[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In 2020, COVID-19 profoundly impacted every aspect of our lives, both personally and professionally, robbing us of well over a half-million family members, friends, and community members; causing massive financial disruption, work closures, and job loss; and forever changing our perspective on what we hold dear and consider truly important.

The year also forced us to search our souls, as individuals and as a country, no longer able to turn a blind eye to the timeline of history that began more than 400 years ago, with tentacles of racial inequality and injustice that reach into every aspect of American life to this day. And all of this happened with the 2020 elections looming – among the most consequential elections for our sector and the nation in our lifetime – and an ongoing and ever-pressing environmental climate crisis.

The past year almost brought us to our knees – but it did not. Instead, it revealed an inner strength and determination as a people to begin the process of truly living the meaning of our nation’s creed. Independent Sector is the only national membership organization that represents a diverse community of changemakers of all sizes and kinds.

The trials of 2020 led Independent Sector to reevaluate our mission, rethink our focus, and redouble our efforts to understand and accelerate the impact of the nonprofit sector, build community as we work collaboratively with changemakers to lean into the magnitude of ambition and consequence that this extraordinary, historical time demands, and advocate for public policies to achieve the systems change needed to ensure all people thrive.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]