Recently, Donald Trump was once again inaugurated as President of the United States, and the start of what I anticipate will be a pivotal year for our nation. And while it’s increasingly difficult to know exactly what to expect, there is one thing I believe has become incredibly clear over the past year: The most important issues facing our country won’t be solved with more incessant bickering and polarization.

I don’t come to this conclusion out of some perceived sense of moral superiority. I, too, have found myself taken in and even angered by recent political dramas. The fact is that division can be intoxicating, particularly when it relates to issues that we’re passionate about. However, passion alone won’t help our struggling neighbors, and remaining divided will only prevent holistic solutions to fixing inequality and uplifting those in our communities who need it most.

Understand the issues at hand

For decades, socioeconomic inequality has continued to impact tens of millions of Americans and has remained one of our country’s most difficult challenges. And make no mistake, this is an issue that impacts people on all points of the political spectrum, and that will need to be addressed with increasing urgency regardless of which party is in power.

According to the Federal Reserve, the wealth gap in this country continues to widen. Within the second quarter of 2024, the top 10% of households by wealth had an average of $6.9 million each, holding 67% of total household wealth. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of households by wealth had an average of $51,000, only holding 2.5% of total household wealth. In parallel, housing affordability in this country is also getting worse, with the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimating a current shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for the nearly 11 million extremely low-income families in the U.S.

Given these statistics, it should come as no surprise that the incumbent Democratic administration ended up losing the working class vote. Whether you blame that on post-pandemic inflation or weak policies around workforce development, it doesn’t change the fact that the overall economy was a major motivating factor for American voters and instrumental in ushering in a leadership change.

Change isn’t achieved through division

To say that Donald Trump has traditionally been a polarizing figure would be an understatement. For years, his spontaneity on social media alone has reliably drawn the criticism of politicians and business leaders of all political affiliations, and on occasion even resulted in Trump being banned from multiple platforms.

However, judging by a slew of public endorsements and financial contributions from prominent tech leaders, it appears that at least one industry is willing to put their differences aside in the name of progress. More specifically, we’ve learned of several hefty contributions to Trump’s inaugural fund. Influential leaders like Mark Zuckerberg are signaling a growing recognition that remaining divided is a poor strategy for driving change.

While there are many conclusions that can be taken from this development, I think the most important lesson here is that real progress requires having allies in political leadership, not adversaries. We’ve seen how these prominent leaders can drive social and economic change in the U.S., including but not limited to tech, innovation, philanthropy, and more. So when it comes to addressing inequalities, I believe these are the leaders who will catalyze real change and we need them in our corner.

Come together to drive progress

As a career entrepreneur and nonprofit philanthropist, I’ve been privileged to witness first-hand how providing a hand up to our neighbors can uplift an entire community, which we do at Business for Good each day. But I’ve also come to understand that positive change is much more readily achieved through unification rather than division.

In fact, after years of working with hardworking business owners from marginalized communities, I can say with confidence that most care far less about political divisiveness than they do about action and results. Additionally, and perhaps more than anything, what these communities want—and need—is simply for their voices to be heard.

We can see this truth clearly reflected in how certain demographic groups voted this election, particularly young, working-class Black and Latino men. Citing everything from the benefits of Trump’s tax policies for small businesses to the inability of Democrats to truly deliver on their promises to minority communities, both demographics went for Trump even more confidently than in 2020, with Trump earning close to double the share of votes from Black men under 45 than he did in the previous election.

So, as we look to move forward to the next phase of Business for Good, the focus will remain on addressing inequities, but on a bigger scale—honing in on the housing crisis, economic equality, and broader community development.

With Inauguration Day in the rear-view mirror—and most leaders would probably agree—I don’t believe that this second Trump term will be all forward progress; there are still a lot of unanswered questions and uncertainty about the actions he will take over the next four years. What I do think, however, is that solving the socioeconomic challenges of our time isn’t about being a Democrat or a Republican, but rather about working across party lines with the shared recognition that unification is needed now more than ever to drive meaningful change, and that the path toward a better future for all Americans will be far better undivided.

Ed Mitzen is cofounder of Business for Good.