Resource Rich, Systems Poor

A wise person once told me that if we took all the resources, organizations, and funding in Indianapolis and lined them up like a boardwalk, we could walk across the Atlantic Ocean without ever getting wet.

And yet – people are still getting wet.

Not just wet. Slipping through the cracks. Missing what they need. Navigating networks that were never designed to work together. 

We are, in many ways, resource rich.

And at the same time – deeply systems poor. 

This idea has stayed with me for years. It shows up in meeting after meeting. The same conversations. The same people. The same attempts to solve problems that never quite seem to shift. 

Resource rich, but systems poor.

And to be fair – many in this sector wouldn’t describe our community as resource rich. It often feels like we’re operating on scarcity. Stretching limited dollars. Managing growing needs. Constantly trying to do more with less. 

But scarcity and misalignment can exist at the same time.

Most organizations can point to at least a handful of others doing similar or adjacent work. You see them in the same coalitions. The same grant meetings. The same community conversations. 

At the same time, teams are stretched thin. Capacity is limited. Burnout is real. The need feels endless. 

This is what it feels like to be systems poor. 

Not necessarily duplication – but misalignment and misdistribution. Effort that doesn’t add up. Resources that don’t connect. Work that happens in parallel instead of in coordination. 

Here’s how this shows up in practice:

Resource Rich	Systems Poor
Complex referral networks Philanthropic investment Nonprofit job growth Full rooms and "critical conversations" Increased output	Individuals and families being passed from one organization to another Hyper-competitive grant cycles High turnover and workforce instability Limited trust and few meaningful shifts Little to no change in outcomes

I live in this world, too. 

I’m in the same meetings. The meetings after the meetings. Sitting with the tension (and sometimes frustration) of what’s being said – and what isn’t. Noticing the patterns we don’t always name out loud.

There are efforts that are working. There are organizations and coalitions doing the hard, slow work of alignment and systems change. 

And there are also moments where the absence of real collaboration causes harm – where people fall through gaps that shouldn’t exist. Where entire communities are forgotten and left behind. 

I’ve been sitting with this tension – resource rich and systems poor – for a long time. 

Not just noticing it, but trying desperately to understand it. Trying to make sense of why so much effort doesn’t consistently lead to better outcomes. Trying to name what’s missing. 

Because this work requires something different.

It requires space. 

Space to step outside of our day-to-day roles.

Space to reflect on how we’re working – not just what we’re doing.

Space to see beyond our individual organizations and into the systems we’re part of. 

It requires conversation. Real conversation. The kind that moves beyond updates and into shared understanding.

It requires alignment. And it requires courage—the kind that grows in shared space and is much harder to access alone.

These are the questions I keep coming back to:

• How do we create space to discover new ways of working together?

• What would it take to shift how we operate so outcomes actually change?

• Who else is asking these questions – and where do we go to explore them together?

This is the work I’m beginning to explore through The Work Between.

Not as a set of answers, but as a space.

A space to reflect, to question, and to better understand what it might take to move from being resource rich and systems poor… to something more aligned, more intentional, and ultimately more effective. 

This idea is part of ongoing exploration through The Work Between - a space for nonprofits, funders and communities to reflect on how we learn together and shift systems for the common good.