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As a longtime nonprofit leader, each year conversations emerge about what kind of lobbying nonprofits can engage in. Anxiety about impacting one’s nonprofit status with the IRS has people refraining from anything that even feels close to lobbying, while other leaders understand that advocacy is not the same as lobbying. Even 501c3s – within defined limits – are not prohibited from lobbying. It is always good to check with your legal counsel or auditors to make sure you have an understanding of what is allowed for you, your team and your organization, but silence is not an option.

Do you need to figure out who your elected officials are? Here is a handy link – (usa.gov/elected-officials). Just put in your physical address and it will populate elected officials at the county, state and federal levels for your street address. 

This year has brought a lot of changes – and stresses – to decision makers at the federal and state level, especially around funding for core programs that serve people in need. 
Here in Washington, state legislators are facing an unprecedented budget deficit, and are constitutionally mandated to pass a balanced budget. They need to hear from you – non only about what you prioritize – so that they proactively pull down every awarded federal dollar that they can, before the opportunity to do so slips away.  Please encourage Washington to provide the authority to state agencies to draw down available and approved federal dollars while they can.

At the federal level every contact with Congress and the Senate matters. This is not about what party you support of how you voted. It is about the community that we want to see for ourselves and loved ones, now and into the future. We stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. I would not be where I am if not for structural investments made by federal and state governments, and sacrifices made my parents and grandparents. Now I am a grandmother and I want to see my children and grandchildren avoid suffering and struggling. 

I’d like to live in a country that does not leave children vulnerable to preventable diseases, where people in need are not abandoned to fend for themselves, where we are thinking about today and tomorrow and next year. We have to be good stewards for each other, and for the planet that we inhabit.  

I urge you – check to see who your elected officials are (usa.gov/elected-officials) and let them know how much your needs are connected to the needs of others in the community. It is the only way forward – together – that we will create a region where we all feel we belong.   

Although I’m still saying Happy New Year to most people I see, time is feeling more and more fluid lately.

About two weeks ago we shared space with close to 250 people during the January 2025 Partner Convening. We started just two days after inauguration Day, and we anticipated the week might feel heavy and tense – we even considered rescheduling it. And we are so happy that we stayed the course. 

I think about gratitude a lot – it’s my constant reminder that even when dark forces are afoot, there is so much to be thankful for, that people are doing amazing things in communities every day. You nourish and restore, and for that our team is grateful; you share your struggles and your journeys with us and with each other, and for that we are grateful. And you share your passion, creative ideas, and future opportunities with each other – that is the radical imagination that Angela Glover Blackwell calls for in her Radical Imagination podcast and what we lift up in North Sound Voices (our podcast). You all are making change in real time!

Sometimes I get to sit back and watch the work that you do, and the relationships you form with each other. I hope that you have some sense of the magic that you create when you work together. We live in a time where outside forces want us to be afraid of each other, to separate us, but being in space with you feeds our souls, nourishes the heart and connects us to each other. We will advance thriving and equitable well-being because we believe in the importance of our relationship to each other and the world around us. 

Believe it or not, we’re already talking about the August Convening. There are close to 240 partner organizations in the Collaborative Action Network, so imagine having one or two from each organization in space together – wow. More to come as we pull initial ideas together.  

Be well, and we look forward to seeing you soon again –

We are a few weeks since the winter solstice, marking the time when, for our part of the planet, the sun is furthest south. In other words, the closer one is to the north pole, the shorter the hours of daylight. Now we are on the other side of the solstice, and we’re already feeling  the earth’s cycle shifting again. 

Imagine living without clocks and other timepieces to know ‘what time it is.’ People used the path of the sun and moon to measure seasons for planting, harvesting and storing food, work patterns, and sacred celebrations. There is something miraculous about the solstice, knowing that the path of the earth and its space in the universe is something that all people around the world hold in common, reminding me always of Maya Angelou’s poem Human Family: “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” (You can hear her beautiful voice at this link – Human Family)

For North Sound ACH, the new year has us planning for the January Partner Convening, where partners will be in space together, getting (re)introduced to our grounding frameworks, and hearing about successes and opportunities. We are honored to be joined by hundreds of partners, and attendees will hear from john a. powell (Othering and Belonging Institute), Michael Greer (ArtsFund), Becky Payne (Rippel Foundation), and Barbara Juarez (Northwest Washington Indian Health Board). Space is limited at the location, so register as soon as you can, and let us know if your plans change as we know there will be a waiting list that emerges. 

And, if you’ve read the recent newsletters, you know that we are actively searching for the next CEO for North Sound ACH. We hope to have final candidates by early spring, and I have been excited to hear from many of you about how you want to be involved in the search. We have such gratitude for your interest and support. You can see the posting at this link. Please share it with your colleagues and across your networks!

As 2025 brings a new year, we have you all in our thoughts and wish you the very best in this new year. 

Be well, and we look forward to seeing you on January 22-23 in Everett at the Convening.