October 7, 2025
Two years ago today, Hamas launched attacks on Israel that killed over 1,000 people and took 250 people hostage. Israel’s military response has since killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, with international organizations identifying the ongoing violence as genocide. For nonprofit leaders, this anniversary marks not just a moment of remembrance but a reckoning with questions about moral leadership, organizational courage, and the true costs of silence.
The challenge facing progressive nonprofit leaders has been stark from the beginning: how to speak out against atrocities while navigating donor pressure, staff safety, and accusations of anti-Semitism—challenges that have only intensified under the Trump administration.
In such moments of moral crisis, nonprofit leadership requires not just technical skill in navigating political complexity, but the courage to speak the truth when lives depend on it—even at significant institutional risk.
In solidarity,
Coty Poynter
Managing Editor
