EPIP LA is thrilled to announce that it is accepting applications for its ninth year of the Mentorship Program. Through its Mentorship Program, EPIP LA aims to provide participants with the tools needed to develop and maintain meaningful connections with experienced leaders and their peers. 

The EPIP LA Mentorship program connects an emerging leader in the philanthropic field with a seasoned leader to serve as a mentor and like-minded peers to support them on their journey. 

Participants meet to discuss their individual professional interests and brainstorm potential matches. The Steering Committee assists in matching each participant with a mentor in the field who is available to meet on a regular basis for the year (approximately four meetings total). On alternate months, the cohort of mentees meets to discuss their professional challenges, progress on personal goals, and to share learning from their mentor relationships. Participants need to be available at least once a month for the duration of the program.

To apply for the 2022 Mentorship Program cohort, click here. Applications are due by Friday, December 17, 2021. Applicants must be available to participate in an evening group interview during the second week of January (tentatively January 14th) and willing to commit to the full year of the program if selected.

EPIP is seeking a detail-oriented, systems thinker and collaborative Chapter Liaison to play a key role in developing, strengthening and evaluating EPIP’s national volunteer chapter network. The Chapter Liaison will work to provide robust professional development for chapter leaders, while building upon current chapter management processes and infrastructure with an eye for further improvement. This is a great opportunity for an individual who has an interest in community building, adult education, and volunteer management. This is a remote, full-time position within EPIP’s team. 

EPIP has partnered with McNeil Creative Enterprises to seek three dynamic leaders to join our growing team. EPIP has experienced tremendous growth and transition since the implementation of the 2017 Strategic Plan, and with an eye towards the next 20 years of our work to empower and engage emerging leaders in the philanthropic sector, we are building a team that will assist us in the next chapter of our evolution.

In late March 2021, the murders of 6 Asian American women in Atlanta brought new attention to a disturbing and hateful trend of growing violence against members of the Asian American community, a legacy of the anti-Asian sentiment built and nurtured by white supremacist culture in America. As philanthropy – and many other groups and sectors within the US – came together to decry the hatred, many Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA/PI) individuals within the sector were left to grapple with the impact of a moment that resonated both personally and professionally.

Below, four Asian American members of the philanthropic community – Claudia Leung, Jonny Moy, Jennifer Nguyen, and Cristiana Baik  – share their perspectives on the violence, immediate philanthropic response, and hopes for the sector’s commitment to AA/PI communities long-term.

This is part two of two reflections from these four leaders within our membership.

In late March 2021, the murders of 6 Asian American women in Atlanta brought new attention to a disturbing and hateful trend of growing violence against members of the Asian American community, a legacy of the anti-Asian sentiment built and nurtured by white supremacist culture in America. As philanthropy – and many other groups and sectors within the US – came together to decry the hatred, many Asian American and Pacific Islander (AA/PI) individuals within the sector were left to grapple with the impact of a moment that resonated both personally and professionally.

Below, four Asian American members of the philanthropic community – Claudia Leung, Jonny Moy, Jennifer Nguyen, and Cristiana Baik  – share their perspectives on the violence, immediate philanthropic response, and hopes for the sector’s commitment to AA/PI communities long-term.

What follows is part one of two reflections from these four leaders within our membership.

EPIP New York is an intergenerational home for emergent philanthropic practitioners to cultivate bold ideas, develop professional agency, and strengthen community. We are committed to building a sector that is responsive to and reflective of the social, political, and economic context of our time: rooted in social justice and inspired by intersectional vision.

We are excited to announce that applications for the EPIP NY Steering Committee are now open! The application deadline has been extended to Sunday, September 19th. 

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!