Community Chronicles: Stories of Solidarity, Summer 2025

Things were really heating up around our ecosystem this summer! MSC, along with our partners, continued to stand with the people and movements dedicated to making the world a better place; choosing to amplify joy, community, connection, peaceful defiance, and protection whenever and wherever we could. We might not have all the answers, but our partners’ commitment to their work on the frontlines of racial, economic, gender, and environmental justice inspires us to keep looking.

This showcase of summer happenings throughout the MSC ecosystem is a reminder that among today’s struggles there are activists, allies, and communities using art, advocacy, education, storytelling, and more to heal, grow, love, and stand up against hate. Read on for some highlights, stay informed with our monthly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads so you don’t miss a moment of motivation.

Congratulations, HEAL Food Alliance!
HEAL Food Alliance was born out of the knowledge that no single individual, organization, or sector can transform systems in isolation. MSC worked alongside HEAL as their fiscal sponsor for over a decade, proudly watching them grow into a multi-sector national alliance of 58 member organizations representing over 2 million land stewards, food chain workers, advocates, and organizers building collective power for transformative change. Earlier this year, they became their own member-governed 501(c)3 organization! We look forward to the next chapter, and to uplifting their work to co-create a future of interdependence! 

Welcoming Beloved Birth Collective
Beloved Birth Collective (one of MSC’s newest partners) provides group perinatal care by, for, and with Black birthing people in Oakland. Expectant individuals work with a number of Black healthcare providers: The midwifery-led team includes doctors, nutritionists, psychologists, and more. Founding director Jyesha Wren was featured in a KQED (an NPR member station) podcast exploring how her work helps redefine perinatal care and utilizes evidence-based strategies to combat racial disparities in Black birth experiences.

Policy, Advocacy, and Mutual Aid
Positive Women’s Network – USA (PWN-USA) introduced their 2025-2026 Policy Fellows. The program builds the policy leadership bench for cis and trans women, and for gender diverse individuals who are directly impacted by the HIV epidemic and historically underrepresented in the federal health policy advocacy arena. Their 2025-2026 Policy & Advocacy Training Series, which kicked off in June, will cover a range of topics, including government processes, effective organizing, and key frameworks for advocacy.

Navigating Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
The Center for Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health (CEEJH) hosted its 11th Annual Environmental Justice and Health Disparities Symposium in Baltimore, Md. The gathering included community leaders, experts, and activists dedicated to advancing environmental justice and addressing health disparities. Based in Maryland, CEEJH works closely with strategically undervalued communities, blending education, outreach, community science, collaborative problem solving, and grassroots partnerships to create lasting impact. Dr. Sacoby Wilson, founder and executive director of CEEJH, was also recently honored as a 2025 Heinz Award winner. As one of only six annual recipients, the Heinz Awards highlighted his work as an environmental health science and environmental justice advocate.

Welcoming Measuring Love
Shiree Teng is a community organizer, storyteller, and healer who believes love and courage will lead to our collective liberation. Teng, the director of Measuring Love (another new MSC partner), believes leading with love is a “radical and intentional act of resistance.” Measuring Love’s brown papers are blueprints for radical love and power that chart pathways toward justice and collective healing. The most recent brown paper, “Burning Love: An Invitation to Transformative Action,” was released this summer. In September, Teng facilitated “From Burnout to Burning Love — A Radical Love Workshop,” a virtual workshop series. MSC staffers joined Teng to develop tools to embed Radical Love into our lives and work culture.

Catching Up with Intelligent Mischief
Intelligent Mischief (IM), a Movement Strategy Network (MSN) partner, opened “Futures of Repair,” a social dream space in Brooklyn, N.Y., in July. In this collaborative space, IM seeks to “explore the futures made possible by Reparations. Looking through the lens of six integral relationships that have been fractured by the harms of colonialism, slavery, and white supremacy … the experience invites you to engage with artifacts from the Futures of Repair.” Terry Marshall, IM’s Founder and Executive Creative Director, also contributed to “We Are Civic Media.” Marshall’s chapter, “Affective Underground,” is about the artists and cultural workers who make movements possible.

In-Person Connection Across Three States
In June, members of our Movement Infrastructure and Innovation Center (MIIC) Team gathered for an in-person retreat in Austin, Texas, where they focused on ways to continue supporting our partners and our vision of a Just Transition in discussions facilitated by A Better Force. They also met with Maxine LaQueene of Qommittee for Qreative Freedom. Daniel Parada, MSC’s Director of Fiscal Sponsorship, then traveled to Queens, N.Y., to join our Communications Team and Love Wins NYC for the Queens Pride Parade in a celebration of defiant joy. The Communications Team was also able to enjoy some in-person time together after the parade in Manhattan and New Jersey, where they planned for the year ahead. Read more about the retreats on our blog! 

Rooted in Solidarity
Radical connection is “rooted in solidarity, in movement work, in shared risk and shared care.” The theme for this year’s National Network of Fiscal Sponsors (NNFS) National Gathering was “Radical Connection — Resilience, Innovation, and Solidarity.” Daniel Parada, MSC’s Director of Fiscal Sponsorship, was a member of the planning committee for the annual event, which was held in Phoenix, Ariz., in November. This summer, Parada shared more on the importance of centering radical connection in a blog post for NNFS.

Building Beloved Community
MSC, in collaboration with our partners Beloved Communities Network, completed the inaugural Beloved Community Cohort earlier this year. “10,000 Beloved Communities,” a graphic guide by Kristen Zimmerman of our partners Root. Rise. Pollinate!, helped provide a framework for the experience of building Beloved Community. The nine-month cohort culminated in an in-person retreat in Sonoma, Calif., where participants were able to heal, connect, and build community in person. We sat down with Leila McCabe-Williams, BCN’s Executive Director, to learn more.

Insisting on the Rule of Law
MSC was featured in Inside Philanthropy’s piece about the need for courageous, outspoken donors and funders during this period of turmoil — and the steps they can take to remain safe while safeguarding our movements and remaining committed to frontline causes. As we stated, “We need to stand up and insist on the rule of law, the honoring of commitments for free speech, and the guarantee of our constitutional rights even in the face of illegal attacks.” We stand with organizations like Solidaire Network and Borealis Philanthropy, who were also quoted in the piece, and countless others in our commitment to frontline causes and the work of justice.

Discover What’s New!
Catch up on all the latest happenings and insights in MSC’s monthly newsletters.

Want your happening or achievement included in the next Community Chronicles, in our newsletter, across our social media channels, or in a feature blog? Contact us!