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I know I speak for many in my Gen X cohort when I say it’s killing me how the social progress we fought for is being undone. Much of that advancement was driven by nonprofits and the philanthropic sector, which were vulnerable then and are likely bigger targets now.

Was this generation naive enough to believe that progress, once attained, would be automatically retained? We attended “No Nukes” rallies in high school. We built shantytowns on the college quad to dismantle Apartheid. Hundreds of thousands of us marched in DC in 1992 to rally for abortion and other reproductive rights. 

Apparently, we won those battles but not the war. Those smoldering embers caught flame in Project 2025. Sure, Trump is trying to run away from it like so many district attorneys, but even if Trump loses, do we think the Heritage Foundation and its compatriots will just fade into the sunset? 

My first campaign as a comms professional was in 1994 when Newt Gingrich led the “Contract for America,” which tried to end public TV and radio. Under the guise of reducing “government waste,” the 104th Congress fought to silence the voices they disdained, and I found my passion fighting for nonprofits, foundations, and their grantees. They tried to kill Big Bird and NPR, but we held on.

There’s more money now to go after. Estimates say over the past 30 years, there’s been an increase in total giving from all sources of $360 billion. And it’s not just our nearly half-trillion-dollar size but the impact we’ve had in moving the culture that has rattled the cage. Decades of reproductive rights, advances in DEI, marriage equality, increasing voter participation, the Affordable Health Care Act, fuller recognition of climate change, misogyny, and racism – our progress poked the proverbial bear.

Before VP candidate JD Vance called foundations “social justice hedge funds,” he told Fox News in 2021, “we are actively subsidizing the people who are destroying this country, and they call it a charity.” A major party candidate for national office who calls progressive foundations “cancers on American society” is firing warning shots we should heed. 

What I’ve read of Project 2025 makes me wax nostalgic for the 1990s. It’s a hellscape pledging mass deportations of immigrants, gutting the civil service for loyal henchmen, and the end of abortion, IVF, and possibly birth control and divorce. It defines a family only as a married man and woman and their biological offspring. The rights and recognition of those outside the platonic ideals of white Christian Nationalism are in danger of being erased forever.

Unlike when my generation was coming up, new media tools make dividing and conquering much easier for the forces arrayed against us. Today, disinformation, misinformation and media corporatization are dangerous. But let’s not forget that we have the truth and the values of our work on our side. The demographic changes of these past decades also mean fewer Americans can easily be convinced otherwise.

Gen X frustration aside, all the generations need to get aligned to defend ourselves and promote a vision of how nonprofits and philanthropy are forces for good. Here’s what I believe our sector needs to do right now:

• Message strength and unity. We may work on different issues and compete for precious few resources, but we should emphasize our combined power. With nearly 2 million nonprofits and 7% of the national workforce, our sector is on the frontline of solving people’s everyday problems and making our country stronger, healthier, and more equitable.

• Keep declaring our value—not corporations or government, but a massive field of professionals dedicated to the public good. Most Americans have little understanding of the infrastructure nonprofits provide to everyday life. They know even less about philanthropy, and less knowledge means more vulnerability to misinformation.

• Invite the public into our challenges. We hide the serious obstacles that we face at our own peril. If giving was down in 2023 but needs are up, we need to say so. If we face a politically motivated attack, we need to call it out. Anti-democratic forces try to weaken civil society, and that means us.

• Listen to youth and let them lead. Some of the most impressive work being done right now is by young people. From guns to race equity to community safety, Gen Z and the Alphas behind them are less risk averse or hidebound to doing things the old ways. They are not just the potential donor base, they are the future’s leaders and we should be making space now.

• Maintain the commitments to DEIJ. While the country faces a Great Regression, especially from the corporate sector, it’s critical that we don’t give up our ideals. The Supreme Court’s ruling in higher education created a permission structure for Wall Street and corporate America to abandon their flimsy commitments. We can and must do better. 

Jennifer Hahn is the Chief Client Officer at Fenton. 

“You don’t look Jewish,” is something you hear when you have red hair, freckles and not a particularly large nose. To some, I don’t meet the stereotype of what being Jewish “should” look like. For this reason, I’ve heard antisemitic comments all my life, but nothing could have prepared me for this moment. 

To be clear, this piece is about antisemitism — not about Israel, Hamas or any other geopolitical disaster. It is about what it feels like to be the target of hate and violence. It is about the depth of fear and pain that is consuming me and my community. It is about using communications to speak up for yourself and others. It is also about racism. 

Race is a deeply complex concept that is bigger than skin color, and as this last month has shown, antisemitism must be included in the conversation. While many Jews have the cold comfort of being able to blend into white spaces, antisemitism is nonetheless part of many of our lives. Remember a few years ago when neo-Nazis and the KKK stormed Charlottesville, Virginia, with Tiki Torches shouting “Jews will not replace us”? It was a familiar chant with a long history that Jews know all too well. 

The election of former President Donald Trump in 2016 released a Kraken of antisemitism along with other forms of racism, bigotry, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia. He did not invent any of those ills, and since his loss in 2020 it’s gotten worse. We have seen what happens when there is a permission structure granted for the ugliest of human behavior from a position of power. If Jews in America got lulled into thinking they were safe, the Trump years were a wake-up call that confirmed that we are still “other,” still despised and still an easy target. 

Since that day in Charlottesville in 2017, the graves of my grandparents have been defaced and spray-painted with swastikas. The temple my family belongs to has received several bomb threats, including this September on Rosh Hashanah. This past week, a fellow student on the campus where my son is finishing up his college studies threatened to “bring an assault rifle to campus and shoot all you pig jews.” 

I have been in the communications industry as a professional since 1992. I chose to focus on nonprofit organizations and social impact work because I wanted a career in which I could make a positive change on the world; not just for Jews, but for everyone. 

It’s not easy work, but it’s more important than ever that we as professional communicators step up and use our skills, passion and connections to address what is so obviously broken in the way antisemitism is held apart from other forms of racism and injustice. The past month alone has seen a 400% increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S., and also in Canada, Europe and South Africa. Our fear is not unfounded. 

Let’s start by naming antisemitism as a threat and recognize that it’s part of the work of DEI. Part of my contribution to my agency’s DEI committee was the addition of “religious discrimination” to our statement. Just like it’s ridiculous to leave the burden of eliminating racism to people of color, everyone — not just Jewish people — needs to denounce antisemitism unequivocally when they see it. 

We can also take particular care to combat misinformation and disinformation. Last year, The Polarization Pendulum, an analysis of 100 million tweets from over 18 months found the “shifting popularity of antisemitic” tropes on Twitter. When you consider this along with the fact that “extremist anti-Jewish hate is not acted on,” according to this study from the Center for Countering Digital Hatred, it’s evident that antisemitic messages are accepted across the world’s most influential social media platforms. 

Data shows that online attacks against Jews in the U.S. correlate with conflict in Israel. We must convey that no matter how people feel about the war, hating Jews is not — nor will ever be — a valid response. The clarity and leadership of Rev. William Barber has been a rare exception, as he wrote in the Guardian, “Moral movements for justice have always refused to take on the tactics of those who choose to terrorize.” 

Fighting antisemitism is consistent with human rights and an inclusive society. Do you know that research shows the Americans with the most antisemitic beliefs also support the most serious violent threats to democracy? I especially want to ask my fellow progressives why so many of them are silent. As Dana Milbank of The Washington Post wrote last month, “what a lonely time to be a Jew in America.” Many of us feel so abandoned when we have stood up for the safety, rights and dignity of other communities. 

The work is also empathizing with your Jewish colleagues who are really struggling right now. I’m a lifelong New Yorker with a tough exterior that rejects vulnerability, but I cannot express what it has meant that some non-Jewish friends and colleagues of all races have reached out to me. It is not taking political sides to show compassion. I still tear up from a friend’s text: “I bear witness to your pain and loss. I’m extending love.”

There’s a lot of work to do, but communicators are particularly well-equipped to help address the growing threat of antisemitism. It is incumbent on all of us to use the tools of our trade to fight this ancient hatred, and in turn make society better for all of us. 

 

Jennifer Hahn is chief client officer at Fenton.