Hope Is a Strategy: How We Build Power in 2026

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by everything North Carolina has faced this year: another round of gerrymandered maps, relentless attacks on reproductive freedom, rising disinformation, and a legislature more focused on political games than people’s lives. But if this year has shown us anything, it’s this: hope is not naïve, and it’s not passive. Hope is a strategy, and our communities are using it to build power every single day.

Hope is what keeps providers showing up despite harassment and intimidation.

It’s what fuels students who organize their campuses and demand truth in a climate of censorship.

It’s what moves volunteers to write their lawmakers or show up to community events, even when the fight feels exhausting.

It’s what sustains this movement, through setbacks, through uncertainty, and through the deliberate efforts of extremists to wear us down.

And hope becomes even more powerful when we act together. Collective action — people showing up for each other, telling the truth, organizing in community, and refusing to look away — is how we turn hope into real, tangible change.

But hope didn’t carry us through 2025 on its own. You did. Your advocacy, your solidarity, your willingness to speak up and share truth, these are the reasons this movement keeps moving.

Whether you reposted our work, showed up at a screening or rally, talked to a friend about anti-abortion centers, contacted your lawmakers, or simply stayed informed in a year full of noise, you helped build real power in North Carolina.

Looking Back: What We Learned in 2025

This year reminded us that progress isn’t always linear, but it is possible when communities stay connected and committed. Among the most important lessons:

Disinformation thrives in silence: We saw just how quickly lies about abortion, gender, and race can spread when left unchallenged.
People are hungry for truth: Our events, campus programming, and digital engagement grew because supporters want real, trusted information.
Collective action still works: From our ongoing work to expose anti-abortion centers to statewide coalition efforts, coordinated organizing continues to make a measurable difference.
Young people are leading us forward: Their creativity, courage, and clarity of purpose are reshaping the future of this movement.

These aren’t just bright spots — they are signals. Even in difficult years, North Carolinians refuse to give up. And neither do we.

Looking Ahead: Where Hope Leads Us in 2026

Hope isn’t simply a feeling; it’s fuel. And in 2026, it will power some of our most important work yet.

Here’s where we’re headed:
Doubling down on truth-telling: We’re ramping up our efforts to expose the falsehoods shaping harmful policy and give communities the knowledge they need to push back.
Expanding accountability efforts: Exposing anti-abortion centers will remain a priority, and we’ll be working with partners and policymakers to build real transparency and consumer protections.
Growing the next generation of leaders: Our Campus Leader Program and emerging youth initiatives will sharpen the voices that will define the future of reproductive freedom in North Carolina.
Organizing at every level: With critical state and federal elections ahead, we’ll mobilize communities to vote, speak out, and defend their rights with everything we’ve got.

Hope is not passive optimism. It’s a practiced, disciplined belief that change is possible because we’re willing to fight for it. And that belief is at the center of every organizing strategy, every conversation, every event, and every person who refuses to accept injustice as the status quo.

Carrying Hope Forward

As the year closes, we invite you to reflect on how your hope — your voice, your solidarity, your action — strengthens this movement. You are part of every win we’ve had this year, and part of every win still ahead.

Because in North Carolina, hope isn’t just a feeling. It’s how we win, and we’re grateful you’re with us.