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Insights and News

August 2026

Forging Nonprofit Financial Sustainability

For many nonprofits, recent years have brought disruptions from pandemic recovery to shifting funding priorities, rising costs, and growing pressure to rethink long-term sustainability. See how field leaders are balancing their mission and with these new financial realities and how resources from the StrongNonprofits Toolkit can help you plan for uncertainty.

2 Briefs Spotlight Arts & Culture

Wallace’s Advancing Well-Being in the Arts field studies cohort funds self-initiated partnerships between researchers and community organizations. Brief number one from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) and NORC at the University of Chicago details the cultural impact of Latinx/é-focused arts groups and the challenges they face with funding. The second brief uses research from Mosaic America and San José State University to explore how artistic practices across the Bay Area can serve as a bridge for culturally distinct groups.

A male principal with several students sitting around a table with laptops.

How Districts Can Build Principal Pipelines That Last

A strong principal pipeline can help districts prepare and retain effective school leaders. But in the face of budget changes, leadership transitions, and varying priorities, how can schools ensure these support systems actually last? Research offers four pillars to help districts support their principals: strategic alignment, communicating clarity, aligning institutional support systems, and maintaining pipeline-priority. See strategies districts can use to build support systems for principals.

Students participate in an afterschool dance program.

Get a Jump on Your Afterschool Planning

Are you running an afterschool arts program this fall? Researcher Kylie Peppler and her team have mapped out the benefits of arts participation for young people into categories including relationship-building, identity development, and career pathways. Peppler discusses how the report serves as a tool for arts educators and organizations to design programs, strengthen existing ones, and spark new conversations about impact.

Interested in improving summer learning attendance and outcomes? Consider joining the District Summer Learning Network (DSLN).

Leaders from Wallace’s Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative have an opportunity to shine a national spotlight on school leaders and their powerful stories at SXSW EDU 2027—and you can help them!

Our session proposal, "Taking Center Stage: Why Principal Visibility Matters," is now up for community vote.

Together, we have an opportunity to drive more meaningful investments in school leadership by elevating principal voices, sharing stories of their impact, and spreading the word about their role in ensuring schools, teachers, and students are better positioned for success.

Vote by Aug. 23: Sign in to your PanelPicker account (or create a new one), open our session proposal, and click the “heart” icon at the top of the page.

Schools, Districts, States

Budget shortfalls have become the top challenge U.S. public school district leaders are facing in 2026, according to a new report by RAND Corporation.

American children are experiencing a profound literacy crisis. The latest episode of edUnplugged from The Education Trust details how it came to be that more than 60% of fourth graders aren’t reading at proficient levels.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education details new research into the lifelong benefits of personalized student support, both in school and at home, offering concrete evidence by economists Benjamin Goldman and Jamie Gracie.

Youth Development

EducationWeek covers a report by the Afterschool Alliance revealing that 12.6 million kids can’t afford summer programming. Meanwhile, nine out 10 parents surveyed are in favor of public funding for summer opportunities so all children can participate (paywall might apply).

As the landscape of technological capabilities expands, how can equity move to the forefront? How can data systems strengthen communities? Through 3C Data Alliance, young people play an integral role in shaping the system itself.

Amid the rise of AI, increased costs of living, and the widespread elimination of entry-level roles, many Gen Z-ers are turning to trades like welding, plumbing, and construction to make themselves indispensable. The New York Times evaluates this rising shift (gift article).

When Carmon Blacklock accepted a teaching position inside a juvenile hall, she learned the importance of complex care, the value of hands-on teaching, and the urgency behind preserving a young person’s dignity.

The Arts

Research reveals that infusing youth voice and leadership into arts programs requires organizational commitment, intentional design, and a willingness to rethink long-standing techniques.

Karen Barrett, a music-cognition researcher at UCSF, takes a deeper look at what happens in the brains of children when they improvise music, and what it means for their creative skills.

Museum marketing and communications teams face increasing challenges connecting with audiences, but uplifting staff, connecting artists directly with audiences, and prioritizing storytelling can change that.