Trust is Moving Closer to Home
The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust in traditional institutions continues to erode. At the same time, trust is increasingly placed in local relationships, including coworkers, neighbors and employers. For chambers of commerce, this shift creates urgency and opportunity.
Chambers are inherently local, relationship-driven organizations. As trust moves closer to home, chambers are well positioned to affect more change. The report makes clear that growing division and declining exposure to different viewpoints are making collaboration more difficult. ACCE President & CEO Sheree Anne Kelly has spoken with many chamber teams in recent months about their efforts to promote civility. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer gives us a playbook.
One of the report’s most important ideas is the concept of trust brokering, the ability to build trust across differences by helping groups understand each other and work toward shared outcomes. This is a natural extension of your chamber’s role. How can we evolve the convening roles of chambers to do more locally, facilitating cooperation and finding common ground?
- Reframe your role: Move beyond convener and strengthen your role as a bridge builder. We can’t “fix” disagreement, but we can make everyone feel understood, respected and show that we are working toward a common goal.
- Focus on shared outcomes: Lead conversations around economic impact and community benefit.
- Make impact visible: Trust grows when people see tangible, local results. Share data that supports outcomes. This is less about changing minds and more about revealing shared intent.
- Create real interaction: Bring stakeholders together to work on problems, not just complain about them.
Trust is no longer a passive asset. It is an active responsibility. We must anchor everything we do in a shared future for a stronger economy and more prosperous community. We need to hold that shared vision steady when conversations get difficult.
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