We need fewer debates on what kind of organizing is 'real' organizing, and more action to improve infrastructure. Free health clinics, bail funds, border networks, abortion funds, safety hubs, and local food networks are complex systems that should not be diminished or thought of as 'incomplete.'
I was recently talking to a donor advisor—someone who’s known me for over a decade. I reached out for support on a complex, delicate leadership challenge. They said something that stuck with me: “Take up more space. Own your expertise.”
The truth is, with a brilliant team at National Network of Abortion Funds, I helped to grow a membership, technical assistance and advocacy organization into a funding intermediary because it was what was required to resource the work. That intermediary now distributes $25M a year to make access to abortion care possible. I don’t often talk publicly about that work. I believe new leadership should shape the present. But that conversation reminded me: I bring hard-won experience to this moment.
When I joined Groundswell Fund’s grantee partner, the National Network of Abortion Funds, ten years ago, many funders called it “apolitical service work.” They said funding nearly a hundred small grassroots organizations wasn’t possible and wasn’t the right investment. But we proved them wrong through persistence, strategy, and deep relationships. While I served as the organization’s executive director, we built infrastructure and supported organizations to organize and ensure care to people that the system routinely failed. That infrastructure saved lives and changed systems of care, whether or not policies changed. Further, as Scot Nakagawa recently stated on Marguerite Casey Foundation’s political education series, “Mutual Aid networks are the way that people experience power in their day-to-day life. They experience power through care.” He of course, discussed the other components of fighting back against authoritarianism, including non-violent direct action.
That’s why I reject the idea that mutual aid organizing isn’t “real” organizing, but rather it is a type of organizing of many types. The act of providing direct funding, a meal etc. may be mutual aid, but the systems, processes, people, and relationships required to make that access to care possible is organizing work. If you’ve ever tried to make care possible in a system designed to punish you, you know. Protecting democracy means physically protecting people. It’s not a theory.
The Trump administration is escalating authoritarian rule with ICE raids that are spreading fear amongst immigrants in communities, schools, businesses and health facilities around the country. Congress passed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which includes a sweeping plan to eliminate abortion coverage in Medicaid, the ACA, and private insurance. Adriana Smith, a Georgia woman who was declared brain-dead in February while nine weeks pregnant, was kept on life support until her baby was removed via C-section due to the state’s six-week abortion ban. The Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth and demonstrated its willingness to let states impose extreme, ideologically driven restrictions on vulnerable communities.
Every cruel example underscores that this is not just about abortion or gender-affirming care—it’s about government control over our lives and most personal decisions.
We need fewer debates on what kind of organizing is “real” organizing, and more action to improve infrastructure. Free health clinics, bail funds, border networks, abortion funds, safety hubs, and local food networks are complex systems that should not be diminished or thought of as “incomplete.” Our definition of winning has to include our survival, and how we survive is an organizing project.
Now, as we close one chapter, we’re preparing for the next. In the coming months, we’ll begin sharing Groundswell’s new strategic vision with our stakeholders. This vision is grounded in dozens of conversations with grantee partners, funders, external partners, internal team reflections, and hard questions about what it will take to meet the scale of this moment.
We’re ready to build what this time demands, and we’re grateful to be building it with you.
P.S. Amidst all this, I want to take a moment to honor a beloved leader and supporter who has been a grounding force during one of the most pivotal periods in Groundswell’s history. We don’t often spotlight individual board members, but as Karen Grove’s six-year board service comes to a close, I want to take a moment to say thank you for championing reproductive and gender justice alongside us. Read more about Karen’s experience.