Following is a guest post from Darrell Scott, a former EPIP member who currently works as an Online Organizing Associate at Accelerate Change in Washington, DC. Darrell also sits on the board of YNPN. His interests lie in new models for civic engagement, social innovation, and movement building.  I spent two years in philanthropy, working as a fellow at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem, NC. I learned a ton, specifically about North Carolina’s funding landscape, statewide strategies for social change, and how to support racial equity in the nonprofit sector. Beyond my lessons learned, I always had the opportunity to meet brilliant minds from across the state. Through my participation in EPIP, however, I joined a community of emerging leaders from around the country. One of the key things I heard consistently were funders struggling to help grantees grow to scale and become financially self-sustainable. (more…)