Introducing Pathways of Hope, 2026 Circles USA Theme

Kamatara
2 days ago
3 min read

Hope is not a vague wish or a naïve optimism. We know from our partners at Hope Wired that “Hope is the belief that the future can be better and I have the power to make it happen.” We learned that hope has three components: meaningful goals, multiple pathways, and will power. In the work of Circles, hope is practical. It is relational. It is built step by step, conversation by conversation, choice by choice. As we enter 2026, we are grounding ourselves in a theme that reflects both the reality our community faces and the promise we know is possible: Pathways of Hope.

A pathway implies movement. It acknowledges where we are starting from, without judgment, and it points toward where we are going. Unlike a single road or a fixed destination, pathways recognize that there are many ways forward—and that the journey is rarely linear. This matters, because poverty itself is not linear. Neither is healing. Neither is transformation.

For years, Circles has understood something essential: people do not move out of poverty alone. Hope does not flourish in isolation. It grows in relationship, in mutuality, in spaces where dignity is protected and voices are honored. Pathways of Hope is a recommitment to that truth. It reminds us that hope is not something we hand to one another; it is something we co-create.

In Circles, we see hope emerge when a Circle Leader is no longer defined by a crisis, but by their courage and capacity. We see it when Allies show up consistently—not to fix, but to come alongside. We see it when financial literacy becomes a tool of agency and in community gatherings where real life stories replace stereotypes. Each of these moments is a pathway. Each one widens the possibility of what comes next.

This theme also invites honesty. Hope does not ask us to bypass struggle or minimize systems that create inequity. In fact, authentic hope requires us to name those systems clearly. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so eloquently said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” This kind of hope does not deny hardship; it insists that hardship is not the final word. Pathways of Hope recognizes that barriers exist—and that they are not personal failures. At the same time, it affirms that with support, access, and community, people can and do create meaningful change in their lives.

As we move through 2026, Pathways of Hope calls us to pay attention. Where are pathways already forming? Where are they blocked? Who is being left out of the conversation, and what wisdom are we missing because of it? These are not abstract questions. They are the daily work of Circles, and they shape how we listen, how we partner, and how we lead.

Most of all, this theme reminds us that hope is active. It is built through showing up again and again, even when progress feels slow. It lives in the belief that every person carries potential, and that community is the soil where that potential can take root.

Pathways of Hope is not a promise of ease. It is a commitment to possibility. And together—as Leaders, Allies, staff, and community members—we will continue to walk these pathways, trusting that each step forward matters.

Because hope, when shared and supported, becomes a way through.

— Kamatara

Circles USA Executive Director

Hear more about Pathways of Hope and our vision for the future of Circles in our January Webinar: Launching 2026 with Circles USA!