Feedback from across the conservation sector suggests a shift in how the movement talks about itself—from crisis-heavy messaging toward agency and evidence—because constant alarm fatigues audiences while stories of progress keep them engaged. Respondents to date have emphasized that scalable, durable conservation efforts share core traits: genuine local leadership, transparency about what works (and what doesn’t), visible community benefits, and diversified funding that strengthens resilience. Practitioners highlighted the importance of aligning human well-being with environmental outcomes, with models like Health in Harmony showing how rights, livelihoods, and conservation can reinforce one another when communities define their own priorities. This piece builds on a conversation Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler had last week at the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders (EWCL) conference in Washington, D.C.