Matt Watkins
@mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social
Helping communities navigate funding, governance, and policy shifts.
Public affairs consultant ($1.6B+ raised) and policy writer with bylines in Slate, Governing, The Progressive, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more.
Principal, Watkins Public Affairs.
Public affairs consultant ($1.6B+ raised) and policy writer with bylines in Slate, Governing, The Progressive, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more.
Principal, Watkins Public Affairs.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
We can build a new social contract for the automated age—a Labor Bill of Rights that reclaims the meaning of work and the purpose of progress.
That contract should rest on three pillars: profit sharing, a national transition fund, and public oversight, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
That contract should rest on three pillars: profit sharing, a national transition fund, and public oversight, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
The Future of Work Must Belong to Workers
A call for a new labor Bill of Rights in the age of automation.
www.commondreams.org
November 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
We can build a new social contract for the automated age—a Labor Bill of Rights that reclaims the meaning of work and the purpose of progress.
That contract should rest on three pillars: profit sharing, a national transition fund, and public oversight, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
That contract should rest on three pillars: profit sharing, a national transition fund, and public oversight, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
"Poverty can seem like an abstract concept in the philanthropic world — something to analyze rather than experience."
https://phlnthrp.com/3LBtdlt
https://phlnthrp.com/3LBtdlt
November 12, 2025 at 7:58 PM
"Poverty can seem like an abstract concept in the philanthropic world — something to analyze rather than experience."
https://phlnthrp.com/3LBtdlt
https://phlnthrp.com/3LBtdlt
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Unlike a liquidated bank, democracy can be rebuilt. The question is whether we will choose to rebuild it on foundations that can actually support what we claim to value, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
The US Has Become a Democracy of Insufficient Funds
We achieved universal political rights at the exact historical moment when we dismantled the material conditions that make those rights real.
www.commondreams.org
October 26, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Unlike a liquidated bank, democracy can be rebuilt. The question is whether we will choose to rebuild it on foundations that can actually support what we claim to value, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Opinion: What democracy's defenders gets wrong about "democracy" — a guide to words that put off average Americans and the language that will renew their faith and connect them to the billion-dollar fight to strengthen our country.
https://phlnthrp.com/474WVYq
https://phlnthrp.com/474WVYq
Why Philanthropy’s Democracy Talk Turns People Off
Here are the words that leave average Americans cold — and the language that could connect them to the billion-dollar fight to strengthen the country.
www.philanthropy.com
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Opinion: What democracy's defenders gets wrong about "democracy" — a guide to words that put off average Americans and the language that will renew their faith and connect them to the billion-dollar fight to strengthen our country.
https://phlnthrp.com/474WVYq
https://phlnthrp.com/474WVYq
Reposted by Matt Watkins
We are not living in a failure of awareness. We are living in the space after awareness, in the gap between recognition and power, and that gap is where the system has learned to thrive, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
The No Kings Protests Proved That Seeing and Naming the Problem Is Not Enough
What do we do when 7 million people can see clearly and it changes nothing? When recognition is no longer power but only knowledge of the condition we are trapped inside?
www.commondreams.org
October 20, 2025 at 4:57 PM
We are not living in a failure of awareness. We are living in the space after awareness, in the gap between recognition and power, and that gap is where the system has learned to thrive, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
If the CDFI Fund stays dead, we will have chosen a particular vision of what government is for, and it is a grim one. Government becomes landlord and cop, the entity that collects and enforces but does not build, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
The Quiet Shuttering of a Main Street Lending Program Will Make Inequality Worse
What looks like administrative housekeeping represents the dismantling of one of the most effective tools the federal government ever created to help working people and local economies build wealth.
www.commondreams.org
October 15, 2025 at 12:30 PM
If the CDFI Fund stays dead, we will have chosen a particular vision of what government is for, and it is a grim one. Government becomes landlord and cop, the entity that collects and enforces but does not build, says @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social.
My new column at @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social
This week, we're launching a new monthly opinion column — “Watch Your Language” — to help nonprofit professionals reduce jargon and communicate in ways that build trust and understanding of the sector. This week: 7 words that invite people in rather than push them away.
https://phlnthrp.com/46xzdlR
https://phlnthrp.com/46xzdlR
7 Words That Can Restore Trust in Philanthropy
The language nonprofits use can push people away. Here’s how to invite them in and build connection.
www.philanthropy.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
My new column at @chronphilanthropy.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Suicide is not inevitable. It rises when supports are stripped and stigma is reinforced, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social: www.commondreams.org/opinion/male...
Why Male Suicide Prevention Requires Policy, Not Just Awareness | Common Dreams
On this Suicide Prevention Day, the question is whether we will stop treating male suicide as a seasonal headline and start treating it as a preventable epidemic.
www.commondreams.org
September 10, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Suicide is not inevitable. It rises when supports are stripped and stigma is reinforced, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social: www.commondreams.org/opinion/male...
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Our September issue is live! Amid the chaos of 2025, nonprofits are reinventing themselves to survive. Some are looking to partnerships as a lifeline. This month's magazine details how charities are adapting and innovating.
Dive into the issue: www.philanthropy.com/issue/current
Dive into the issue: www.philanthropy.com/issue/current
September 9, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Our September issue is live! Amid the chaos of 2025, nonprofits are reinventing themselves to survive. Some are looking to partnerships as a lifeline. This month's magazine details how charities are adapting and innovating.
Dive into the issue: www.philanthropy.com/issue/current
Dive into the issue: www.philanthropy.com/issue/current
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Sneak peek at the cover of the September issue! Amid the chaos of 2025, nonprofits are reinventing themselves to survive. Some are looking to partnerships as a lifeline. This month's magazine details how charities are adapting and innovating. The issue drops on Tuesday, September 9.
September 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Sneak peek at the cover of the September issue! Amid the chaos of 2025, nonprofits are reinventing themselves to survive. Some are looking to partnerships as a lifeline. This month's magazine details how charities are adapting and innovating. The issue drops on Tuesday, September 9.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
As Matt Watkins writes in @commondreams.org, the delay isn't just about @climateunited.bsky.social or federal contracts or even appeals courts. It's about the EPA gaslighting us about the crisis we're facing, and Trump Administration executive overreach.
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
September 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
As Matt Watkins writes in @commondreams.org, the delay isn't just about @climateunited.bsky.social or federal contracts or even appeals courts. It's about the EPA gaslighting us about the crisis we're facing, and Trump Administration executive overreach.
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
Reposted by Matt Watkins
But history will record something else. The money was there. The need was there. The chance was there. And power chose not to use it. That is not oversight. That is abdication, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social:
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
By Keeping Climate Funds on Ice, the DC Circuit Is Complicit in Trump’s Overreach | Common Dreams
By refusing to act, the DC Circuit has turned oversight into obstruction, procedure into punishment, as it helps the executive hollow out Congress’ most basic power.
www.commondreams.org
September 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
But history will record something else. The money was there. The need was there. The chance was there. And power chose not to use it. That is not oversight. That is abdication, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social:
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
www.commondreams.org/opinion/cour...
My most recent article @slate.com
This is not the work of government, but a choreography of fear. slate.trib.al/lBGZ5bB
Trump Is Threatening to Send the Troops to Another Blue City. It’s Clear What This Is Really About.
These deployments are political theater—but the stakes are still incredibly high.
slate.trib.al
August 25, 2025 at 7:44 PM
My most recent article @slate.com
Reposted by Matt Watkins
This is not the work of government, but a choreography of fear. slate.trib.al/lBGZ5bB
Trump Is Threatening to Send the Troops to Another Blue City. It’s Clear What This Is Really About.
These deployments are political theater—but the stakes are still incredibly high.
slate.trib.al
August 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
This is not the work of government, but a choreography of fear. slate.trib.al/lBGZ5bB
My latest article in @slate.com : The lesson from D.C. is clear — creeping authoritarianism isn’t stopped by warning the water’s rising. It’s stopped by fixing the leak, by making people so secure in their daily lives they never look to the strongman in the first place.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
The Most Urgent Lesson for Democrats to Take From Trump’s D.C. Deployment
Democrats keep making the same mistake—and they need to learn from it before Trump sends the National Guard into another city.
slate.com
August 14, 2025 at 4:11 PM
My latest article in @slate.com : The lesson from D.C. is clear — creeping authoritarianism isn’t stopped by warning the water’s rising. It’s stopped by fixing the leak, by making people so secure in their daily lives they never look to the strongman in the first place.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
Quick overview of Trump executive order & how it lines with our housing policy history
Housing in America Has Always Been a Moral Test. We Keep Failing.
There was a time—at least in the telling—when to be American meant to come home.
open.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Quick overview of Trump executive order & how it lines with our housing policy history
Thoughts on #Trump inhumane executive order on #homelessness.
The Not-So-Great Society: Disappearing the Poor in the Name of Order
In January 1964, President Lyndon B.
mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
July 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Thoughts on #Trump inhumane executive order on #homelessness.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Opinion: Philanthropy has more than its share of trigger words. Thanks to polarization, the strategic plans of nonprofits and philanthropy routinely collapse over a single word or phrase like "equity" or "civility."
phlnthrp.com/44yqK29
#TheCommons
phlnthrp.com/44yqK29
#TheCommons
Philanthropy’s Trigger Words — and How to Make Your Message Clear
You say ‘equity.’ They hear ‘exclusion.’ Strategies for getting everyone on the same page.
phlnthrp.com
July 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Opinion: Philanthropy has more than its share of trigger words. Thanks to polarization, the strategic plans of nonprofits and philanthropy routinely collapse over a single word or phrase like "equity" or "civility."
phlnthrp.com/44yqK29
#TheCommons
phlnthrp.com/44yqK29
#TheCommons
trump just signed an executive order that rewards cities for criminalizing poverty.
i wrote about it it for @commondreams.org
www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
on vagrancy laws, aesthetic politics, and the violence of being made invisible.
read it. share it. let me know what you think.
i wrote about it it for @commondreams.org
www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
on vagrancy laws, aesthetic politics, and the violence of being made invisible.
read it. share it. let me know what you think.
Why Trump Is Making Vagrancy Laws Great Again | Common Dreams
Trump's new executive order on homelessness is not a departure from policy failure. It is the logical continuation of a governance model that confuses erasure with resolution.
www.commondreams.org
July 25, 2025 at 6:10 PM
trump just signed an executive order that rewards cities for criminalizing poverty.
i wrote about it it for @commondreams.org
www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
on vagrancy laws, aesthetic politics, and the violence of being made invisible.
read it. share it. let me know what you think.
i wrote about it it for @commondreams.org
www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
on vagrancy laws, aesthetic politics, and the violence of being made invisible.
read it. share it. let me know what you think.
been writing a lot this year—mostly policy, politics, and nonprofit stuff, especially where it hits working-class and poor communities.
started a substack to share more freely:
🔗 mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
subscribe if you’re into it. share if you think someone else might be.
started a substack to share more freely:
🔗 mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
subscribe if you’re into it. share if you think someone else might be.
Matt Watkins | Substack
I write about politics, culture, language, and power. Click to read Matt Watkins, a Substack publication. Launched 7 minutes ago.
mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
July 25, 2025 at 6:07 PM
been writing a lot this year—mostly policy, politics, and nonprofit stuff, especially where it hits working-class and poor communities.
started a substack to share more freely:
🔗 mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
subscribe if you’re into it. share if you think someone else might be.
started a substack to share more freely:
🔗 mattwatkinsessays.substack.com
subscribe if you’re into it. share if you think someone else might be.
Reposted by Matt Watkins
If we truly care about making this country great, we could start by making sure our towns aren’t wiped off the map every time it rains, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social: www.commondreams.org/opinion/texa...
What the Texas Floods Can Teach Us About Disaster Readiness in a Changing Climate | Common Dreams
What happened in Kerr County may not have been preventable. What happens next—and what happens in every county like it—absolutely is.
www.commondreams.org
July 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
If we truly care about making this country great, we could start by making sure our towns aren’t wiped off the map every time it rains, writes @mattwatkinspolicy.bsky.social: www.commondreams.org/opinion/texa...
My most recent article @commondreams.org
"The truth is... We now live in a country where a young girl at summer camp must wonder if the river beside her bunk will rise in the night, where families face flood insurance premiums that exceed their mortgage payments..."
"The truth is... We now live in a country where a young girl at summer camp must wonder if the river beside her bunk will rise in the night, where families face flood insurance premiums that exceed their mortgage payments..."
What the Texas Floods Can Teach Us About Disaster Readiness in a Changing Climate | Common Dreams
What happened in Kerr County may not have been preventable. What happens next—and what happens in every county like it—absolutely is.
www.commondreams.org
July 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM
My most recent article @commondreams.org
"The truth is... We now live in a country where a young girl at summer camp must wonder if the river beside her bunk will rise in the night, where families face flood insurance premiums that exceed their mortgage payments..."
"The truth is... We now live in a country where a young girl at summer camp must wonder if the river beside her bunk will rise in the night, where families face flood insurance premiums that exceed their mortgage payments..."
Reposted by Matt Watkins
Reposted by Matt Watkins
GOOD NEWS: In a victory for reproductive freedom, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling declaring the state's abortion ban to be unenforceable.
Wisconsinites no longer have to fear the archaic 1849 ban could go back into effect.
www.aclu-wi.org/en/press-rel...
Wisconsinites no longer have to fear the archaic 1849 ban could go back into effect.
www.aclu-wi.org/en/press-rel...
ACLU of Wisconsin Applauds State Supreme Court Decision Striking Down 1849 Abortion Ban
In a victory for reproductive freedom, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling declaring the 1849 abortion ban to be unenforceable.
www.aclu-wi.org
July 2, 2025 at 2:23 PM
GOOD NEWS: In a victory for reproductive freedom, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 ruling declaring the state's abortion ban to be unenforceable.
Wisconsinites no longer have to fear the archaic 1849 ban could go back into effect.
www.aclu-wi.org/en/press-rel...
Wisconsinites no longer have to fear the archaic 1849 ban could go back into effect.
www.aclu-wi.org/en/press-rel...
My newest article in @slate.com.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
the Big Beautiful Bill is being framed as a mandate — but no one asked for mass Medicaid cuts, corporate tax breaks, and billions to ICE.
#legislation #BigBeautifulBill #Policy #Trump #TaxCuts
slate.com/news-and-pol...
the Big Beautiful Bill is being framed as a mandate — but no one asked for mass Medicaid cuts, corporate tax breaks, and billions to ICE.
#legislation #BigBeautifulBill #Policy #Trump #TaxCuts
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” Is Not What America Asked For
Republicans did not have a mandate for this.
slate.com
July 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM
My newest article in @slate.com.
slate.com/news-and-pol...
the Big Beautiful Bill is being framed as a mandate — but no one asked for mass Medicaid cuts, corporate tax breaks, and billions to ICE.
#legislation #BigBeautifulBill #Policy #Trump #TaxCuts
slate.com/news-and-pol...
the Big Beautiful Bill is being framed as a mandate — but no one asked for mass Medicaid cuts, corporate tax breaks, and billions to ICE.
#legislation #BigBeautifulBill #Policy #Trump #TaxCuts