News and Insights

How IncludUs builds blueprints for scaling local brilliance nationwide. By Bacilia Angel | Founder, IncludUs Fund We don't just hope for inclusion. We engineer it. While most organizations treat diversity and belonging like annual campaigns or feel-good initiatives, we approach it like infrastructure. Because that's what it is - the foundational system that determines whether communities thrive or fracture. After years of building civic innovation projects across the countr

Lessons in sustainability, rest, and strategic growth for movement builders and community leaders. By Bacilia Angel | Founder, IncludUs Fund We don't build movements by burning ourselves out. We build them by designing systems that sustain us. As leaders in social impact, we've inherited a narrative that equates exhaustion with dedication. That suffering validates our commitment. That if we're not depleted, we're not doing enough. This is broken architecture. And it's time

What Los Malandrines taught us about trust, culture, and civic power By Bacilia Angel | Founder, IncludUs Fund In 2024, Grita Canta Vota (GCV) set out to do something different: not just register voters, but ignite a cultural movement that placed joy, identity, and community pride at the center of civic engagement. One of our most impactful partnerships didn’t come from a national artist or a citywide coalition. It came from two musicians from rural California who appro

Designing Systems Where Everyone Thrives By Bacilia Angel , Founder & President, IncludUs We don’t just hope for change. We engineer it. At IncludUs, we use the term community engineering to describe something radical, yet rooted: a disciplined process of designing equitable systems with and for communities — especially those who have historically been excluded from power, resources, and recognition. But what does that actually mean? Let’s break it down. Community Eng