PSA: When I started writing this note to y'all, it was supposed to be short and sweet. The end product is long, but hopefully still sweet. Here's a recording of me reading it if that's easier (also embedded at the bottom of the email) ❤️

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Dear Friend,

Have you noticed that your team is stuck in endless planning? Avoiding tough conversations? Making abrupt or reactive decisions? Swinging between burnout, disengagement, or disillusionment? Paralyzed by fear?

You're not alone. These are the stories I'm hearing over and over again from humans leading on the frontlines of social change.

People are afraid. People are holding on tight. People are anxious. People are feeling and being threatened.

Unfortunately, none of this is new. The "costs" of doing mission-driven work have always been high for changemakers, and especially for folks of historically excluded or marginalized identities.

The stories aren't new, but they do feel louder, more emotional, and more urgent right now. Which makes sense. So many of the causes, organizations, and people we care most about are under direct threat.

The result? Many teams and organizations (not just people) are exhibiting powerful trauma responses.

And I believe that these responses are as much of an existential threat to our work as the myriad social, political, and economic threats swirling around us.

Wait. What? How?

Most of us have become very familiar with trauma as an individual experience. We know that the body keeps the score. We understand that humans suffer, and that suffering impacts how they show up and how we need to support them.

But what we often don't account for is that organizations and teams can also experience trauma, and that our organizational bodies also keep the score. In meetings. In policies. In decision-making. In strategies. In fundraising. In program development. In budgeting. In hiring.

Just like humans, organizations fight, freeze, flee, fawn, appease, and/or collapse when their dignity, safety, agency, and belonging are threatened (1).

And I'm seeing ALL of that and more happening right now. Here are some examples...
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Organizations are "Fighting." We're seeing...

• Adversarial public campaigns and social media rampages against critics, funders, and "others"
• Internal power struggles and leadership turf wars
• Overextending staff with new initiatives to “prove value”

Organizations are "Fleeing." We're seeing...

• General avoidance of difficult conversations about DEI, finances, or failures
• Withdrawal from partnerships to sidestep accountability
• Getting stuck in endless “planning” without action

Organizations are "Freezing." We're seeing...

• Budget and hiring freezes, even when needs are urgent
• Halted professional development
• Minimized innovation and resorting to the status quo
• Paralysis during crisis and an inability to adapt or respond

Organizations are "Fawning and Appeasing." We're seeing...

• Shifted mission or programs to suit donor demands
• Watered down or changed language to fall into line with "DEI bans" and avoid being seen
• Suppressed staff dissent to “keep the peace”
• Enforcement of toxic positivity and silencing critique

Organizations are "Collapsing." We're seeing...

• Programs abruptly shutting down without transition plans
• Teams disengaging from community or stakeholder relationships
• Mechanically following outdated protocols without critical engagement

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OOPH. Does any of this sound familiar?

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It's really really really important that you don't look at this list and think you're doing anything wrong.

If you're a leader and changemaker and see any of these things happening, remember:

THESE ARE TRAUMA RESPONSES. And trauma responses are the "body's" way of protecting us from real or perceived threat.

It's also really really really important to remember that these responses are often not the best, most adaptive, or most helpful responses. In an organizational context, these mostly well-intentioned "answers" to crises not only sap morale but also fundamentally undermine our missions.

When we're stuck in survival mode, we lose our capacity for creativity, collaboration, and courageous advocacy.

When we believe that we have lost our safety, dignity, agency, or belonging, we react from fear rather than vision, clinging to control or silence in ways that fracture trust and collective purpose.

When we prioritize short-term sustainability over long-term impact, we risk becoming what we sought to change and perpetuating the very systems we vowed to dismantle.

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Core Truth: Healthy, intentional, and HEALING crisis response > Trauma-response

The difference is critical, and making the distinction is what our communities, causes, and people need and deserve.

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Ugh. This is hard. So, now what??

There aren't easy answers here. I want your organizations and teams to survive, and survival in this season might require difficult and unpopular decisions. Sometimes our trauma responses are necessary to keep us safe, whole, and even alive.

Please run away from a bear that is about to attack you. But once you're safe enough...take a deep breath and honestly assess the level of risk. Is the bear still bearing its teeth? Is the bear across the meadow and a safe distance away? Is the bear distracted by a squirrel? Is the bear even still there? Did it ever exist to begin with?

All real and imagined bears aside, here's what I think we need to do next:

• Notice the Patterns: Where do you see these trauma responses showing up in your organization’s systems and culture? What would it take to move from trauma response to a healthy, intentional crisis response?
• Name the Experience: Talk openly about what’s really happening and why. We have to name it to tame it. What language do you need to start these conversations?
• Ask Brave Questions: What are you and your organization most afraid of right now? What are we protecting? At what cost? What are we willing to risk for healing and change?
• Invest in Healing: How might you prioritize trauma-informed training, flexible policies, and staff well-being, not as a “perk,” but as a core strategy? How do we create organizations that are healing ecosystems for humans experiencing their own traumas in this season?

And finally, and perhaps most importantly: Invest and Pour Into People​
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When organizations face crises or threats, the instinct is often to tighten belts, freeze spending, or pull back on professional development and staff support.

But, research and our experience show that the healthiest, most resilient organizations do the opposite in hard times.

We must prioritize investment in staff well-being, growth, and community. This means offering more (not less) access to coaching, counseling, flexible schedules, and professional learning opportunities.

We must double down on support, connection, and psychological safety. Instead of retreating, increase your check-ins, peer support groups, opportunities for IRL gatherings, and chances for honest dialogue. Ensure all people feel seen, heard, and valued at every level of the organization.

We must resource our people like our missions depend on it. Because they do.

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Again, trauma responses in organizations don't mean you or anyone else is failing. We're all human, and our organizations are made up of mortal beings doing their best to keep themselves and their organizations "alive" in a world that feels unsafe, uncertain, and often untenable.

This also isn't about gaslighting ourselves into believing that we're not under threat and that everything is okay.

It is about seeing and naming what's truly happening, because when we do, for ourselves and our organizations, we can change our choices. And I hope that more of us--humans and organizations alike--will choose healing.

Healing is the antidote to trauma.

Healing IS possible right now (even while the traumas are still occurring.

And building healing leaders, teams, and organizations is the fundamental work of Reloveution.

If any of this far-too-long note has resonated with, emotionally stirred, or surprised you, we want to help.

• We can train your team in trauma-informed and healing leadership, facilitation, coaching, and/or decision-making.
• We can advise you and/or your leadership team on building healing ecosystems that support real humans and the real work.
• We can offer consultation and support around moving your team from trauma-response to healing-centered crisis response.
• We can hold space for and facilitate the hard conversations.
• We can help you pour into your people through professional development, coaching, retreats, or group facilitation.

And through the end of the year, all nonprofits and changemaking organizations will have access to sliding scale services and resources. No questions asked.

We are committed to meeting you where you are, removing barriers, and providing responsive support that is accessible, dignified, and rooted in healing.

If you need us, just reply to this email or book a connection call.

And if you know someone or an organization that needs us? Please do us the honor of forwarding this email.

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In solidarity always,
Marissa

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PS - If you're a changemaker actively in need of healing for yourself, be sure to add your name to the interest list for our upcoming Changemaker (Re)Boot Camp, taking place August 20/21-24 in Stony Point, NY

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(1) Thanks to the Whole Again Pod for giving me new and amazing language on trauma and healing.

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AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS NEWSLETTER

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