Personally, though, I believe that ensuring nonprofits have access to the right technology and security is vital to our communities. Our work is so important and often vulnerable. We fill in where the private and public sector have left people without vital resources. Nonprofits often deal with disparities of resources, while working to ensure that everyone thrives. Doing such important and life-changing work deserves more than basic infrastructure. Our peers deserve the same access to support as anyone else doing essential functions in our communities. Funding for nonprofit IT infrastructure and systems is imperative for the future. 

Our President & CEO, Yodit Mesfin Johnson, shares some of her experiences during the first chapter of her sabbatical, taken in summer of 2023. The sabbatical is part of the McGregor Fund’s 2023 Eugene A. Miller fellowship, of which Yodit was one of nine (9) awardees. The program supports McGregor’s grant partners’ CEOs and executive directors to take extended time away from their organizations to recharge, immerse in enriching experiences, build skills and knowledge, and broaden their vision – all according to a plan of their own design.

In many ways, ecological gardening is a form of magic. When done well, the garden becomes more rich year after year, while the gardener intervenes less and less. In a few years, a barren patch of land can become a food forest, lush with flowers, fruit trees, and vegetable vines that produce in abundance. By connecting the systems, the gardener closes loops that western agricultural methods leave open and helps cultivate balance. Every living thing within the garden contributes to the health and survival of everything else. And while there is still loss – everything dies eventually – even those deaths are part of the cycle, the resources used to make the ecosystem stronger. It is essentially everything we want for our social sector and vibrant communities.