As we did last year, the ZStaff is publishing our annual financial and progress report. This is both for transparency and so that all donors and contributors can see what their efforts have achieved. We also hope it will inspire new community members to get more involved and to consider deeper engagement and/or material support.
We’ve been reviewing and assessing our results, our ongoing work, and looking forward to our plans for the coming months and years. Suffice it to say, on behalf of all the ZStaff, we are beyond grateful for this community of people committed to social change. As you’ll all be able to read up on – the results speak for themselves.
Let’s be honest, it often feels like we are constantly struggling against a fierce tide. Perhaps it even feels closer to always than often. Under this shared heaviness, we encourage you to join us in pausing for a moment to take stock of all the effort, creativity, and heart that each of us contributes to this community, and to other communities, in our own ways. Everything from sharing conversation and resources, to mutual aid, to organizing, to funding movement work, to finding and re-finding what is worth fighting for over and over again – it all matters immensely and it all adds up to more than we know. We hope that if you each do this little stock take that you’ll share our feelings of pride, hope, and renewed determination.
Free Palestine!
Sí se puede!
F.*.c.k. fascism!
Solidarity forever!
The spirit of resistance lives!
Below is the introduction of the 2024 annual report – click here to read the report in full.
Institute For Social And Cultural Communications, Inc.: 2024 AT A GLANCE
Dear Z Supporters,
As we reflect on another year of collective organizing, creativity, and persistence, we want to share some of what your support has made possible. In a time of deepening crises and rising resistance, Z continues to evolve as a platform for independent media, political education, and movement infrastructure—rooted in solidarity and guided by vision.
Over the past year, the ZStaff has deepened our commitment to outreach, mutual aid, and strategic collaboration—growing Z into a stronger, more accessible platform for radical thought and action.
Since relaunching our site, we’ve seen major gains in reach and engagement, consistently ranking among the top results for key organizing and activism terms. Our presence on both mainstream and alternative platforms has expanded, and we continue to use these tools—despite their flaws—to spread Z’s vision.
Z is now performing well on major aggregators like MSN, Google News, SmartNews, and Flipboard, placing our work in front of hundreds of thousands of new readers and helping to break through algorithmic echo chambers. We are reaching beyond the left bubble, ensuring that Z’s uncompromising content enters broader conversations—without watering it down.
Our online events and the ZCommunity Forum continue to grow as spaces where activists, readers, and contributors from around the world share ideas, collaborate, and organize. Push notifications and RSS feeds now complement email, making it easier than ever to stay connected—especially for younger users and mobile-first readers.
We’ve also been proud to partner with grassroots movements and endorse key events throughout the year, including: the People’s Conference for Palestine, Climate Defenders’ Summer of Heat targeting Citibank, Extinction Rebellion DC’s #ElectrifyDC campaign, webinars with Academy of Democratic Modernity, Global Tapestry for Alternatives, Working Class Climate Alliance, Labor Network for Sustainability, Caracol DSA, and RootsAction; the #BreakTheSilence – #FreeCongo international days of action; the Merchants of Death War Crimes Tribunal; the Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign; strike support for Amazon and UAW; the March on the DNC, the March on Washington, and hundreds of other actions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Palestinian liberation. Through these efforts, Z has helped organize, amplify, and support critical political education, network building, and grassroots resistance.
Z continues to co-host the 20 Theses for Liberation, alongside DiEM25, Cooperation Jackson, Academy of Democratic Modernity, RealUtopia, MetaCPC, and others—unifying hundreds of organizations and individuals around a shared vision for radical, participatory change.
We publish ZMagazine monthly. As of 2024, it now features all-original content, including exclusive, pre-released features with an overarching focus on vision and strategy.
Our collaborations with independent media are growing. We’ve co-published interviews and commentary with Waging Nonviolence, Progressive Hub, and the Labor Network for Sustainability, while Z Originals are being republished by an expanding number of international outlets.
Z has also begun developing new digital tools to support strategic action—like the Gaza Solidarity Encampment mapping project and the AllofUS Directory.
In 2024, we hit a major milestone: Z’s first paid staff member came on board in late 2023. This part-time role significantly expanded our capacity, and we successfully maintained this role throughout 2024. Following our early 2024 fundraising drive, we were also able to contract a second staffer to address urgent tech and digital security updates. This was a short-term contract focused on Z’s most pressing needs. While we continue to rely heavily on volunteer labor for operations and editorial work, we remain committed to building a sustainable, equitable model for compensating contributors and staff—reflecting Z’s core values.
It’s important to acknowledge that behind these accomplishments are real people. The ZStaff’s dedication is extraordinary—not only in the results outlined here, but in their daily commitment to showing up and doing the work. Yet we are human—juggling responsibilities, relationships, health, and livelihoods. In 2024, two of our staff members, Cooper Sperling and Greg Wilpert, transitioned out of their roles due to life changes. We are deeply grateful for their years of contribution and the time we shared working together. This isn’t goodbye—Greg has joined the ZFriends (our version of an advisory board) and Cooper remains active as a student organizer.
As part of our ongoing effort to grow and diversify, we welcomed Roy Zhao to the ZStaff. Roy brings valuable tech expertise and strengthens our editorial team with insights from his organizing, educational background, and interest in international relations.
Finally, as media and activist repression has intensified globally—and especially in the United States, where Z is formally structured as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit—we began an internal audit and threat modeling process in late 2024 to assess and strengthen Z’s resilience and security. This includes protections for the ZStaff, ZFriends, and contributors. Z already operates extremely lean and agile, but we take the current political landscape seriously and continue to work to ensure that Z remains uncompromised and able to carry out its mission through troubled times. A recommitment to taking care of each other, which is an integral part of our stewardship of Z as an organization and as a community, has been a major theme in our 2024 communications and remains central to our ongoing strategy.
Of course, none of this would be possible without your participation and material support. From all of us at Z, thank you. Z is funded 100% by the Z Community, all while we do not keep any content behind paywalls—a true people’s media project in intention, form, and outcome. We are building something together—not an audience, but movement infrastructure that is maintained by us and works for us. We need it now more than ever.
There’s more to do. Follow Z on your preferred platforms, share our work, and stay engaged. If you are inspired by last year’s results, please consider making or increasing a financial contribution. We have big plans already well underway for 2025, and as you can see from this report, every little bit helps. Z remains first and foremost a political project to foster organized strategic action, not only to resist injustice, but to build alternatives. Let’s keep pushing forward—creatively, collectively, and with positive vision.
In community,
The ZStaff
READ THE 2024 ANNUAL REPORT HERE.
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