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While we are taking a new shape, we remain steadfast in our vision for pro-Black capacity building and support of BIPOC leaders thriving at the center of this transformative era we’re in.
Dear CompassPoint Community,
As this year winds down and we enter the season of reflection and rest, we wanted to share some updates about how we're ending the year at CompassPoint.
Like many of you, we’ve been moving through the churn of this tumultuous, chaotic time for justice-driven leaders and organizations. It’s been a hard year for the sector as a whole, navigating intensified threats to our communities and our values, and, at times, the very existence of our organizations.
At CompassPoint, these conditions accelerated some key strategic questions we were grappling with, and pushed us to deeply interrogate and clarify the purpose, role, and right formation for pursuing our commitment to pro-Black capacity building and leadership development. It meant we had to ask ourselves hard questions, including should we continue to exist in this form or is it time to close the organization and evolve into something completely new? After deep dialogue with our Board of Directors and community partners, we ultimately determined that we would hone in on the program areas that our community of justice-oriented BIPOC leaders need most from us: workshops, learning series, tools, and customized support centering the cultivation of workplaces that nurture purpose and belonging (sustainable work cultures), resources that revitalize and contribute to new growth (regenerative resources), and leadership practices rooted in sharing and distributing power (collaborative governance).
This meant we had to make some significant changes throughout this year, including getting smaller in our staff size. In June, we made the difficult decision to lay off seven full-time staff members and offered them the option to continue in part-time roles, primarily as trainers and facilitators. Several of those staff have decided to stay part-time, and will continue to be critical co-creators of our work into this next era.
We are also sunsetting some longstanding areas of our work, in particular our offerings in coaching and resource mobilization. This is, in part, because of the multitude of other resources available in these areas since we started this work, and also because Steve Lew, our long-time staff member who has played a significant leadership role in these areas, will be retiring at the end of this year after 27 years at CompassPoint.
We will continue to evolve our work in other areas, so even as you may notice that some of our workshops and events will no longer be offered in their original format (for example, Liberatory Principles and Practices for White Supervisors and Manage Your Time, Reclaim Your Energy), much of the content and ethos of that work will continue to live in the new offerings we will bring to life in 2026 and beyond.
Next year, you’ll see from us continued offerings for Black leaders, as well as refreshed and new workshops and learning series in supervision and finance—areas that have been central to our work for decades and are key areas where we can shift power and live more deeply into our values. We’ll also continue our exploration of “movement operations” in our peer networks, activating justice leaders holding HR, finance, and operations roles as explicit political actors within our organizations and movements.
While we are taking a new shape, we remain steadfast in our vision for pro-Black capacity building and support of BIPOC leaders thriving at the center of this transformative era we’re in.
Last, but certainly not least, we want to extend our deepest gratitude to all of the people who have shaped CompassPoint over the years. Our staff and board, past and present, have poured their creativity, labor, insights, and love into this organization. Their stewardship made it possible for us to reach this moment with clarity, courage, and a strong foundation to build from. We carry their contributions with us as we write the next chapter.
Thank you for continuing to walk alongside us. We look forward to reconnecting with you in 2026.
In solidarity,
The CompassPoint Team
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