How Communities are Building a Stronger Democracy Through Trust

Progress moves at the speed of trust.

That’s something many organizers and community leaders have understood for a long time. It reflects the reality that real change doesn’t happen all at once. It happens through relationships and people showing up for one another over time. Lasting progress is possible when communities can work through disagreements and respond to challenges to move toward a shared future together.

That trust is what makes democracy work in everyday life. It helps clear a path for people to feel connected to the decisions at their schools, in their neighborhoods, and at their workplaces. It creates the conditions for people to not just be heard, but to also work together to find solutions.

That’s what we aim to support through our Resourcing Democracy portfolio. We invest in organizations and leaders to build trust among themselves and within their communities. We believe stronger communities lead to a stronger democracy, and that this work must continue long after any single election cycle ends. Across Michigan, Washington, and North Carolina, our partners are doing exactly that. Several community-based organizations in each state have come together in sustained alliances to build shared priorities, build power through local leadership, and coordinate around long-term goals for their communities.

This spring, we gathered with state organizations alongside our partners at the Grassroots Power Project. Over three days, organizational leaders from across three states came together for honesty about what it takes to build durable partnerships while also meeting the urgent needs of today.

What stood out most to me was how much this works depends on relationships that have been built over time. Each state and organization brings the same commitment to working across differences toward shared goals. The ability to move strategically doesn’t happen without sustained investment in trust–between state partners and between funders and grantees.

Again and again, leaders talked about why trust is essential to this work:

Trust creates shared ownership.

Across states, leaders described how trust allowed organizations to build a shared long-term agenda that didn’t depend on just a few people at the top. Leadership, strategy, and decision-making could be shared across teams and organizations.

Trust helps communities respond faster.

Partners in Washington talked about how the relationships they’ve built over time allow them to "run faster when we need to run faster" during moments of crisis or opportunity.

Trust creates space for honesty.

Several leaders spoke about the importance of being able to have candid conversations about what is and isn't working. That kind of honesty is difficult without deep relationships and mutual trust. This kind of relational infrastructure—consisting of both the relationships themselves and also the structure of strategic state alignment—brings people and organizations together across issues, geography, race, and class.

But none of this happens on its own. Building lasting partnerships across communities, issues, geography, and organizations takes time, consistency, and long-term support.

That’s where philanthropy can play an important role—not by dictating solutions, but by helping create the conditions for communities to lead, adapt, and sustain the work over time.

When people trust one another enough to work toward shared goals, communities become stronger, more resilient, and better equipped to shape the future they want. That is how lasting change happens. And it’s how we build a democracy that works better for everyone.

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Thank you to our partners who attended the convening. These reflections from our state partners offer a window into the challenges and aspirations shaping community-led efforts to build a stronger, more inclusive democracy.