We’re Storytellers; You Can’t Steal Our Language

Happy New Year HayDay Community! Each year, I pick a word of the year. One for me to ruminate on, put into action, and simply help set the tone for the kind of year I want to have. I’ve been having a very hard time finding the right word for 2026, but as I was gearing up to write this article, the perfect word was staring me right between the eyes.

My 2026 word of the year is: STORYTELLER. Read on to find out why.

Throughout 2025, nonprofits, grant funding, and even language has been under attack. We wrote about it in February. You can find that article here: Words Matter. Why Else Are Certain Ones Being Stripped from Our Vocabulary? – HayDay Services.

Since then, there has been much debate in the grants profession about words. Rumors flew about a list of banned words. Language in federal Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) shifted. Executive orders impacted gender ideology; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and so much more. Language in those orders certainly made grant professionals think twice about what words would impact the likelihood of grant funding.

I think we all have either personal experience or heard from colleagues about the total rewrites of grant applications to avoid the use of affordability, diversity, equity, female, Black, queer, systemic racism, and so much more.

Throughout 2025, I witnessed organizations take one of three approaches to this attack on the written word.

First, some organizations rolled with the punches.

They continued to serve those who needed it most, but they altered language in grant proposals to meet the new administration’s focus. The upside – funding continued to flow. The downside – if websites and other publications didn’t change too, there was the concern of losing grant funding anyway. Hear me when I say that there is no judgement from me on this option. I get that we all have to find a way to work in the confines of the structures and laws in place, no matter how we feel about them.

Second, some organizations pushed back.

They either didn’t submit grant proposals, or they kept their language. I don’t have the data or even an anecdote to share showing whether this strategy worked or not, but I’m guessing these organizations saw a reduction in federal funds. Some were probably able to make up the difference elsewhere (private funding, individual donations, events, and more), but I’m guessing many organizations are hurting. Some organizations even took it a step further by speaking out against these changes and the harm they cause.

Third, some organizations didn’t believe there was a word ban at all.

To me, that’s the scariest option of all three. Even if there wasn’t an official list of banned words published by the federal government, we could see it in the NOFO language and Executive Orders. The writing was literally on the wall.

And turns out, some agencies were getting that banned word list. According to a December 2025 article published by NPR (which you can read HERE), “Some Head Start early childhood programs are being told by the federal government to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications or they could be denied. That’s according to recently submitted court documents.”

You heard that right. There is a list. Some of the words include disability, tribal, advocacy, gender, all-inclusive, antiracist, trauma, belong, marginalized, biased, historically, BIPOC, clean energy, underprivileged stereotype, health disparity, diversity, LGBTQ, and women. It’s as bad as we all knew it was.

As someone who writes for a living, as do many of you reading this blog post, I feel comfortable saying that words matter. They have power. They are transformative. They educate. They do so much.

In the same vein, stripping words from our language is akin to burning books. People and governments who try to erase words are doing it for the opposite reasons. They are trying to take away power, dumb down the masses, limit ideas they don’t like, and restrict each person’s power over their own autonomy.

Here’s a few choice words I have for this “restricted words” list. It’s distasteful, hateful, bigoted, racist, ugly, disheartening, mean-spirited, and unconscionable.

Back to my word of the year: STORYTELLER. I’m making it my mission to correctly tell the stories of those I serve. Wherever possible, I’ll use these “banned” words. I’ll tell the stories of people and communities hurting thanks to our current administration’s choices. I’ll share the stories of grant professionals fighting their hardest to fulfill their roles. I’ll highlight the stories of those who are fighting the good fight.

Got any stories you want to share with HayDay Services? The good, the bad, and the ugly – we want to hear them all. Email us anytime: hello@haydayservices.com. In the meantime, keep using your words wisely.