Hope isn’t just a nice idea for folks on the frontlines—it’s fuel.
For social justice leaders, hope is a form of resistance. It’s the quiet, disciplined refusal to surrender to despair or fatigue—even when the work feels endless. This was true during the civil rights movement, and it’s just as relevant today. Hope is radical self-empowerment. By keeping hope alive, we make space to imagine a just future and move ourselves—and our communities—forward, even when systems are slow to change.
As organizer and abolitionist Mariame Kaba reminds us, “Hope is a discipline.” It’s not wishful thinking or toxic positivity—it’s a practice, a commitment, a muscle we build together.
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You know the signs: The late nights. The never-ending to-do list. The creeping sense that your effort will never be enough.
This is burnout—and it hits justice leaders and nonprofit professionals especially hard.
In one study, 63% of activists reported experiencing burnout, including chronic exhaustion, emotional depletion, and a sense of hopelessness about the future (Chen & Gorski, 2015). It’s worsened by chronic overwork, blurred boundaries, constant urgency, and the trauma of bearing witness to injustice—conditions deeply embedded in movement spaces and nonprofit culture.
Burnout isn’t just personal—it’s structural. It thrives in unjust systems, not in individual shortcomings.
Over time, burnout can trick even the most mission-driven person into believing their work doesn’t matter or that their impact is too small. That’s why sustaining hope isn’t optional—it’s essential.
“Hope is not optimism that everything will be fine. It is the belief that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.”
— Václav Havel
Why Just “Staying Hopeful” Isn’t Enough
Well-meaning advice like “just stay hopeful” can ring hollow—or even sting—when you’re deep in the trenches. It can feel like pressure to put on a brave face while harm is still happening.
If you’ve ever felt exhausted by the demand to be hopeful when what you really need is relief, you’re not alone.
Hope must be rooted in truth—not denial.
The real work is in balancing honest grief and outrage with a commitment to possibility. It’s about naming what isn’t working, honoring the pain in our communities, and still choosing to move forward—not because it’s easy, but because the struggle is worth it.
5 Strategies for Sustaining Hope and Motivation
1. Prioritize Meaningful Self-Care
We’re not talking about bubble baths (unless that’s your thing).
For social justice leaders, self-care is about restoring your humanity in systems that deplete it.
- Honor your boundaries: Build in non-negotiable time away from work, and treat it as sacred.
- Pause with intention: Even a few minutes of mindfulness, silence, or unplugged rest can regulate your nervous system.
- Move your body: Physical movement releases tension and boosts emotional resilience.
- Normalize it aloud: Let your team know you’re stepping back—it gives them permission to do the same.
Research from Maslach and Leiter (2016) confirms that individual burnout is often driven more by systemic factors than personal resilience—and yet, regular pauses and body awareness can still serve as critical reset tools when you’re under chronic stress.
If you want to dig deeper into trauma-informed leadership or new approaches to team wellness, check out JOE’s article here.
2. Build (and Lean on) Your Support Network
You were never meant to carry this work alone.
Strong, intentional relationships are not a luxury—they are a lifeline.
- Connect with peers: Regular check-ins with folks who understand your reality are powerful.
- Find mentors: Seasoned leaders often carry insights (and survival tools) that can help sustain your fire.
- Celebrate collective wins: Don’t skip the milestones, no matter how small. Joy builds endurance.
- Practice realness: Share your setbacks too. Vulnerability fosters trust—and trust builds movements.
A 2010 meta-analysis from Holt-Lunstad et al. found that social connection significantly reduces the effects of stressand increases life expectancy. Your support network isn’t just emotional—it’s biological resilience.
3. Embrace Joy and Rest as Acts of Resistance
Injustice is serious—but you are still allowed to laugh, dance, nap, and feel good.
As rest activist Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry, says:
“Rest is resistance.”
In a world that profits from our exhaustion, rest is a way to reclaim agency and disrupt grind culture.
It’s not a break from the work—it is the work.
Ways to embed this into your practice:
- Start meetings with storytelling, joy, or breath—not just checklists.
- Encourage and model the use of PTO or flexible time.
- Make space for grief and celebration—together.
Revolutionary work includes revolutionary rest.
4. Address Systemic Barriers—Together
You can’t out-meditate a toxic system.
No amount of yoga or journaling can erase the harm of organizational dysfunction or structural violence.
That’s why burnout prevention must include challenging the systems that cause it:
- Advocate for fair practices: Internally and externally—think transparent leadership, livable wages, and workload boundaries.
- Audit your organizational culture: Are you unintentionally rewarding overwork? Are urgency and perfectionism valued over care and connection?
- Model healing leadership: Be the example. When you center well-being, others feel permission to follow.
Maslach & Leiter’s “Six Areas of Worklife” model (2016) emphasizes that mismatches in workload, control, fairness, and values are strong predictors of burnout—more so than individual stress management.
Need inspiration on how movements in your state are shaping policy for the better? Take a look at JOE’s latest legislative coverage.
5. Make Hope a Practice, Not Just a Feeling
Hope is not a mood—it’s a muscle.
It’s a commitment to showing up, again and again, in service of your people and your purpose.
- Break big visions into bite-sized goals. Progress is easier to track (and celebrate) in smaller increments.
- Revisit past wins. Keep a record of the lives you’ve touched, the policies you’ve changed, the moments that mattered.
- Reconnect with your “why.” Your core values and the people you serve are your compass.
- Ask for help when you’re running low. Let others carry the hope when you can’t. That’s what movements are for.
Closing Thoughts: You’re Not Alone
Burnout is real. So is your ability to resist, rest, and rebuild.
Hope is the quiet engine beneath it all—the force that gets you back up and encourages your team to do the same.
By rooting your leadership in honest hope, community care, and radical rest, you create something that can outlast any storm: a resilient movement built for the long haul.
So keep showing up. Keep reaching out.
Transformation happens because people like you stay in the fight—even when it’s hard.
And remember: you don’t have to do it alone.
