The Foundation’s Role in Transforming Joy Into Systemic Change

Joy! It's a feeling that the Onion Foundation team strives to create through our work, and one we return to regularly as we assess our impact. You can see it radiating from children's faces in our grantees’ summer camps and from nonprofit leaders as they work together to create adaptive sailing experiences for people with disabilities.

Yet as someone who has focused most of her career on systemic change, I've come to realize that while individual moments of joy are treasured and energizing, they don't necessarily lead to lasting change or sustained well-being.

This realization has prompted me to consider how we can elevate these joyful experiences into catalysts for broader change. How do we transform these moments into new expectations about the quality of life over a lifespan — not just for some, but for everyone? With poverty and discrimination increasing in the U.S. and concerted efforts to dismantle traditional government safety nets, this challenge is immense. Nevertheless, I believe foundations and nonprofits can help create lasting change by fostering five essential elements.

1. A Sense of Belonging

People need to feel accepted and valued on their own terms. This sense of belonging provides both an appreciation for one's community and the confidence to develop personal agency. In our current climate of heightened anxiety and divisiveness, creating genuinely welcoming environments offers crucial safety and affirmation.

Foundations can support this work by helping programs implement inclusive practices — such as offering American Sign Language interpretation at events, providing clear guidelines for interactions at meetings, or ensuring an organization’s leadership reflects the diversity of program participants — that ensure their services are truly open and welcoming to all.

2. Empathy and Understanding

To build lasting well-being, we must develop genuine empathy for others. This requires curiosity and a commitment to learning about different life experiences, hopes, and fears. By recognizing both our common humanity and the external conditions that differentiate us, we gain wisdom and the ability to hold multiple perspectives.

Foundations can advance this by supporting projects that teach accurate, comprehensive U.S. history; illuminating how decades of systemic discrimination has caused current conditions; and creating opportunities for diverse groups to learn and create together.

3. Purpose and Passion

The opportunity to pursue one's passion and develop expertise isn’t just personally fulfilling — it's critical for building a robust and healthy society. Solutions to complex social challenges require both deep knowledge and innovative thinking.

From funding out-of-school programs to supporting workforce development initiatives, foundations can support people in developing a sense of purpose. Foundations can help ensure that formal and informal educational initiatives are accessible and encourage lifelong learning. With flexible funding and a tolerance for risk, foundations can support both innovative ideas and evidence-based programs.

4. Advocacy Skills

Individual well-being often requires changing systemic conditions, which demands effective advocacy skills. While we value freedom of expression, creating change also requires the ability to persuade others and build collective action. Many limiting conditions are so complex that they’ll only shift through sustained, group effort.

Foundations can maximize their impact by helping individuals develop the advocacy skills needed to transform their knowledge and passion into effective action.

5. Coalition Building

Finally, creating lasting change often requires working across interest groups and building broader coalitions. Many social challenges share common roots, and solutions can be more effective when coupled with complementary changes. Successful campaigns for change typically require movements where communities identify mutual interests and align their efforts.

Foundations can encourage advocacy leaders to broaden their support by making common cause with others who share similar values and objectives.

Developing Community Well-Being

By fostering these five elements, foundations can help transform individual moments of joy into lasting improvements in community well-being. This approach recognizes that, while personal happiness matters, sustainable change to benefit the broader community requires building connections, developing knowledge and skills, and creating collective action for the common good.