As Cultivate celebrates 10 years of equipping local leaders for community-led social change, I have been spending a lot of time reflecting on what comes next.
Over the past decade, conversations about localization have gained significant momentum across the nonprofit and international development sectors. More organizations are recognizing what Cultivate has believed from the beginning: local leaders are the most important drivers of lasting social change.
For the past few years, my work has focused on helping leaders and organizations understand dependency and learned helplessness. Through training, coaching, and research, I have explored why communities sometimes struggle to take ownership of change even when resources, opportunities, and support are available.
Then life forced me into my own journey of hardship.
During my battle with cancer, I learned firsthand how trauma, fear, uncertainty, and resilience shape the way people think, make decisions, and respond to challenges. Healing was not simply a physical process. It involved mindset, hope, relationships, perseverance, emotional regulation, and the ability to believe that a better future was still possible.
Those experiences deepened my understanding of something I had already been observing in communities around the world. While knowledge, skills, and resources matter, they are often not enough on their own. Oppression, poverty, conflict, trauma, and dependency can leave wounds that affect how individuals and communities see themselves and what they believe is possible. Even when opportunities exist, healing is often necessary before empowerment can fully take root.
As I return to work, I find myself bringing these lessons into Cultivate’s mission. I am increasingly asking how we can help communities not only gain knowledge and skills, but also build the resilience, agency, confidence, and hope needed to create lasting change.
This reflection has inspired a new training initiative that will explore the connection between healing, empowerment, resilience, and community-led development.
Our forthcoming curriculum will focus on four key areas:
This curriculum is still in development, and I am excited about where it may lead. While the exact shape of the training will continue to evolve, the vision remains consistent with what has guided Cultivate for the last 10 years: helping people discover their strengths, build their capacity, and create change on their own terms.
As we enter our second decade, I believe the future of community-led development requires more than transferring resources and decision-making power to local communities. It also requires helping people heal, grow, and recognize the power they already possess.
If you would like to be among the first to hear about this new training initiative, pilot opportunities, and future launch announcements, join our mailing list now.
The next chapter of Cultivate is just beginning.