FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO
JUNE 2026
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, each of us is asked to consider its aspirations against our progress: where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. Are we at a lasting policy and economic inflection point, or still working to shape the ones to come, as we make economic security, affordability, and inclusive wealth from multiple pathways the norm?
The more relevant question is how we in philanthropy act. Will we revert to the charity mindset that was once the norm, or redouble our commitment to refine strategies, align with other funders, and act as catalysts—proving the ways to grow inclusive economic security from employment, guaranteed income, tax policies, and wealth, while continuing to invest in children’s wealth-building accounts and asset-building strategies for future generations?
At AFN, our members are clear that theirs is the path of investment and system change. Being effective will continue to mean letting go of the noise and emotion of the daily disruption and supporting ideas that a decade ago were non-starters. In many ways our environment is not unlike the ones faced to systemically address the Depression, the postwar economy, and the civil and equal rights movements.
That work is not abstract. This month, it takes shape across our network in a new tool to measure wealth, the accounts to build it, the guidance to make sure everyone is included, and the continued shaping of our eighth biennial gathering this fall where we will carry the work forward. And we will continue to take the long view.
For twenty years, our members did the patient work creating a movement and acceptance of children’s savings accounts: testing the idea, building the next step to scale, and committing to continuous improvement. That work can seem slow, but it is what produces lasting, generational change—the kind measured by whether the winners are LMI households, not only the wealthiest. It is much of why a federal vehicle for children’s wealth now exists. Our new funder’s guide to the rollout of the 530A “Trump Accounts,” paired with all we’ve learned from CSAs, shows where equity contributions to children’s accounts can go next.
To act well, we first have to see clearly. A new wealth-measurement tool from our friends at Aspen FSP, explored here by Gary Community Ventures and Prudential Financial, gives the field something it has long needed: a useful way to measure wealth, not only income. The distinction matters, because wealth is agency in this economy, and what we cannot measure, we cannot move.
With a clearer view of how households build assets, or are blocked from building them, funders can direct investments toward the levers of the system rather than the margins, and inform plans for the inclusive, abundant future we are working toward. Employee benefits are where much of a worker’s financial security is won or lost. Join us on July 9 for a webinar on workplace benefits and how philanthropy can help expand workers’ financial health, mobility, and asset-building.
Prosperity has to include everyone, or it isn’t shared. Immigrant workers and their families are part of our communities and our economy. Immigrant workers and their families are part of our communities and our economy, and our Asset Funder’s Guide to Supporting Immigrants and Refugees in an Era of Harm offers funders practical ways to stand with them. That same commitment runs through two upcoming webinars: one with FreeFrom releasing a survivor-informed roadmap for the economic security of gender-based violence survivors, and another on June 30, on how philanthropy can help protect the assets of people at greatest economic risk from financial scams.
This is how reinvention tends to begin—with state and city efforts, and with members creating tangible solutions for their constituents. We will continue to lift up those members and offer pathways for technical assistance where there is interest. The voices in this issue are that work made visible.
These ideas, and many more, will be at the heart of AFN’s 2026 National Grantmaker Conference. With the room already at 80% capacity, let me make a direct invitation: if you are a funder who has been waiting to register, now is the time to join us in Philadelphia, where we will look at the 250th anniversary of the Declaration not as a retrospective but as the continuing understanding that much more work is needed. Together, we will keep progressing, without fear but with purpose and resolve, toward the better, more just, and inclusive results we desire and are committed to achieve. I hope to see you there.
