Aine Creedon

Image Credit: Matt Taylor on Unsplash On the eve of America’s 250th anniversary, Next250, a people-powered declaration, is asking a question this country has never fully answered: What do we owe each other? Together, the authors of this article serve as co-chairs of this nationwide civic and cultural initiative preparing communities to help shape America’s next chapter as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary.

Image Credit: Curated Lifestyle For Unsplash+ The Myth of Heroic Leadership interrogates the nonprofit sector’s reliance on “heroic” executive leadership as a structural failure disguised as virtue. It challenges the deeply embedded belief that resilience lives in individual grit, arguing instead that overreliance on executive directors concentrates power, masks institutional weakness, and reproduces inequity—particularly for women and leaders of color.

Image Credit: John Karl Hillers – U.S. National Archives and Records Administration With the upcoming 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, I am reminded of the two communities I am part of that long predate this country and have profoundly shaped its history. As an Indigenous trans person, I share a history with people who have faced torture, murder, and efforts at eradication solely based on their identities.