“We’re realizing the power and potential of leading with our values when we think about attracting board and staff who are going to help us evolve the organization.” -Pamela Jons and Mauri Ingram

“So much of my role is acting as a translator between community and those controlling resources (myself included).” -Patricia Mejia

“I want to tell my peers who resist trust-based shifts: the field is evolving, we need to stop talking about risk and start listening to what our nonprofit partners want and need. There’s sector change happening, and it’s both past-due and important work.” -Suzanne Geary

“We can use our privilege to maintain the status quo, or create on-ramps to thriving communities and collective power.” -Julio Marcial

“It’s the quality and depth of our relationships with partners that makes it okay to sit with conflict.” -Anonymous Storyteller

“We need to be conscious about where our trust (and distrust) are coming from, or we will distribute the benefits of this work inequitably.” -Liz Dozier

“There are pitfalls on this journey. The most important thing is to keep learning, document, and incorporate the lesson for the next time.” -Raymael Blackwell

“Achieving our goal is not possible without the organizations on the ground, so we believe supporting their capacity is part of building the movement.” -Farrah Parkes

“Our best grantmaking has happened not because of a strategy developed internally, but because we operate as a site of shifted power to begin with.” -Jenn Ching

“We started out by thinking about how everything we did should focus on building relationships rooted in trust.” -Ashley Clark

“Philanthropy’s imperative for transformation requires us to repair the harm we have caused as a sector.” -Gabriela Alcalde

“As we became more public about trust-based philanthropy, our board raised critical questions that made me wonder if they were fully bought in.” -Pia Infante

“Even though we’re at the beginning of our trust-based journey, I can already feel a wide sense of possibility.” -Beth Collins

“Until we address governance within philanthropy and try or demand that trust-based approaches be part of governance, philanthropy cannot change.” -Anonymous Storyteller

“When we move in a different way that honors their time, experience and capacities, our grantee partners see new possibilities in our work together.” -Heather Peeler

“I want funders to start investing in efforts that aren’t just about systems change, but about quality of life.” -Pamela Ross

“Our affinity with our grantee partners, with different histories but similar experiences of injustice, has made building trust more possible.” -A. Sparks

“When I gave up some of my own personal power, we became a more powerful organization.” -John Esterle

“Ecosystems of trust form a strong network that allow us to move nimbly and make impact happen when it’s needed.” -Philip Li

“Just like we had to reexamine our grantmaking to build trust, we also had to reimagine our learning and evaluation to find more authentic and meaningful ways of articulating change.” -Corey Oser