As we count down to R/evolution, EPIP’s 2021 Virtual National Conference, we’re getting inspired by the words that come from our speakers and feature in our programming:

In Inside Philanthropy, Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez digs deeper into what makes a bad grant and how funders can shift their thinking about these grants to focus on community impact, learning, and the grantmaking process. 

R/evolution will also feature a sneak peek at our revamped Philanthropology curriculum, which gives a grounding in philanthropy with a social justice lens - the full program’s resource list includes this timely article by Michael Selzer in Chronicle of Philanthropy, which looks at lessons that can be learned for COVID-19  from philanthropy’s response to the AIDS crisis.

Plenary speaker Derecka Purnell’s book Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom won’t be out until October, but her article “The System is Built For Power, Not Justice” is a great primer. 

What does it mean to celebrate a 20th anniversary, virtually? What’s the right mix of looking back, taking stock of our present moment, and looking forward? How do we center the wisdom of those who have come before us while boldly envisioning new futures? These are some of the questions we’ve been asking among our conference committee, staff, and board as we embrace this virtual anniversary season and prepare for the 2021 EPIP Virtual National Conference.

We're thrilled with the mix of voices, perspectives, and histories that will help us answer these pressing questions and ground our conference programming in three signature plenaries - Philanthropy Reimagined: 20 Years of Changemaking, Collective Loss: Collective Care: What We Need From Our Institutions, and A World Without Philanthropy: Imagining Liberation. 

These plenary sessions will feature leaders including Derecka Purnell, Beatrice Lors-Rousseau, Kiyomi Fujikawa, Sandy Nathan, Anthony Simmons, and more. Learn more below and register at epip.org/2021conference to witness and learn from their brilliance.

Join us at our 2021 Conference, R/evolution, for the formal launch of EPIP’s new communities of practice and a celebration of our long-running People of Color Network (PCN)!

Over the last few months, we’ve been meeting with members, researching with other philanthropy serving organizations, and connecting with our CHANGE partners. As a result of this relationship-building and deep listening, we’re thrilled to be launching two new communities of practice at our virtual conference. Click here for more on the conference or to register.

The first community of practice, for emerging women of color, will serve dual purposes of strengthening the professional networks for early- to mid-career women of color in philanthropy and strengthening interpersonal leadership skills so that women of color advance and thrive in the sector. The second community of practice, in response to requests from white members of EPIP, will support white practitioners in building greater accountability in their work to combat white dominant culture within philanthropy, and to sharpen their allyship and advocacy skills. Finally, we’re thrilled to bring renewed energy and intention to our long-standing People of Color Network, for EPIP members who identify as people of color.

We hope you'll join us as we dive into these new opportunities for the EPIP community to connect and grow together!

This month, we're asking what philanthropy can learn from the past year....

• In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Tonya Allen, Kathleen Enright, and Hilary Pennington lay out ways for foundations to commit to change, including addressing inequities within their own institutions, treating grantees as partners in creating change, and exploring collaboration.
• On NCRP’s blog, Siobhan Davenport gives suggestions for philanthropy to "recover right" from COVID-19 by committing to multi-year funding, focusing on the root causes of inequities, and shifting the existing power structures in the sector.
• In Nonprofit Quarterly, Dax-Devlon Ross explores differences between the ways established and emerging leaders in the sector view racial equity work and how those differences can be bridged on both sides. Suggestions include having sector “elders” help emerging leaders better understand the history of the sector and encouraging emerging leaders to create better boundaries

...looking at recent reports from the sector on mission-aligned impact investing and narrative change, and sharing resources curated by our chapters, including a recent blog post on the need for philanthropy to address the erasure of AAPI voices.

As April comes to a close, EPIP chapters are gathering virtually to build community over coffee and on the virtual dance floor, discussing reducing bias in grantmaking and philanthropy's role in addressing homelessness, and practicing self-care. 

This month, as philanthropy offers solidarity to AAPI philanthropic leaders and communities, we’re taking a closer look at AAPI-directed philanthropy...

• AAPIP’s newly-released Seeking to Soar: Foundation Funding for Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities finds that foundation funding designated for AAPI communities accounts for only 0.20 percent of all US grantmaking and has remained stagnant even as both the AAPI population in the United States and overall philanthropic giving have risen.
• AAPI Data’s State of Philanthropy among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, released in September 2020, echoes the findings of AAPIP’s report and makes a number of recommendations to foundations to strengthen AAPI philanthropy, including developing and supporting AAPI-specific pooled funds, prioritizing language access and underserved AAPI populations, and funding intersectional and coalitional work.

We’re also continuing to look at the ways that philanthropy can and should use the upheaval of the past year as an impetus for long-term change and marking Women's History Month alongside EPIP chapters and members from across the country by reflecting on the power of self-advocacy and the need for institutions to make space for that advocacy to flourish.

As we prepare for the 2021 EPIP National Conference, we're thrilled to be working with a group of dedicated and passionate leaders who are helping to shape the conference experience. The 29 members of the 2021 Conference Committee hail from organizations across the country and throughout the sector. We thank them for bringing their emergent leadership, lived experiences, and commitment to equity and justice to our conference planning process.

March may be almost over, but EPIP chapter events are in full swing! Join EPIP chapters for both community and learning - visit an art museum, take a deep dive into how to identify and combat microaggressions, learn from a philanthropic leader about advocacy, or grab some (virtual) coffee with fellow philanthrofolk!

The past year has brought a devastating increase in hateful speech and violence towards Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities throughout the United States. One incident of anti-AAPI hate is too many, and there have been nearly 3800 incidents documented by Stop AAPI Hate between March 2020 and March 2021 alone. EPIP condemns anti-AAPI violence and the racist hatred that it comes from, which continues to threaten and assault BIPOC communities.

This senseless racist and xenophobic violence has been inflamed by hateful political rhetoric, but builds on an abhorrent legacy of anti-Asian sentiment that is part and parcel of white supremacist culture and dogma in America. We decry these hateful beliefs and join in solidarity with our AAPI members, AAPI communities, and all who oppose racism, hatred, and violence. We also call on the philanthropic community to include AAPI organizations and communities in its efforts to advance social justice and achieve racial equity.

Please join us in condemning the violence and supporting AAPI people and communities. We offer the resources below as a starting point.

This month, we’re celebrating Black History Month by lifting up reading that brings an equity analysis to philanthropy.

• Building Movement Project marked Black History Month with a resource list for non-Black co-conspirators to use to take action in support of Black leaders and leadership, while PEAK Grantmaking made the Black Voices in Grants Management issue of the PEAK Grantmaking Journal freely open to the public.
• Nick Tilsen of NDN Collective wrote in SSIR about the importance of investing in Indigenous self-determination and building Indigenous power by centering community-driven solutions.
• Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) decried the recent rise in anti-Asian violence, repudiating violence against Asian American communities and calling on grantmakers to include AAPI organizations in their grantmaking profiles.

We’re also getting actionable advice from leaders in the sector and exploring the resources shared by EPIP chapters across the country....