Leaderology’s Marissa Waldman (CEO) and Kay Basi (CSMO) were recently invited to a dinner and discussion hosted by Edelman under the Chatham House Rule. Around the table were cross-industry senior executives reflecting on findings from the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Fairness & Opportunity in the U.S.
The room had a lot to say but one truth came through loud and clear:
The workplace is both the top site of discrimination and the only trusted institution left to “do the right thing” when it comes to fairness.
At a time when DEI functions are being underfunded, deprioritized or outright dismantled, Edelman posed a critical question to the room: who inside the organization carries the mantle to deliver fairness, opportunity, and wellbeing—the top universal trust builders identified in the study?
Why We Need Co-Conspirators
This is where the idea of the “co-conspirator” comes in.
An ally speaks up; a co-conspirator acts. Co-conspirators put their credibility, influence, and position on the line to ensure fairness is more than just a stated value: it becomes an organizational reality.
And here’s what the report makes clear: the most trusted messenger isn’t the CEO, or even the CHRO. It’s the middle manager—the direct leader of employees.
Employees trust their manager most to tell them the truth about fairness, discrimination, and opportunity. Yet these leaders are often the least prepared. They are rarely trained, rarely included in critical conversations early enough, and rarely empowered to shape the culture and practices that employees are demanding.
That gap is dangerous. If the workplace is the last trusted institution, and managers are the most trusted messengers, then not equipping them for this responsibility is a risk no organization can afford.
Recognizing The Co-Conspirator
This is why we created the Fearlessly Authentic (AF) Leadership Awards (FAAF Awards).
The FAAFs were born out of a conviction: our employees and consumers are demanding more from their employers. If business is the last trusted institution standing, then it carries the responsibility and the power to drive social change.
The Fearlessly Authentic (AF) Leadership Awards spotlight and celebrate those leaders who don’t just talk about fairness and authenticity, but actively shape cultures and business practices where people feel seen, valued, and free to contribute fully.
Recognizing leaders who embody fearless authenticity is more than symbolic. It builds momentum. It sends a clear message: this is what leadership looks like in a trust-driven organization when so much misinformation is surrounding us.
Building a Pipeline of Co-Conspirators
Recognition is critical, but it’s only half the work. The other half is equipping the next generation of leaders (the mid-level leaders) who hold the trust and confidence of employees but often lack the training to rise to the moment.
At Leaderology, we saw this gap years ago. In anticipation of today’s political and socio-economic climate—where trust is fragile and fairness is under pressure—we knew organizations would need a pipeline of co-conspirators ready to act with bold, genuine, invested leaders.
That’s why we built Pathways x Leaderology. Pathways is a coaching-first leadership development platform designed to upskill managers' capabilities that drive the exact outcomes the Edelman report now validates as essential: fairness, opportunity, wellbeing, and authenticity.
For us, it starts with Fearless Authenticity. Period.
Fearless Authenticity is the conviction to act in alignment with your purpose and principles, while cultivating spaces for others to do the same.
This is the muscle mid-level leaders must strengthen. They are the translators of culture, the amplifiers of fairness, and the everyday co-conspirators employees look to when trust is on the line.
Pathways equips them for that role—through binge-worthy microlearning, transformative coaching, and actionable leadership plans that ensure they don’t just speak to truth, they deliver on it.
A Call to Action For ALL of Us
The Edelman report quantified what many of us have been saying for years: employees are demanding more. Consumers are demanding more. And workplaces are where this demand will be met or ignored.
The future of trust will not be decided in the boardroom or in the headlines. It will be decided in the daily actions of your leaders who are either equipped to act as co-conspirators for fairness, opportunity and authenticity in the workplace, or left without the tools to step into the role.
So here’s the call: if we want to close the trust gap, we need more co-conspirators. We need more leaders willing to act, to risk, to model fearless authenticity, and to build organizations that reflect not just compliance, but conviction.
The co-conspirator may just need to be you.
