As we turn the page on a difficult year, staff share where they find inspiration and resolve to keep fighting for a better, fairer world.
As 2025 comes to a close and a new year dawns, we’re not just making resolutions—we’re doubling down on resolve itself.
This year has been one of the most challenging years for human rights in recent history. From the genocide in Gaza and the global rise of authoritarianism to the accelerating impacts of climate change and wealth inequality, the international system has come under unprecedented strain.
But we refuse to back down.
A few months ago, we shared our refreshed strategic vision for responding to this moment of overlapping crises. At its core is a promise: that we will continue supporting the work of grassroots human rights activists no matter what happens. Because through it all, they have never lost hope in the promise of human rights. Now, it’s our turn to show the same courage.
Before we turn to the opportunities and challenges of the year ahead, we asked staff to share where they find the resolve to keep going through difficult times like these.
David Mattingly, Vice President for Programs:
If it feels like 2025 was engineered to break our resolve, that’s no accident. Depression, disorientation, and exhaustion are natural responses to repression and the rapid rollback of rights—and they also are the intended effects of authoritarian tactics.
My resolve, however, is reinforced by the determination of frontline activists—from Manila to Mexico City, from Lagos to Washington—whose perseverance shows that systemic abuse can be resisted and overcome in the pursuit of just futures for all.
Clare Gibson Nangle, Director of Strategic Partnerships:
This year was an incredibly difficult one for many in the Washington, DC, area where I live and work. Friends lost not only jobs but careers and missions—it felt like our communities were under attack.
Yet in the midst of that heaviness, I saw something powerful: neighbors stepping up. Former USAID staff walking kids from Central American families to school so parents wouldn’t fear authorities. Community kitchens and mutual care. Chalk messages on sidewalks urging us to speak up and protect democracy.
In this moment of crisis, I truly felt what people mean when they say change starts at the community level. And it’s this belief—that there is more good than bad, more people trying to do right than wrong—that gives me resolve.
Karen Brutas, Philippines Program Officer:
I get resolve from my long-term goals and dreams. They remind me that short-term struggles are part of something bigger. They remind me that consistency and effort matter, even when results aren’t immediate. Our human rights work feels the same way.
Alison Miranda, Director of Learning & Assessment:
I find resolve in the acts of solidarity exchanged among people in my community and in the broader social justice sector, which have been more visible, and needed, as the sector undergoes systemic shifts.
Patrick Pierce, Southeast Asia Regional Director:
The challenges in 2025 have seemed unrelenting, so taking the long view has given me resolve. If it’s true that the arc of history bends toward justice, it’s only because sustained, collective efforts are bending that arc.
Martine Target Louis, Director of Grantmaking Operations:
I find resolve in purposeful stewardship and the quiet discipline of doing what aligns with our values even when it is difficult.
As a first-generation member of the diaspora working in human rights, I hold a constant awareness of the systemic global social and political forces that shape both vulnerability and power. This awareness guides how I design and lead grantmaking operations, shaping systems and decisions that honor equity, dignity, and accountability.
Rona Peligal, Vice President of Development and Communications:
What gives me resolve is remembering that history is cyclical, and that our work is never done. In particular, I like this quote from the Talmud: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
As this year ends and a new one begins, may you find your own source of resolve—and let it lead you into 2026 with determination, hope, and an enduring belief in the possibility of a better, fairer future.
From everyone at the Fund for Global Human Rights to all who celebrate, we wish you happy holidays and a joyful new year.
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