Happy Holidays! As 2026 approaches, let’s pause before hitting fast-forward. We’ve rounded up a great mix for you today—three juicy deep dives, a handful of quick reads, and some fun photos to close it out.

Addressing systemic inequities is so incredibly hard. You’re essentially fighting the status quo, and the status quo will reassert itself at every turn. Whenever you’re pushing for change to such ingrained problems, you can of course expect a certain amount of overt resistance, but the more challenging part can be the passive resistance. When people have the status quo on their side, doing nothing is actually a very effective method of killing the change. So how do you combat that?

Keith Welks is Senior Advisor to the State Treasurer in the Pennsylvania Treasury Department. In this role he is working on several discrete projects, including the Keystone Saves retirement initiative championed by State Treasurer Stacy Garrity.