Karabi Acharya, Senior Director for Research-Evaluation-Learning, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Becky Payne, President and CEO, The Rippel Foundation
Margaret Laws, President and CEO, Hopelab
For too long, the idea of a “good life” has been narrowly defined by economic growth and a limited view of what it means to be healthy. But that definition never worked. Gross domestic product (GDP) and the absence of disease alone can’t capture what makes life truly meaningful.
Today, more people in the U.S. report feeling dissatisfied, disconnected, and lacking the meaning or resources that make life fulfilling. A recent survey from the bipartisan State of the Nation project found that decades of rising incomes “are not translating into greater perceived well-being and social relations.”
In this moment of widespread burnout and fragmentation, philanthropy has a crucial role in supporting communities redefining what it means to thrive. That means moving beyond narrow metrics and embracing a broader vision of collective well-being rooted in belonging, purpose, and dignity. The philanthropic sector must rise to the challenge of helping build an equitable future where both people and the planet can truly flourish. That is why our organizations are embracing actions and investments that promote collective wellbeing—and why more funders should do the same.
Inspired by community-driven progress, we now hope to inspire the broader philanthropic field to adopt a different definition of collective well-being and an approach to achieve it that shapes how we invest, collaborate, and make decisions. This approach:
- Recognizes individual well-being as inseparable from community well-being. Lasting wellness is not achieved in isolation; it is rooted in our collective conditions.
- Emphasizes the interdependence of people and place—acknowledging the influence of the natural environment and local histories on current realities.
- Strengthens connections across social systems that advance well-being for families and communities—like those that expand economic opportunities and support health.
- Centers the well-being of future generations, ensuring that today’s investments create conditions for long-term, intergenerational thriving.
- Supports locally-guided investments rooted in community values and priorities—bringing diverse constituencies together around shared interests and aspirations.
Collective well-being approaches resonate because they draw on and reflect core values found across cultures and faith traditions. Early Christian teachings emphasize communal care; Judaism calls for collective responsibility to repair the world through Tikkun Olam; Islam highlights ummah (community) and shura (collective decisionmaking); Native American traditions embrace the Seventh Generation Principle, which weighs the impact of current actions on future generations; and the South African philosophy of Ubuntu teaches that individual well-being is inseparable from that of the broader community and world.
For decades, the public and private sectors have failed to prioritize investments in the policies, programs, and infrastructure needed to foster collective well-being. However, many communities across the United States are implementing collective well-being solutions, leading to remarkable economic development projects, infrastructure investments, and arts and culture initiatives.
Principles of collective well-being are already inspiring action—locally, nationally, and abroad. Some examples:
- In Green Bay, Wisconsin, community organizations, public school leaders, public safety officials, and local businesses are working together to develop a large tract of land as a hub for agriculture, business activities, education and culture.
- Boston’s Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative has created a coalition of residents committed to “development without displacement.” Their initiative has revitalized a blighted neighborhood with affordable housing, parks, community facilities, and new businesses.
- Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperatives are focused on grassroots efforts to build wealth in low- and medium-income communities by incubating a new generation of employee-owned businesses.
- In a growing number of cities, including New York, Chicago, Phoenix and Durham, North Carolina, local leaders have committed to “participatory budgeting,” giving residents greater control over public spending decisions.
- In the United States, the “Federal Plan for Long-Term Resilience,” developed under both Republican and Democratic administrations, shows promise in improving well-being across racial and ethnic groups through carefully coordinated investments in health care, housing, and transportation.
- In Wales, the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act requires agencies to evaluate policies’ long-term impact on communities’ well-being.
- In Colombia, young people ages 14 to 18 elect national youth councils at all levels of government through a system designed to strengthen youth engagement and civic participation.
- New Zealand’s government also established a well-being budget with indicators that evaluate policies’ outcomes relative to wellbeing.
Funders should recognize that advancing collective well-being can lead to more effective strategies and investments to address today’s health and economic challenges. This requires:
- Creating structures and supports that help communities recognize the value of collective wellbeing and take sustained action to implement and operationalize it.
- Shaping scholarship, shifting systems, and reshaping public discourse to elevate the importance and impact of collective wellbeing.
- Fostering greater collaboration among funders to accelerate a national movement toward collective wellbeing—building on local momentum to create a shared, widespread commitment across communities.
We’re clear-eyed about the challenges facing American society, especially in a time when division is often used as a path to power. But a focus on collective well-being charts a different course—one grounded in unity and shared purpose. It’s about recognizing the progress that is possible when we focus on common goals and aspirations, rather than what divides us. Now is the time for philanthropy to lead—by investing in approaches that center connection over isolation, systems change over symptoms, and futures built together rather than apart.