Advancing Economic Mobility Impact Through Collective Resilience

In February, 16 social entrepreneurs came together in Puerto Rico at the closing convening of New Profit’s second Economic Mobility Catalyze cohort. This group of leaders is committed to advancing bold, community-rooted solutions to expand economic access and opportunity across the U.S. through a variety of models. They are reimagining pathways to income generation, improving financial health and wealth building, and developing solutions that address the social drivers of economic opportunity. And through it all, they are engaging in proximate practices, centering the expertise and lived experiences of their core constituents. 

Our final convening in Puerto Rico afforded us generous time and space to celebrate the conclusion of a 12-month peer learning journey. Through in-person and virtual sessions, the cohort fostered connection, tackled leadership and organizational challenges, and built solidarity across geographies and approaches. Each organization also received $100,000 in unrestricted funding, dedicated leadership development support, and strategic advising from the New Profit team. 

As we gathered in celebration, we also found ourselves with a unique opportunity to reflect on the ongoing challenges of the external environment. Amid a volatile federal funding landscape and targeting of immigrant communities (among others), social entrepreneurs have continued to lead with urgency, conviction, and care, even as the ground beneath them shifts. Through candid exit interviews and reflections throughout the year, we, alongside our social entrepreneurs, have gained a clearer understanding of what it truly takes to sustain this work. 

Leading Through Uncertainty

This moment has tested even the most resilient organizations. As Jessica Johnson (The Scholarship Academy) puts it, “it’s hurricane season.” Social entrepreneurs are contending with the full range of emotions, from heartbreak and exhaustion as their core constituents are impacted and funding threatened, to hope and gratitude for their teams and communities. 

While there is a temptation to pull back in the face of this uncertainty, our Economic Mobility leaders agree that now is not the time to stop and wait. “I do know to stay the course. I do know to keep doing the work that we are doing,” affirms Sade’ Cooper (Collaborative Healing in Communities). Instead, social entrepreneurs are meeting the moment with pragmatism and resolve. They are assessing their financial runways, conducting scenario planning, and collaborating with their leadership teams to chart a path ahead.

Hope, in this moment, comes from connection. As New Profit’s CEO, Tulaine Montgomery puts it, “community is medicine”. And sure enough, as social entrepreneurs grapple with foundational questions around their newfound constraints and day-to-day operations, many are drawing strength from their broader networks. For Geneva White (Scope of Work), her proximity to community-minded young people who are “innovative, localized, [and] understand mutual aid” fuels her vision for rebuilding her organization. Others find hope in their ecosystems: cross-sector partners moving with new urgency, funders doubling down or showing up in unexpected ways, and boards and leadership teams checking in at a personal level and stepping up to provide support. 

The resilience of our social entrepreneurs is translating into real, visible progress and systems change even in this climate. For instance, Kensington Corridor Trust and The Guild have partnered to replicate The Guild’s Community Stewardship Trust model in Philadelphia, advancing neighborhood-level ownership and intergenerational wealth-building. Cook Alliance continues to meet surging demand, with over 3,000 recent applicants to their programs and a growing number of home cooks successfully completing training and launching their businesses. And Custom Collaborative is advocating to protect the community ecosystem of New York’s Garment District from displacement, while creating and preserving the small businesses and garment jobs that have long been a pathway to economic independence for women and immigrants.

These bright spots underscore a broader trend: despite the weight of this moment, leaders are not just holding the line; they’re pushing forward. 

Collective Resilience is Real. So is Burnout.

While we celebrate the remarkable perseverance of our social entrepreneurs and their organizations, we must acknowledge that it is coming at a cost. Leaders are carrying impossible loads—layoffs, loss of funding, staff and community trauma—without the safety nets they offer others. 

Most social entrepreneurs know exactly what they need to sustain their well-being: clearer boundaries between work and personal life and space to recharge. However, self-care frequently falls through the cracks, especially in times of crisis. Being in community, learning from, and co-strategizing with peer organizations and leaders has historically served as a source of energy, wellness, and meaning for social entrepreneurs but even that connection can feel out of reach. Leaders are so consumed with keeping their organizations afloat that they’re unable to carve out time for collective spaces.

Another key theme that emerged in our conversations was the need for sabbaticals: not as a luxury but as an essential tool for long-term leadership sustainability. Such opportunities have been rare, inaccessible, and even perceived negatively, leading to funding and support gaps. Stepping away, even for a short while, seems impossible without infrastructure in place to cover staffing and leadership gaps. 

A Call to Action for Philanthropy

Clearly, there is a resounding need for investment not just in programs, but also in the people who power them. 

As we look ahead, one question guides us: how can we meet this moment as co-conspirators and continue expanding access and opportunity for all? Through our time with the 2024 Economic Mobility Catalyze cohort, we surfaced clear shifts philanthropy can and should consider making in the near future.

1. Don’t retreat; double down. Historically, funders have tended to step back to wait out uncertainty, but now is the time to step forward with renewed solidarity. This means proactively checking in with social entrepreneurs, truly understanding the ground-level reality for impacted communities, and helping sustain them in this moment of need. 
2. Rewrite the funding playbook. Right now, organizations are being forced to operate with thin margins and lean teams. Funders can respond to the needs of the moment by relaxing the rigidity of traditional funding structures and thinking across the capital stack. This means exploring bold, trust-based commitments like recoverable grants, low-interest loans, and/or unrestricted multi-year funding. As one leader put it, this moment calls for funders to apply a venture lens to social entrepreneurship; to invest in nonprofit leaders by “throwing money and resources at great ideas and expecting failure as a necessary part of iteration.”
3. Provide thought partnership and capacity-building. Especially for early-stage organizations, capacity-building support and technical assistance can be just as valuable as dollars. Funders can play a critical role by amplifying community voices and opening doors to decision-makers. Creative forms of support, such as fellowship programs that embed strategic advisors within organizations, virtual peer exchange models, and pro bono scenario planning or technical assistance from corporate partners, can go a long way.
4. Support social entrepreneur wellness. Challenge the narrative that frames sabbaticals and restorative practices as luxuries or deprioritizes them. Offer regular check-ins, wellness stipends, mental health grants, sabbatical support, leadership and fundraising coaching, and other critical forms of support named by social entrepreneurs carrying heavy personal and professional burdens.
5. Support long-term sustainability. There is a gap in funding that is not tied to program offerings and can be put towards building lasting resilience and legacy planning. Providing endowment-building and sustainability grants can especially further how social enterprises secure their futures. 

New Profit’s Commitment

At New Profit, we’re listening, and we are committed to creating the infrastructure our leaders need to thrive. This means doubling down on our mission and deepening meaningful partnerships that center our key drivers of impact: capital, capacity, and community. More specifically:

• We will keep investing unrestricted, catalytic capital in proximate leaders unsticking tough problems and scaling community-driven innovations. 
• We will show up as partners and co-learners in this work, and seek out new, impactful ways to serve as sounding boards and trusted advisors for our social entrepreneurs. 
• We will lean into what we do best, including convening. And through our Catalyze peer learning model, we intend to continue bringing leaders together to connect, reflect, rest, and grow together.

Ultimately, we recognize that community is essential to overcoming the isolation and uncertainty of this moment. We remain steadfast in our commitment to uplifting leaders who are expanding access and opportunity in America.