If We All Light Up: An end of year letter from innoFaith

Dear friends,

So much has felt out of our control this past year. For me, the work of social change in these times has been an emotional roller coaster. I find myself swinging wildly between doubt about whether anything we're all doing is working and certainty that the work matters, between feeling defeated and finding great joy and inspiration, between fear of where the world is headed and optimism that love and goodness will prevail.

In the Christian tradition, this week marks the start of Advent, the season leading up to the birth of Christ. Scripture tells us to "put on the armor of light" during this time. As I reflect on what that means, I realize that YOU are my armor of light. Whenever my emotional pendulum starts swinging toward cynicism, I think about, read about, or talk to one of you—someone who insists on a better world and helps build it.

The British singer-songwriter Passenger has a song, the chorus of which offers a beautiful take on an ancient sacred insight, "If we all light up, we can scare away the dark." No matter what happens around us, we have the sacred within us, which means we always have agency. We can light up, and when more and more of us do so, and do so more brightly, the darkness fades.

At innoFaith, we support faith sector leaders to grow their light and the light of others. We believe social problems are constantly evolving yet always solvable, especially when we draw upon the wisdom and assets of the world’s faith traditions. So we build bridges across faith traditions and between the secular and sacred to offer content and connections that foster innovation and collaboration for social impact.

In honor of the many lights in our network, we are launching a 30 Days of Giving campaign over the month of December, where we will highlight organizations across the innoFaith network that inspire us. Sign the pledge and follow our 30 days of Giving features via LinkedIn or Facebook. Everyone who signs the pledge will have a chance to win a bundle of some of our favorite books from the innoFaith reading list!

We invite you to support the many organizations we will feature across December, and other organizations you love. We also invite you to make a donation to support our work here at innoFaith. Here are some of the ways we've been growing the light this past year:

• We led three cohorts of leaders through our NYU Certificate Course in Faith, Innovation, and Social Impact in partnership with Catholic Volunteer Network (CVN), the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula Delaware Area of the United Methodist Church, and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). The course is a unique innovation leadership training opportunity for faith sector leaders, equipping participants with the strategies and tools of social innovation. An independent evaluation this year showed that participants demonstrated significant growth in initiative-taking and adaptive experimentation and successfully translated secular innovation tools into the language and logic of ministry and nonprofit service. See what participants had to say:

  • “I feel better prepared to think outside the box, work collaboratively, and contribute to fresh new approaches to social problems.”

  • “The course left me feeling empowered and ready to ask the right questions, get creative with solutions, and not wait for perfection to try something new.”

  • CVN’s Executive Director reported that the course was “exactly what the network needed…. At first, a few people were hesitant—it sounded too business-y. But then they saw it’s just a framework that helps us do our work better. It doesn’t replace our mission—it strengthens it…. It was revolutionizing.”

• We co-led a national field study on spiritual innovation with our partners at Glean Network, Chaplaincy Innovation Lab, and Faith Matters Network. The study seeks to understand the presence and collective impact of spiritual innovation in local communities and economies and to build networks to engage in coordinated efforts and greater collective impact. The research report from the study was released this year. With our collaborators, we also co-hosted a conversation on spiritual innovation and local spiritual ecosystems in Chicago and will be releasing a free spiritual innovation educational tool before year's end.

• We conducted workshops on faith and social innovation at the Catholic Volunteer Network annual conference and for two cohorts of the Rush University Spiritual Care Management and Leadership Certificate.

• We launched two new content series, Spotlight on Solutions, where we feature innovative initiatives and promising strategies in particular issue areas (this year, those included civic engagement, immigration, and climate change); and Tools for Innovators, where we share techniques to help build the confidence and capacity to innovate.

• We launched a collaboration with Union Theological Seminary to co-host virtual events on social innovation topics relevant to a multi-faith audience, starting with an event on How Faith Communities Drive Local Civic Engagement and Strengthen Democracy.

• We advised a research project by CoGenerate on intergenerational collaboration in faith communities.

• We produced 12 monthly newsletters full of curated stories, resources, insights, fellowship and grant opportunities, and more for our core audience, including featuring 12 leaders of varied faith backgrounds in our Meet an innoFaither series to highlight the many ways people embody faith and social innovation. Here are some nice things people tell us:

  • “It’s one of the few newsletters I look forward to opening every month.”

  • “I love innoFaith! My wife and I talk about it at least once a month when we get the newsletter.”

Aw shucks, we love you, too. We’re excited to keep building in 2026! Want to build with us? Please reach out to me.

Keep lighting up, friends. I can feel the darkness fading.

Happy holidays,

Danielle