What Gives Me Optimism in 2026

2025 was a test of resilience for so many.

Families across the world continue to face compounding crises: conflict, climate shocks, rising food prices, and diminished access to nutritious foods and quality healthcare. At the start of 2025, we also saw the abrupt termination of US foreign assistance, with other governments following suit, exacerbating pressure on the world’s most under resourced communities.

The past year tested Helen Keller Intl’s resilience, as it did for many organizations working in our sector. At the time, US government funding represented a third of our budget. We were able to pivot quickly, in large part because we had already launched a new strategy focused on becoming an ever more effective and efficient organization. We sadly said goodbye to hundreds of courageous colleagues and regrouped.

And yet as I look ahead, I feel a deep sense of appreciation, purpose, and on most days, optimism. I am reminded of Helen’s words: “We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.”

My optimism is rooted in what we know to be true: we have Helen’s DNA and like her, we are resilient. Succeeding for Helen Keller Intl has always required rapid adaptation, hard decisions, a focus on cost-effectiveness, and locally-led solutions. And it requires working together with people like you, our generous community of supporters, who continue to take courageous action, even when the path forward is uncertain.

As we step into the year ahead, there is much to be optimistic about:

We are making the foods families already enjoy more nutritious. 

The dual stressors of poverty and poor nutrition continue to undermine health for millions of families worldwide. Yet today, we have more tools than ever to improve nutrition for communities at-scale, in ways that don’t cost very much. Fortifying pantry staples people already consume – flour, oil, salt, bouillon cubes – continue to hold enormous promise for improving nutrition for entire nations, while remaining extremely cost effective. Broad-scale change will require we come together across industries, governments, and the public. Helen Keller has made great strides over the last year, assessing where key opportunities exist to unlock better nutrition for families. Through new partnerships with food producers, government regulators, philanthropic actors and local communities, we will fortify foods and nourish families at scale. This work is complex and exciting. We will not rest until we make a breakthrough.

We are improving healthcare, so it works for millions of children and families.

Helen Keller doesn’t run hospitals or clinics. We work with government professionals who do – supporting their work to administer drugs, provide nutrition counseling, and monitor babies’ growth progress. Our model is not to replace or redo, but to strengthen. This past year, we started an effort to support health care providers to think more holistically about their clients’ experience, making visits more integrated and efficient. This means that when a mother brings her child to a clinic for vitamin A, that child might also receive deworming medication and discuss nutrition with a friendly, smiling healthcare provider. Stretching resources to do more with less is part of our brand at Helen Keller, and this effort helps us to do just that – plus, it helps us uphold human dignity by making patients feel more welcome and gives them greater agency after an encounter with the health system.

You chose to invest in our work, and so are many more. 

Thanks to the heartfelt generosity of donor advisories, foundations, corporations, and thousands of generous donors like you who have stepped forward in 2025, millions of children and families are able to thrive. From those giving unrestricted support to advance the fullness of our mission, to those giving to collective programming efforts through Project Resource Optimization and the Kristof Impact Prize – you have allowed us to continue critical nutrition and neglected tropical disease support for another year; to hire back committed colleagues within the communities we work to serve their neighbors; and to support governments as they evolve care for their citizens moving forward. Your act to stand in solidarity with others across the world is also a vote of confidence in Helen Keller’s ability to adapt, lead, and deliver impact in a changing world. I speak for the 800+ staff who work at Helen Keller every day to improve people’s lives when I say I have been humbled by your generosity and support. You give us hope that even in a changing world, our efforts to reach families with proven solutions will continue.

The year ahead is full of possibility. It will require brave leadership and all of you.

Thank you for trusting us, for being brave with us, and for standing with families who deserve to live healthy lives filled with potential. You give me optimism, and for that I am grateful.