Strong People, Strong Movements: Balancing Team Well-Being and Civic Action
Movements don’t happen in the abstract. They happen because people show up—again and again—pouring time, energy and heart into the work of change. Whether it’s registering and turning out new voters, organizing a protest, or advocating for a policy that protects vulnerable communities, movement building is—and always will be—powered by people.
But there’s a hard truth we don’t say out loud enough: the very urgency that drives our movements can also drain the people inside them. When teams run on empty, burnout spreads and the work suffers. Taking care of team well-being isn’t separate from movement building—it’s what makes it possible.
How we participate in shaping our communities and our democracy—is powerful. It’s also relentless. The stakes are high, the pace is fast and the problems we’re facing are continually complex. For many, the instinct is to push harder, move faster and do more—and more. But civic action without care for the people doing it is unsustainable.
When we talked with our Mighty Partners who are on the frontlines of civic action and defending our democracy as part of the Mighty Partner Project, we heard what so many others in the nonprofit community shared: People are burning out. Across the board, 83% of our partners noted burnout personally, and 78% noted burnout with their teams.
And in the same breath, partners shared that taking care of the people—and the team—is what made their work and this larger movement we find ourselves in strong, powerful and durable. So, it’s not just that we can or should take care of the people doing this work to build and maintain a strong movement. We must.
What We’ve Learned From the Field:
Spread the Vote
Spread the Vote helps people get the IDs they need to vote—essential documents that unlock not only democratic participation but also access to housing, jobs, and services. The work is urgent and deeply personal. Spread The Vote’s staff and volunteers often walk alongside clients through bureaucratic hurdles and frustrating systems. To sustain that intensity, Spread the Vote prioritizes practices that remind staff to breathe, step back and reconnect with the bigger picture. Their approach acknowledges that to show up for voters, you must also show up for yourself and your team.
“The thing that I always tell my team is you can either kill yourself for two years and then you have to stop, or you can work at a reasonable pace and take breaks and do this work for 20 years,” Kat Calvin, Founder and Executive Director of Spread the Vote says. “But you have to make that choice… it's really, really critical that we take those breaks.”
We sat down with Calvin last year and she shared that Sustainability goes both ways in the nonprofit world—without a sustainable work environment, burnout reigns. But Spread The Vote has a low turnover rate, Calvin says, with most of the team having been there since the beginning. The key? Mandatory vacation, flexible schedules, and unlimited time off. Working with single moms early on, Calvin realized they need to be able to take time off when their kids are sick without having to worry about counting days. And that extends to personal time off, too.
While Calvin may be quick to acknowledge that things look dark in the world, what keeps her going is focusing on the small, concrete things she and the Spread The Vote team are accomplishing.
“One of the things we talk about on our staff all the time is, look, maybe the apocalypse is coming, maybe everything's terrible, but we can get someone an ID that will make their lives better and will help them survive whatever is coming much more easily,” she says. The small ways they can help aren’t so small to the people they help, she says. It makes a real, tangible difference in an election—and a world—where every vote counts.
Mi Familia Vota
Mi Familia Vota mobilizes Latino, immigrant and allied communities around democracy, climate justice and workers’ rights. Their outreach stretches across states, and their teams are often on the frontlines of political debates. Yet the organization invests in the well-being of its organizers, understanding that civic action is not just about mobilizing bodies—it’s about nurturing the people who carry the vision forward. The care they extend internally echoes the care they call for in their communities.
"The most important thing is that we have a culture where folks feel like priority is to pause and make sure folks are safe and supported,” Kristian Aguilar, Director of Development and Special Projects for Mi Familia Vota and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund, says.
Aguilar emphasizes shifting the conversation around mental health from addressing "burnout" to prioritizing the "protection of staff." This mindset has fostered a resilient and collaborative team environment that Aguilar says, “speaks to the resiliency of our community and the infrastructure we’ve built as an organization.”
Examples of Mi Familia Vota’s Mental Health Support Framework:
Affinity and wellness groups: Activities like yoga and breathwork sessions to support staff well-being.
Wellness team initiatives: Programs like health and wellness bingo to educate employees on the full scope of their health insurance benefits.
Intentional community building: Celebrating joy in the work to balance the highly mathematical and methodical nature of their tasks.
Dedicated wellness advocate: A designated individual who ensures employee well-being remains a core organizational focus.
"I'm trying to ground myself in what we can control and what we cannot control, while ensuring we’re building strong collaboration and community within our teams," says Aguilar. Mi Familia Vota’s commitment to holistic mental health demonstrates the power of infrastructure and intentionality in fostering a thriving, supported workforce.
Power California
Power California engages young people of color in shaping the state’s future. Their model combines civic participation with leadership development and cultural connection. By investing in youth well-being—giving young leaders space to learn, reflect and grow—they’re building more than a movement. They’re building resilience, power and joy into the very DNA of civic action in California. And the ripple effects can be felt across the country.
“Our movement is at a point where investing in leadership pathways is of utmost importance,” Alicia Olivarez, Executive Vice President of Power California, says. “As organizational transitions or unexpected crises happen, we have to ensure that front line staff all the way up to directors are equipped to lead.”
Many of our partners highlighted a need to invest in the next generation of leaders for their missions. It’s why we launched a pilot project fund. Nurturing Leadership Grants support existing Mighty Partners to create leadership opportunities, or simply to provide wellness funds for their staff. This is an additional offering beyond our existing unrestricted grants and an effort to nurture those who are coming up in their organizations and in our collective movements.
“Our ultimate goal is to not just strengthen our organization, but ultimately the bench of leaders who will contribute to the organizational resilience in the larger ecosystem over time,” Olivarez says.
These organizations remind us that movements don’t have to choose between well-being and impact. In fact, one fuels the other.
The Bigger Picture
At its core, civic and collective action is how we shape the world we live in. Team well-being is how we ensure the people doing that work can keep showing up. One without the other just doesn’t work.
When we put both at the center and stoke those flames together, we build movements that last and burn bright. We create spaces where people aren’t just asked to give everything they have, but are supported to thrive as they double down. We remind ourselves that the work is not only about winning campaigns or changing policies—it’s about creating the just, vibrant and caring world we believe in.
Taking care of each other while taking care of our communities is not a contradiction. It’s the most powerful form of movement building we have left.