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Change Without Compromise: Guiding Your Organization Through Policy Challenges
- Tiara Whitlock
- Sep 2
- 3 min read
Recent government policies and regulations have forced many organizations to reconsider how they communicate about and do their work. Navigating these changes has proven challenging.
Here at the Clear Language Lab, we recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all response for the recent changes. Each organization is unique with its own values, goals, and community priorities. We wanted to share some guiding thoughts and questions to consider that have come up for us and people we’ve talked with.
How can you respond to these policies and keep the integrity of your work?
It is important to keep your organization’s main mission and goals as a priority when you respond to policy changes. How you do your work may have to shift or adjust, but the why behind what you do should remain the focus. Even if your organization must make changes in some areas, how can you maintain the core values that drive your work?
Recently Communicate Health Inc. provided a great example of how an organization can respond to policy changes and keep their integrity. Their choice to no longer pursue federal funding was a difficult one with a sobering impact. However, making this choice allows them to stay true to their mission and core values.
How can you keep staff, stakeholders, and those you serve updated and included in any changes you make?
Transparency is an important piece to maintain the trust of both your organization’s staff and the community you serve. Communicating changes clearly and in a timely manner keeps everyone on the same page and feeling included and valued.
For example, our Community Literacy team has seen numerous changes that affect adult literacy member agencies over the last 9 months. In response, staff have kept their ears to the ground and offered additional webinars to address issues like immigration policies and funding changes. Even if the answers are not clear, it has been essential to create spaces to share what’s known – and what’s not - so that community members can make the most informed decisions available to them and plan accordingly.
How can we leverage our partnerships and collaborations to support our work during these changing times?
The relationships your organization has can provide strength and solidarity during these quickly shifting times. Talk to your partners and others doing similar work to brainstorm and share ways to navigate through the policy changes. You can also help each other stay up to date on information and share resources.
Partnerships can also be a way to support any programs or departments that have been negatively impacted by changes. Maybe your organization is no longer able to provide a service. How can you leverage your partnerships to stay committed to fulfilling that need in another way? Or is there a way your organization can do this for someone else?
Maybe now is the time to also consider new connections. Even if we don’t do the same work, we can find other common goals and interests that bridge our work and make our communities stronger.
Conclusion
These are challenging times we live in, and we are all figuring out how to get through it while staying focused on our communities. Remember that change does not have to mean compromise. Staying committed to your mission, being open with your community, and leaning on your partners can help us navigate these changes and stay grounded in our values.
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