Across the U.S., a cohort of communities is already leading the charge for change. These Five & Rising pilot communities are co-creating, testing, and proving the systems our sector actually needs. They’re not waiting. They’re rising by:

• Incubating bold new funding models
• Challenging what’s not working
• Pushing for strategies built around real impact

They’re not just beneficiaries. They’re building a better system. And putting their own dollars on the line to make it happen. This is shared power and it’s the future of the sector.

Meet Our Bold Communities

Center for Community Impact (Northwest Ohio)
Building Shared Infrastructure for Rural-Serving Organizations
In Northwest Ohio, the Center for Community Impact is proving that collaboration is the innovation in rural America. By co-creating shared systems, collaborative strategies, and readiness that attract investment, and by launching leadership boot camps to strengthen capacity and a shared services ecosystem, they show the rural social sector is not just ready to lead, they are already rising.

ChangeMakers Hawai’i (Hilo, Hawai’i)
Centering Indigenous Wisdom and Trust-Based Philanthropy
In Hawai’i, ChangeMakers is driving economic equity and justice through community engagement, financial access, and support for purpose-driven professions. Through Philanthropono, a capacity-building initiative grounded in Indigenous knowledge, they are elevating the leadership of Indigenous-led nonprofits by partnering with funders to simplify grants, expand unrestricted multi-year funding, and build authentic relationships, they are creating a replicable, equity-driven model for trust-based philanthropy that can thrive in historically marginalized communities nationwide.

Progressive Life Center (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware)
Redesigning Foster Care as Healing Infrastructure
Across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, Progressive Life Center (PLC) is working to transform foster care as a healing, family-centered system. PLC is leading a cross-sector coalition of caregivers, providers, policymakers and those with lived experience to stabilize care, reduce risk, and replace surveillance with support. PLC is tackling systemic fragility, naming the true cost of care, promoting trauma-informed approaches, and creating a model of sustainable, equitable care that can be replicated nationwide.

The social sector revolution is a group effort.

Made up of leaders from across philanthropy, community-based organizations, national intermediaries, policy, and advocacy, a national steering group is helping guide this bold initiative alongside Social Current. They are ensuring the effort stays grounded, responsive, and focused on systemic change.

Let’s keep rising.

This isn’t a moment. It’s a movement. And we need everyone to join in.