The “Cs” of Change
By Amy Blanding (she/her), Lead Consultant & Facilitator, Endura Consulting
I’m not going to lie - 2026 already feels too heavy to handle. As someone with immense privilege, part of my work in the Revolution is to bear witness. To not look away when the unimaginable happens. But bearing witness takes its toll. And the body keeps the score.
Do you feel this too? Do you feel the futility of KPIs and Teams meetings when everything around you is falling apart? What is the antidote to despair? How do we combat moral distress? Is there some magic pill to prevent burnout?
I think so. I think it’s the 3 Cs: Connection. Care. And Collective liberation.
“People who refuse to ignore what’s happening or who are unable to do so are going to feel pain as a result, and that pain has to be reckoned with. We all need a practice of grief and a practice of care that allows us to air out what we’re holding inside and to offer comfort to others. That’s how we keep those soft parts of ourselves intact, and we need those parts of ourselves because that softness isn’t weakness; it’s connection. Connecting to something terrible is painful, but it allows us to live in the recognition of our shared humanity and to act in the name of collective liberation and collective survival. So, don’t ever let anyone shame you for hurting or for needing a place to express that hurt in solidarity with others. The strategic organizing we need is not going to happen or be sustainable unless we figure out how to navigate our pain together” - Kelly Hayes.
As Kelly Hayes so brilliantly writes, feeling pain together, grieving in community, RAGING with your comrades, is both necessary and healing. It gives us the connection and strength that we need to stay turned-on to what needs to be done. We need others to hold us up, just as we need to hold others when they are falling down. Working alongside communities and organizations that centre care was a grounding force for me in 2025. I organized in the streets and behind screens, sent spicy letters to government officials and administered funding for criminalized protestors, stepped into non-profit leadership for child and youth mental health, and blossomed into our work with Endura. Working with others who centre care changed the way I want to work for the rest of my life.
Who we are in the world is who we are in the work. If we are able to hold people and care at the centre of our work and resist disconnection, we can fight this descent into burnout, distress, and numbness and - dare I say it - actually feel rejuvenated enough to make the systems-level changes that will transform the narrative. A movement, motivated by care, toward collective liberation.
I can’t promise that 2026 is going to be any easier. In fact, I suspect things might get worse before they get better. But what I can promise is that I’ll be there - we will be there - centering you, your care, your team, and your community. We need each other. Let’s get to work.
