Post-racial America?! A week before the 2013 @EPIPNational Conference in Chicago, Dr. Emmett Carson was the Clinton Scholar in Residence at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, Arkansas. During that week, he examined the implications of philanthropy’s perceptions of a ‘post-racial America’, and further posits reflections on the civic engagement of African American males. As usual, Dr. Carson’s voice challenges colleagues to examine our roles and commitment to authentic social change. Below is an excerpt Dr. Carson’s essay, Foundations and the Fallacy of Post-Racial America: African American Men and Civic Engagement. Please read it and share. We are interested in your thoughts.  Introduction Of all the questions of discrimination and prejudice that still exist in our society, the most perplexing one is the oldest, and in some ways today, the newest:  the problem of race.  Can we fulfill the promise of America by embracing all our citizens of all races.…  In short, can we become one America in the 21st century? With these words, former President Bill Clinton announced his intention to lead the American people in “a great and unprecedented conversation about race.” His hope was to create One America in which every citizen, regardless of race, recognizes their shared dreams and has access to equal opportunity.  Shared dreams and equal opportunity are the avenues through which citizens become engaged in the civic life of their communities, allowing strangers to become neighbors, strengthening the social fabric of America’s civil society.  Without question, the most visible example of the nation’s progress on race […] Read more

(If you are an EPIP member and need access to the free ticket for members only, please email Kate Seely at [email protected] for that. Or find it on my Member Connect profile by clicking here. Once you register on Eventbrite, you will receive a link to access the webinar.) Join us for our monthly webinar focused this month on Impact Investing. We’ll be talking with Catherine Covington of EPIP Bay Area and RSF Social Finance. RSF is a pioneering non-profit financial services organization dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. Register here. Webinar Description: Many of us have heard about “Impact Investing”, but what is the current state of this relatively young field and who is getting their hands dirty in it?  What would the philanthropic field look like if foundations’ grant dollars and endowment dollars were distributed and invested using a similar set of values and goals? Foundations have the opportunity to play a critical role in catalyzing the movement of more dollars into the field of impact investing by putting portions of their philanthropic capital, that is, their endowments, into mission-related investments, but this is easier said than done for most foundations.  This webinar is for anyone who is curious about the field of impact investing and will include examples of pioneers in the field that will hopefully spark conversations within your own organization! Read more

EPIP Members are invited to attend An Intimate Conversation with LA Mayoral Candidates Wendy Greuel & Eric Garcetti presented by The Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce...

Read more

This post originally appeared on the YNPN-Chicago Blog.  On April 5th and 6th, I had the pleasure of attending the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) National Conference here in Chicago.  The EPIP Executive Director, Rahsaan Harris, invited me to join as one of the Board Chairs of YNPN Chicago.  I was very excited about participating in this event because of the insights I would gain from future philanthropic leaders and the new information I could share with the YNPN member base to build our programming and partners. For those of you not familiar with EPIP, they are a similar in purpose to YNPN although their programming is specific for up and coming leadership in the philanthropic sector.  Currently, there is not a chapter in Chicago but there was an announcement that they are going to explore that option this year.  Very exciting! Here are three main take-a-ways/reflections as “The Mole” for the nonprofit sector: Read more

This post is authored by Paul Bachleitner, the Joint Affinity Group Project Director, as a part of the EPIP-JAG blogging partnership “Wit and Wisdom.” It’s dreadfully easy to get lost beneath the big tent of the Council’s annual conference. This is one reason why the JAG partners and other affinity groups like EPIP hold their conferences before, during, and afterwards. We help you recharge your racial and social justice mojo. But if you don’t have a stout boat to navigate the flood of activities, they can soak you like a philanthropalooza tsunami. How do you ride the wave? It’s exciting to be sure. But staying on top of the constant stream of activities and multiple locations can be challenging. Read more

EPIP San Diego is taking happy hour to the beach! Thursday, May 2, 6:00 p.m. JRDN at Tower 23 723 Felspar Street, San Diego, CA 92109 Don’t miss this monthly gathering of San Diego’s emerging leaders in philanthropy. Read more

Special Program for EPIP Members! See. Hear. Speak: Communicating with Authenticity Friday, June 28 10:30 AM – Saturday, June 29 1:00 PM The San Diego Foundation 2508 Historic Decatur Rd, San Diego, CA 92106 Most people perceive communication as a means for transmitting information, but it is so much more than a simple exchange of knowledge. Communicating with authenticity generates opportunities to transform relationships and paves the way to creating intentional spaces for learning and discovery. In this two-day workshop, Meenakshi Chakraverti of Public Conversations Project will help us explore the art of dialogue and lead us through experiential learning activities. Learn more… Read more

The following is written by Elizabeth Kidd, Steering Committee Co-Chair of the EPIP-Michigan Chapter, and staff at the Community Foundation for the Holland/Zeeland Area.  Moving up on the proverbial career ladder is a frequent topic of conversation among young professionals in any field; the philanthropic/social change sector is certainly no exception.  We analyze potential next steps, lament the often limited options for upward mobility, confess our fears that we might be stagnating, and celebrate when we ourselves or our colleagues have opportunities to move up.  However as I talked with other participants at the 2013 EPIP National Conference and listened to them describe the work they were doing, I was struck by how woefully inadequate the career ladder metaphor is to capture the many valuable ways we can and do move professionally – particularly in the field of philanthropy. Read more

Learn how your organization can evaluate more strategically in a short webinar this May 2nd (free for EPIP members) (To register for this webinar, email Kate Seely at [email protected] for the registration link as this webinar is restricted to EPIP members.) EPIP in partnership with the American Evaluation Association (AEA) is offering EPIP members free access to the Coffee Break webinar “Evaluate More Strategically” on Thursday May 2nd from 2:00 pm to 2:20 pm ET. The webinar will be presented by Efrain Gutierrez from FSG, also Steering Committee member of the Seattle EPIP chapter. Webinar Description: There is an emerging trend in the philanthropic sector toward being more deliberate about the intersection of strategy and evaluation. Foundations and nonprofits are being more intentional about learning from their work by evaluating their programs and initiatives, but often lack an overarching structure that brings evaluation activities together into a comprehensive strategy. This webinar will explain one solution – the concept of Strategic Learning and Evaluation Systems. They describe learning in terms of “why”, “how”, “when”, and “by and with whom”, and determine to what extent various programs, initiatives, processes, or policies will be evaluated and with what resources. If you are interested in attending, email Kate Seely at [email protected] for the registration link. AEA Coffee Breaks are a series of short coffee-break-length demonstrations of 20-minutes each that introduce tools of use to evaluators. These demonstrations are free for AEA members. Efrain Gutierrez works for FSG, a nonprofit consulting firm that specializes in helping foundations, nonprofits, and corporations develop […] Read more

The Los Angeles Chapter of EPIP invites you to their upcoming Spring Leadership Salon:   Philanthropy is changing. Are you ready? EPIP LA’s Spring Leadership Salon will address where philanthropy is heading and the qualifications emerging practitioners should develop to prepare for future leadership positions.                 Please join us and take advantage of the opportunity to ask our speakers your general and specific questions! Space is limited to 20 attendees, so buy your ticket today! When Wednesday, May 1 5:30pm to 8:00pm PT Location Malo 4326 W. Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90029 For more information on this exciting opportunity and to buy tickets, please view the event page at http://www.epip.org/events/epip-la-spring-leadership-salon-philanthropy-is-changing-are-you-ready-2/. Not a member of EPIP? Join now at http://www.epip.org/membership/. Read more