The Necessity of Partnership: Choosing Growth Over Retreat In times of uncertainty, it is human nature to contract. When budgets tighten or the global landscape feels challenging, the instinct is to retreat into deficit thinking—to guard our resources, protect our turf, and ultimately, shrink our collective impact. At the Creative Education Foundation (CEF), we know that retreat is the greater risk. Our strategic mandate is to lean in. We are choosing to amplify our resilience, creativity, and g