The Palaver Tree
A collaborative platform featuring blog posts from thought leaders. The Palaver Tree is a large tree in African tradition that serves as a central meeting place for communities to discuss issues, resolve conflicts, and engage in social activities. It is a symbol of community, peace, and justice, representing a space for open communication and collective decision-making.
The Mausoleum We Keep Building: Black Disability Pride at the ADA’s 36th Anniversary
As we celebrate Disability Pride Month, we look to the heroes who created change at the intersection of race and disability. In times when history failed to witness their full humanity, they pioneered change anyway, lifting others as they climbed. We remember them...
‘This Sector Cannot Survive Without Us’: Lynn English and Marlissa Hudson on Claiming Power Amid a Vortex of Political Anxiety
Editor’s Note: In this interview feature, English Hudson Writing Strategist, Dominique Young, PhD, speaks with English Hudson Consulting co-founders Lynn English and Marlissa Hudson about navigating today's political landscape, sustaining Black women leaders, and...
Black History Month 2026: Honoring the Fullness of Our Past, Present, and Power
Each February, Black History Month provides dedicated space to collectively honor the legacy of our ancestors and the paths they forged—and to honor ourselves. It is a moment of reflection and reclamation. An act of resistance. While Black history cannot be...
Out of Crisis, Collective Power: What 2025 Taught Us—and Where We Go Next
A Letter from English Hudson’s President & CEO As we close out 2025 – a year defined by volatility, retreat, and relentless noise – we’re reflecting on what it really took to sustain mission-driven work. If 2024 was the dress rehearsal, 2025 was the stress test....
The Mid-Major Opportunity: Why These Donors Matter More Than Ever
In fundraising, there are big moments that get people talking. A campaign might receive a headline-making gift, or a surge of everyday donors might collectively move an organization forward. But even as charitable giving in the U.S. climbed to $592.5 billion in...
Tending to Our Garden: Reshaping Black Motherhood in Popular Culture and Philanthropy
Representations of Black motherhood have always been a site of contestation in popular culture, with the most detrimental depictions tangibly shaping policies that have affected our communities for generations. From the Jezebel trope—originating during chattel slavery...
Funding Health Justice: Why Black Women Need More Than Pink Ribbons
This piece is dedicated to Eugenia “Gina” Nickole Williams (October 27, 1974 – March 15, 2018), and to every Black woman navigating breast cancer in the face of an inequitable health care system. Every October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month saturates the public sphere...
English Hudson Is Officially B Corp Certified!
Being a women-owned, Black-owned business in 2025 carries both pride and responsibility. At English Hudson, we know that our existence as a social impact consulting firm is part of a much bigger story—one shaped by generations of women and Black leaders who created...
Carrying the Torch: How Multigenerational Leadership Sustains Justice Movements
Time and again, our work at English Hudson affirms a simple truth: the strongest justice movements are multigenerational. History shows us that progress is driven by those on the frontlines of protest and policy change and strengthened by multigenerational wisdom,...
From Houston to Hollywood: Megan Thee Stallion, Lupita Nyong’o, and the Legacy of Black Philanthropy
Giving has been at the heart of the Black community for centuries. It is the pulse that reverberates the love we have for one another, the way we nurture our families, and build futures where Black people are centered in care. For us, giving has always been more than...
Shifting Our Mindset from Scarcity to Liberation: A Call to Action for National Black Business Month
Co-Authored by: Marlissa Hudson, CEO of English Hudson Consulting & Founder of The 25 Initiative, and Monica Mitchell, Chief of Staff of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies From Scarcity to LiberationAs two Black women working at the intersection...
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Leaves Our Kids Behind. We Can’t Stay Quiet.
Don’t let the name fool you. The Trump administration’s so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” delivers some of the ugliest consequences in public education policy in years. Chief among them – a sweeping consolidation of 18 federal K–12 programs and the elimination of the...
Who Gets to Stay, Who Has to Leave: Reclaiming Housing as a Right
Each June, National Homeownership Month invites Americans to celebrate one of the most visible symbols of the American Dream: the house with the welcome mat, a yard to tend, and the keys not just to a home but a future filled with possibility. Established by President...
Erased Data, Erased Lives: What Disappearing Federal Equity Resources Mean for Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and the Fight for Racial Justice
Since January 2025, a wave of Executive Orders has sought to “correct” the perceived excesses of the federal government’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Sweeping in scope, these mandates have reached into every corner of government...
Two “I”s Are Better Than One: Cassandra Grimes on AI and Human Insight in Fundraising
We’re excited to share that our very own Cassandra Grimes, Senior Writing Strategist and Editor at English Hudson, was recently featured in Giving Tomorrow, a national magazine for fundraisers and nonprofit professionals. Her article, “Two ‘I’s Are Better Than One:...
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Let's Shift the culture and face
of philanthropy together
Let's shift the culture
& face of philanthropy
together
Our work is about more than just securing funding—it’s about ensuring that social impact organizations have the power, influence, and resources to drive real, lasting change through connection.