🫱🏽🫲🏼 The Most Trusted Institution
And what it can teach us
📡 On my Radar
We trust museums more than any other institution in America - nearly as much as we trust our friends and family.
Why?
Museums maintain trust because their structure forces accountability to public benefit, not private profit.
They operate under a public trust doctrine with transparent governance, professional ethics codes with actual enforcement, and evidence-based communication where they show their work.
They engage communities as genuine partners who can change institutional direction, not advisory boards institutions ignore.
Meanwhile Congress scrapes by at a 7% approval rating, media hits 28%, and corporate trust flatlines at 14%.
We may want to ask how can these distrusted institutions be more like museums? But I dont know if that’s the right question. I think a better question is: who does your institution actually serve?
Congress serves donors. Media serves shareholders. Healthcare serves insurers. Universities serve rankings.
But they were always meant to serve YOU, like museums.
Rebuilding trust requires restructuring power - public funding for journalism, single-payer healthcare, campaign finance reform, democratic university governance. Not better messaging. Different incentives.
We haven’t lost capacity for trust. We’ve lost patience for institutions that betray it.
📈 By the Numbers
👊🏽 Make a Difference
12 jobs | 3 funding opportunities | 2 fellowships
JOB | Fayaz Nawabi shares an opportunity to make a critical difference in the region as Middle East Regional Director at the American Friends Service Committee.
JOB (3) | The Gates Foundation’s Communications Division seeks three senior communications leaders to build public campaigns, create content, and tell stories that inspire people to care about improving global health and fighting poverty.
FUNDING | The Government of the Netherlands launches FemFocus 2026–2030, offering €209.3M in grants for Civil Society Organizations advancing women’s rights and gender equality in the MENA region.
JOB | Girl Scouts of USA is hiring a Director of Movement Communications to keep their 111 councils, national board, and staff aligned and inspired through strategic storytelling and relationship-building.
JOB | Wafa Ben-Hassine reshares an opening for Director of California Programs and Policy at Omidyar Network to serve as their primary representative in Sacramento.
JOB | National Geographic’s StoryLab is hiring a Director of Operations to lead their Blue Boundaries initiative.
FUNDING | The W.K. Kellogg Foundation offers year-round grants for bold, community-driven organizations working on early childhood education, maternal and child health, food systems and economic equity, and racial healing and community leadership.
JOB | Jeremy Sherlick is hiring a Senior Video Producer at the Council on Foreign Relations to create compelling visual storytelling on complex global issues, based in New York or DC.
FELLOWSHIP | Caroline Ouwerwerk shares the Obama Leaders fellowship at the Obama Foundation for changemakers looking to scale their impact worldwide.
JOB | SurfCoast Shire seeks a Community Engagement Facilitator to build relationships and guide inclusive, authentic engagement across the community.
FELLOWSHIP | American University’s Emerging Global Leader Scholarship offers full or partial scholarships (up to US$40,000/year) for international students committed to civic leadership and positive social change.
JOB | The Obama Foundation seeks a Director of Social Media to lead their digital presence and engagement.
FUNDING | Foellinger Foundation’s Capacity Building Grants help Allen County nonprofits strengthen leadership, grow organizational capacity, and plan for the future.
JOB | The Golden State Warriors seek a Public Affairs Assistant to support government relations, neighborhood engagement, and operations across the Warriors, Valkyries, Chase Center, and Thrive City.
🤓 This is Your Next
You’re More Powerful than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen, by Eric Liu (thanks to
for the rec).🙌🏽 FairNation
This is why I love working with young people.