After an extensive national search, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) is pleased to announce that Storme Gray has been named our next Executive Director, effective Monday, January 20th. Storme has held the position of Interim Executive Director since July 2019.

Storme, the first woman of color to lead EPIP since its founding, has been a change agent and advocate for justice throughout her career in the philanthropic sector. A member of the EPIP community since 2014, Storme was a Chapter Leader and Co-Chair of EPIP DC and member of EPIP’s Advisory Board prior to joining EPIP’s staff in 2017 as our Director of Programs. As Director of Programs, she brought her commitment to social justice and philanthropy to EPIP’s work, developing member programming that centers equity in philanthropy, managing EPIP’s successful bi-annual conference, and re-invigorating the EPIP People of Color Network, among other accomplishments.

“I’m excited to step into this new leadership role at a pivotal time in EPIP’s growth," Storme said when asked about her new position. “As EPIP approaches our 20th anniversary next year, I look forward to working to make our community the place for early and mid-career professionals in philanthropy who are thoughtful, intentional, and care about building a more just future for all.” 

As we ring in 2020, we're taking a moment to celebrate EPIP's top 10 wins in 2019! It's been a year of change and a year of celebration, a year of rising to challenges and one of seeking out new opportunities. And most importantly, it has been a year that has us excited and energized for the year (and decade) to come.

As we look forward to 2020, which will include our 2020 Conference, new programming initiatives, and a time to reflect before our 20th anniversary year in 2021, we continue to be grateful for you. Thank you for all the events you've attended, resources you've shared, and support you've offered. Thank you for the thoughtful conversations and insightful observations, for making us think and keeping us reaching for more. Thank you for continuing to keep a more equitable and just philanthropic sector in your hearts and minds.

This month, our focus has been on the resources in our Giving Tuesday toolkit, including:

• Stifled Generosity: How Philanthropy Has Fueled the Accumulation & Privatization of Wealth, a timeline of the impact of philanthropy from 1913 to the present from Justice Funders Today
• Funding Community Organizing, Changing Lives, a call-to-action to fund community organizing and a look at the impact it has already had on key social justice issues by NCRP
• Give Big, Give Now, Keep Giving for Social Justice, guidance on giving for social justice from Resource Generation

How we give and who we give to are vital as we work to build a more just world. As Vanessa Daniel noted in her recent New York Times opinion piece, Philanthropists Bench Women of Color, M.V.P.s of Social Change, only 0.6 percent of foundation funding was targeted to women of color in 2016, despite the strides they have made in creating change.

This month, we reflected on Indigenous People's Day by...

• Learning about the history of the Americas through a Native lens, from the tribal independence era through the current era of Indian self-determination and self-governance.
• Remembering whose land we actually live on using this map of tribal lands in the Americas and Australia.
• Sharing this self-assessment tool that can help foundations determine where they are in their work with tribal communities, Native organizations, and Indigenous peoples.
• Bookmarking this series of articles from Nonprofit Quarterly that lift up Native voices and identify ways that philanthropy can help Indigenous communities.
• And remembering that The Future Is Indigenous.

...and celebrated ways that philanthropy can make a difference for other marginalized people and communities.

Thank you for your interest in the EPIP LA 2020 Mentorship Program! Applications will open on November 5^th and are due November 20^th. We hope you'll apply then.

EPIP LA is thrilled to announce that it is accepting applications for its seventh 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 emerging leaders in the philanthropic field with a seasoned leader to serve as a mentor and like-minded peers to support them on their journey.

I have always been an advocate for justice. As a nearly lifelong community organizer, I have spent years navigating through grassroots organizing spaces, institutions of higher education, traditional nonprofits, foundations, and multi-stakeholder collaborations. From a young age I was fortunate to be politicized by former Black Panthers, SNCC organizers, community activists, and young peers with whom I still share a deep connection.

Still, I can remember sitting in a church in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans in 2008, surrounded by dozens of community residents, organizers, advocates, and movement builders, and experiencing, for the first time, my privilege being challenged as a white-passing straight man. At that moment, I realized that even though both of my mother’s parents emigrated from Mexico to the U.S. as teenage orphans and my grandfather is from Acámbaro, Guanajuato and of indigenous descent, I have received the benefit of whiteness my entire life and through every stage of my career. From that point forward, my life became dedicated to dismantling systems of inequity.

The EPIP LA Chapter is now recruiting Steering Committee members for 2020. The Steering Committee will provide leadership among philanthropic practitioners in the Los Angeles community by providing innovative programming, networking, and professional development opportunities. Please read more here about responsibilities, opportunities, and details on how to apply.

This month, we've been thinking about the challenges the social sector faces as we try to put diversity, equity, and inclusion principles into action, as well as some of the solutions being put into place to combat those issues. 

Volunteer Opportunity with Madison Square Boys & Girls Club 

The Madison Square Boys & Girls Club would like to partner with EPIP NY to bring programs to their teens. Madison Square Boys & Girls Club provides after-school and summer youth development programming to young people ages 6 to 18 in under-resourced neighborhoods of New York City.  

This month, we're lifting up the voices of those within philanthropy who are boldly telling their own stories...

• Native Americans in Philanthropy's (NAP) recently-released Truth & Healing Movement Toolkit is a treasure trove of resources, including books, videos, and social media accounts, that tell the story of Indigenous history and share present-day stories of resilience and ingenuity from Native peoples.
• For those in the Washington, DC area, the Guide to Indigenous DC app is a self-guided walking tour of the DC area that emphasizes tribal history and Indigenous contributions to the city.
• The Black Women's Guide to Philanthropy celebrates the contributions of Black women to our sector, features Black women philanthropists to follow, and shares how to give back in time, talent, testimony, and treasure.
• A Different Asian American Timeline traces Asian American history while placing it in a broader context of race, capitalism, and social movements.
• The Women's Philanthropy Institute highlights the contribution of donors to women's funds and foundations and finds that they see themselves as philanthropic leaders and are motivated by believing their gift can make a difference.