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** Staff Picks for 2025 (So Far): Steve
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August 25, 2025

As we at NPQ take a much-needed summer break, we have been asked to select our top eight favorite articles of the year. Here are my choices. At least for me, this is a daunting task because my list of favorites could easily stretch to 20 articles or more.

To ease the task, I selected articles with high readership, a sign they resonate with the field. And since I’m economic justice editor, I look for stories with an economic justice angle (usually, not always). Beyond that, I stayed mostly away from news stories to focus on stories of importance that cover themes you’re only likely to find at NPQ.

At NPQ, our goal is not to be cheerleaders for the nonprofit sector. Being a nonprofit is a tax status, not a synonym for virtue. That said, there is real valor and value in social movements, in nonprofits, and the people within them. That is what I highlight here.

This issue has:
* A Personal Essay ([link removed]) – What does it mean for a nonprofit to not only say it’s acting in solidarity, but to be in solidarity? Here is one account.

* Behind the Headlines ([link removed]) —Two years ago, a fire destroyed much of the Maui city of Lahaina. The media left long ago; the residents continue to rebuild.

* A Movement Voice ([link removed]) —What kind of organizing can advance a solidarity economy in the United States today? The answer begins in the South.

* My Full List of Picks ([link removed]) —My complete list of 2025 selections is rounded out by an interview, an analytical article, an overview of community finance, and stories about movement and nonprofit strategies in the current moment.

If you read all these articles when they first came out, congratulations! But if not, please take the time to read them now. At NPQ, we regularly emphasize the importance of storytelling, solutions, and solidarity in advancing economic and racial justice. I hope you find some wisdom in the stories that I am sharing with you today.

Steve Dubb

Senior Editor

Economic Justice

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** Staff Picks: Steve
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[link removed]

Overcoming Fear and Seeking Solidarity: How We Must Defend Our Communities

by Rudy Espinoza

In social change work, we don’t always get to choose our battles. When my nonprofit recently faced such a moment, it was important to face and overcome our fears.
Read Article ([link removed])
[link removed]

The Struggle to Rebuild Lahaina: Where Is Recovery Two Years After the Fires?

by Lahaina Strong

The fires that killed over 100 in Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaiʻi are now nearly two years in the past. But the community struggle to rebuild on its own terms persists.
Read Article ([link removed])
[link removed]

Our Task Ahead: Reclaiming Revolutionary Struggle in Atlanta and the South

by Jasmine Banks and April Doner, Resist and Build Network

In the current moment, movement-based organizations must reclaim their revolutionary roots. In contemporary organizing in the US South, tools are available to do so.
Read Article ([link removed])
[link removed]

NPQ Staff Picks 2025 (So Far): Steve

by Steve Dubb

Here you will find my full “top eight” list of 2025 stories so far, including an Economy Remix column on community organizing in Los Angeles, a “Truth to Power” interview on “Beautiful Solutions,” and stories about community finance, campus solidarity with Gaza, and how nonprofit leaders might “show up” today.
Read Articles ([link removed])

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