Across the social sector, organizations are navigating profound change — funding contractions, leadership turnover, shifting mandates, and systemic pressure to adapt.  Since early 2025, Civic Strength Partners (CSP) has been coming alongside social change organizations to support them as they navigate these complex transitions with care and clarity.  Our latest report, Emerging Insights from Accompanying Social-change Organizations through Transition, highlights lessons learned from these engagements.

This short learning brief shares what we are observing in our early stage of work. It is written for funders and partners who want to understand how transitions are unfolding in practice and what supports are proving most effective. These insights are not conclusions, but signals — emerging patterns that can inform future collaboration and investment. Early engagements and research across geographies and organizational types reveal consistent patterns. For example, many times decisions are being made without the full picture. Under pressure, organizations act before alignment, data, or relationships are in place.

This report lays out emerging lessons in 8 pillars guiding our work and conversations, noting not just our observations, but why they matter and what we are trying to do differently in our process to respond to them. From starting early, before decisions are set, to emphasizing transparency and accountability over process overload, we are reimagining resilience and evolving our approach.

In particular, it makes the case for accompaniment around the “messy middle” – defined as the liminal stage between certainty and the unknown that can be a rich, generative phase for reimagining. Transitions are important opportunities for innovation and partnership in many cases. Another highlight is the critical importance of collective leadership, built around shared accountability and purpose. Engaging boards, executives and teams together ensures continuity and shared learning.

We invite funders, practitioners, and networks to engage in this shared learning agenda: exchanging insights, testing approaches, and strengthening the collective capacity for thoughtful, purpose-aligned change. Together, we can ensure that the missions and communities that matter most not only survive this moment — they transform through it.