Emerging Leaders on Philanthropy, Equity, and Their Futures

On June 18, 2019, EPIP held its first People of Color Network (PCN) Regional Gathering in Philadelphia in partnership with EPIP Philly. This half-day event, facilitated by The BIPOC Project, focused on the ways that white supremacy hinders coalition-building between communities of color and how to get past it to build solidarity. Attendees of the intimate convening included EPIP Philly steering committee members Kabria Rogers, who shares her reflections on the day.

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This month, we're thinking about the just, equitable, and sustainable world that we name in our mission and are driving towards in all of our work. Sometimes, the journey is long, as seen in the powerful miniseries When They See Us, about the wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five, which has been watched by over 23 million Netflix accounts and recently received 16 Emmy nominations. 

That's why, this month, we have been drawn to:

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This piece, written by EPIP Bay Area Steering Committee Member Daniel Lau, was originally published on NCG's blog. We felt it would resonate strongly with EPIP members and share an excerpt here. 

Everyone Counts, No Exceptions: What Does Japanese American Internment Have to Do With the Census?

The announcement came as we were pulling into our halfway point: “We’ll be stopping for about 15 minutes. We’ll also be distributing t-shirts, feel free to use this time to change.” Yes, I thought! I had been eyeing the black t-shirts with ‘Solidarity By Any Means Necessary’ in big block letters since we had gathered in Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and gotten on the bus in the wee hours of the morning.

My friend Christine and I were on our way to Manzanar, one of the ten American concentration camps where more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated between 1942-1945. An annual Manzanar Pilgrimage is held on the last Saturday of April to commemorate the experience of Japanese Americans, reflect and heal from the legacy of racial persecution, and draw parallels to current-day racism and xenophobia. April 27, 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the Manzanar Pilgrimage, and through the organizing efforts of our regional PSO (Philanthropy-Serving Organization) counterpart Southern California Grantmakers; Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation - Los Angeles; and Vigilant Love, I was able to join along. Through the experience, I was not only able to deepen my personal practice of equity and social justice, but also connect it to NCG’s Public Policy efforts and one of the most important democratic activities of our country - the decennial census.   

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When we at EPIP announced the departure of Executive Director Tamir Novotny in May, we knew two things were certain – 1) that we would continue to be a strong and leaderful organization, committed to our mission of building a just, equitable, and sustainable philanthropic sector and 2) that our community would stand beside us every step of the way. And true to form, our community has provided us with invaluable feedback and an outpouring of support, for which we are truly grateful. Your commitment to our shared vision for the sector, even during this period of transition, is inspiring and it is precisely why we remain steadfast in our efforts to ensure EPIP pushes forward to reach our goals and to build a sector that we can all be proud of.  

It was therefore important that we as an organization took our time to consider a path forward and to identify someone who embodies our values, is respected and trusted within the EPIP community and larger philanthropic sector, and can lead the organization through this transition period.  And so, it is with great excitement that we would like to announce that effective July 1st, Storme Gray, EPIP’s current Director of Programs, has been named EPIP’s Interim Executive Director.

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