people, including our sector’s staff and volunteers. And in case anyone has missed it, we hit our federal debt ceiling last week. Perhaps the “unprecedented” times of 2020 aren’t exactly over just yet.
This is a sober reality, and while we must stand in its truth, I do find immense hope in the millions of people who work in their communities at nonprofit and charitable organizations, philanthropies, and other corporate entities. You are the people trying to get us to the other side of these intractable problems. Our mission – our collective work – to ensure all people in this country have the opportunity to thrive will take all of us. Independent Sector remains a steadfast partner in that effort, and we also could not do any of it without you.
Over the next several months, I know I will have a chance to meet many of you. I will try to be present for as many public policy coalition meetings, Independent Sector Fellows convenings, Upswell events, and community and sector gatherings as I can. I will also visit many of your local communities to meet with you in your own backyards. My hope is to connect with leaders across the country to take a focused look at our collective work and how we might want to refine or adjust for the real challenges and opportunities ahead.
In the meantime, I want to be accessible to you should you have something you’d like to share or suggestions for the future. Please reach out to me at akilahw@independensector.org and I will do my very best to get back to each of you.
It is truly an honor to join this incredible community of changemakers across the country fighting to better serve our communities and create a healthy and equitable future for us all. Let’s get to work.
Dr. Akilah Watkins is president and CEO of Independent Sector.
