When the Next Stage team hosted Justin Taylor from Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont a few weeks ago, we were shocked to learn more about the ‘benefits cliff’ in North Carolina and other states. The term refers to the sudden loss of benefits...

Written by: Brooke Lackey In my first week as Next Stage’s Community Voice Fellow, I was given my main task of the summer: to explore the Albemarle corridor, one of six Corridors of Opportunity in Charlotte. I was to get knee-deep in the demographics, history and...

The Next Stage Team is excited to welcome Brooke Lackey who will be joining us as our summer community voice fellow starting on Monday June 5, 2023. As Next Stage has worked with nonprofits and corporate social responsibility teams the past eight years, our reputation...

By Helen Hope Kimbrough “The best questions get to the heart of the matter.” – David Ehrlichman, Impact Networks A common first question when meeting someone is “What do you do for a living?” Responses range from reflections on a journey as to how someone got to...

Over the last few months, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of centering community voice and building trust. But what is the cost of mistrust? Lack of trust for an organization, project or community comes at a huge cost. Cultivating authentic, long-term...