A love letter to the changemakers

By Marisa DeSalles, is a changemaker and founder of Good Tilth Consulting

About the Poem

Last year, I was surprised to find out I had won an award from my local fundraiser, philanthropy, and other nonprofit friends for National Philanthropy Day. “Outstanding Changemaker” was the category. As I reflected deeply on my career trajectory, especially post-pandemic, I was overcome with gratitude for the folks and ideas of the CCF movement who inspired the work I am blessed to do, uplifting and amplifying fundraisers of color in my community. And I was so inspired by the often overlooked small daily actions that fundraisers do to move the big, complicated levers of resources and power. I wrote this as my acceptance speech, and it has resonated with audiences of badass, hardworking, big dreaming fundraisers in the months since. I’m very pleased to formally publish it here on The Hub — where it all started.

Fundraisers, especially those marginalized by historical and current policies and systems, this is a poem/prayer just for you. I love you. I hope it helps you get through the tough days ahead. 

The Poem

I am the living, breathing embodiment of the highest dreams of all my ancestors and you are too, because I am a changemaker. And so are you. 

I am a walking, talking revolutionary dream.
I am unfettered imagination, run rampant.
I am heartbreak withstood, adversity understood,
I am a complete rejection of what is for the sake of what was.
I am a warm embrace of what is yet to be. 

I am beautiful futures yet undreamed,
I am the picture of the perfect community, a dream held aloft for so long by so many. I am a changemaker. 

And I am tired. 

I am weary, my burden is heavy and shifting, my reserves are nearly drained. 

The stories of need and impact, lack and help, dejection and inspiration, all pull my heart in a thousand directions, 

But I am energized. 

I wake each day with the taste of tomorrow in the back of my throat. 

I am full of resolve, I am resourceful. I am creative.
I am resilient. 

Some days, I am barely holding on. The days are long, and the need never seems to cease. The funds are never enough, and the cause often demands more than I have to give. 

But I must persevere, because I am a changemaker, and I am you. 

I am a member of a family. A valued teammate in important work. A vital part of a vibrant, diverse community. 

I am the living, breathing embodiment of the highest dreams of all my ancestors and you are too, because I am a changemaker. And so are you. 

We changemakers live between two worlds. We hold in one hand the shining, fragile promise of a just, green, prosperous tomorrow where everyone thrives, and in the other, the twisted, tangled ball of injustice and apathy and division that is today. And somehow, we must reconcile the two, bring our own arms across our chests and embrace our present moment, together, in community.
I see what is and I dream what could be, and so do you. Because you are the changemaker, and I celebrate you.
And if I am outstanding, as you claim, let my name be outstanding for these reasons only. 

Let it be said of me:
That I spoke your name in rooms of opportunity:
That I described your mission accurately to someone who might care; That I served as a faithful representation, a smooth, unblemished mirror to reflect the light of the changemaker in each of you. 

For you are making the change,
And I appreciate you.