About EPIP 2024

EPIP 2024 is a celebration point for EPIP: our first in-person conference since before the pandemic began, our first conference as a new nonprofit, and a chance to acknowledge the work ahead as we prepare emerging leaders to be responsive to an ever-changing philanthropic sector and world.

Through our conference, we will amplify emergent thinking, bold leadership, and creative philanthropic practices to inspire and prepare emerging leaders. Through community building, healing spaces, restorative practices, and professional development for the inclusive leader, the conference will invite participants to lead change within themselves as the catalyst for making change within the philanthropic sector.

Every aspect of EPIP 2024 is designed to support the learning, connections, and inspiration that early- and mid-career professionals need.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

This call for proposals is open to all leaders, changemakers, and activists working in the social impact sector. Whether you work in philanthropy, a public charity, or directly with communities, we invite you to submit a session proposal. 

Be sure to read all information on this page carefully to ensure a successful proposal submission. Once ready, please use this form to submit a session proposal for EPIP 2024. 

During the review of proposals, if the conference committee finds that your session idea aligns closely with others, we may pair you with other session designers. In this case, you will be notified and given the chance to respond. 
Additionally, if we have any feedback or need clarification about your proposal, we will contact you.

To submit your session idea, please fill out this short application by our extended deadline: Wednesday January 31st! 

CONFERENCE PRIORITIES

• Provide transformative learning opportunities that support early- and mid- career practitioners to be stronger, bolder inclusive leaders for the sake of a more just world 
• Support deep connection and long-term relationships between members and with EPIP to support people’s longevity in the field 
• Celebrate EPIP’s journey and next chapter, particularly by amplifying and bringing in the spirit of New Orleans through all aspects of the program 
  
  

AUDIENCE

The EPIP community is made up of early- and mid-career philanthropic professionals from across a range of organizations, geographies, and roles. Our members are grantmakers, evaluators, students, philanthropy advisors, administrative staff, philanthropy-serving organization staff, and more. The unifying thread across the EPIP community is our members’ curiosity and belief in the ability of philanthropy to operate in more equitable ways to transform the world, and a desire to build robust peer networks as part of that work. 

EPIP’s membership consists of 70 institutional members and over 2,000 individuals. We expect approximately 250 attendees in person and at least 50 virtual attendees. Most of the conference attendees will have been in the philanthropic sector for less than five years, and represent a huge range of lived experiences. EPIP strives for our programming to be pro-Black, pro-queer, and pro-rest, and expect that proposed content will center and prioritize the experience of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and/or the experiences of those most impacted by systemic oppressions. 

SESSION CONTENT

EPIP will be curating a selection of sessions to accompany this call for proposals. 

Remaining topics should be relevant to early- and mid-career philanthropic practitioners and hold a firm commitment to racial equity and justice. Each session should address one if not more of our Inclusive Leadership Framework. 

Sample topics could include but are not limited to: 

Sector Knowledge:

• Accurate and complete stories of BIPOC communities’ contributions to building wealth and cultures of giving outside the dominant narrative
• Utilizing design thinking and other creative strategies to develop a dynamic vision for the future of philanthropy
• Alternatives to the nonprofit structure; organizing beyond nonprofits 
• Futurism, AI, and the future of philanthropy 
• Histories of wealth accumulation in philanthropy 

Equity Analysis: 

• Disability justice and deepening our equity analysis 
• Abolition and collective liberation movements 
• Climate crisis; climate adaptation; climate resilience 
• Efforts to engage in truth and reconciliation, restorative justice, or other transformational processes

Self Advocacy: 

• Reflections on individual career pathways
• Practices for philanthropic practitioners to explore healing individually and collectively; the importance of rest 
• Peer coaching and networking 

Resource Mobilization:

• Financial or administrative review with an equity lens
• Building trust-based, philanthropic partnerships with communities 
• Equitable learning and evaluation techniques 
• Sessions that uplift philanthropic partnerships and community-led strategies in New Orleans, Louisiana, or the South

Organizational Leadership & Governance: 

• Liberatory leadership for senior leaders
• Enacting change within an organization from a non-traditional position of power and authority
• Developing inclusive, anti-oppressive workplaces to encourage and nurture diverse leadership   

Advocacy and Policy: 

• Understanding and managing risk tolerance in the current political climate
• How to develop a power analysis; lessons from community organizing we can use for philanthropy
• The pros and cons of Donor Advised Funds and how to leverage them for racial equity 

Interpersonal Leadership: 

• Managing up and across in hybrid or virtual work environments 
• Anti-oppressive facilitation tools 
• Building trusting, mutually respectful relationships within our institutions and with communities
• Creating space at the table for others to show up whole and authentic
• Identity based affinity spaces 

SESSION FORMAT:

EPIP encourages submissions that are creative and seek to engage participants beyond the traditional panel-style presentation model. In particular, we will prioritize sessions that demonstrate how they will ensure greater interaction and dialogue among the group. 

See below for examples of some creative presentation types.

UnPanel / Fishbowl Dialogues
Duration: 75 minutes
Similar to a traditional panel, there are 3-4 speakers on a topic. The conversation begins with speakers in the center of a ‘fishbowl’, but audience members "tap in" to be part of the conversation. Everyone else witnesses without commenting. This witnessed conversation on a topic can be quite powerful, helping to bring clarity and shared experience to everyone attending. 

Skill Workshop
Duration: 90 minutes OR 3 hours (i.e. two 90-minute sessions)
Facilitators demo a concept and then present interactive ways for attendees to practice and/or experiment with the concept through adult-learning practices. This format is great for those with experience facilitating and/or who are interested in teaching a concrete skill or exploring a new concept with peers. 

Roundtable 
Duration: 60-75 minutes
You’ll facilitate a roundtable session for your peers where they’ll share ideas and best practices concerning a single topic related to emerging practitioners and professional development. This is a great opportunity to grow your facilitation skills! 

Formal Presentation with Audience Participation
Duration: 75 minutes
If you have a big, well-developed idea you may want to prepare a formal presentation, and plan time during the session to involve the audience with small group discussion or individual reflection.

Connection Over Content
Duration: 60 minutes
Hold space for community members and intentionally connect with peers to help rekindle our commitment and passion for transforming philanthropy and becoming inclusive leaders. While these are casual, we encourage creating structure so participants get the most out of the time. These can be identity based affinity spaces and/or specific discussion topics that you want to connect over. 

PROPOSAL DETAILS:

Submitters will be asked to provide the following: 

• Your name, title, and organization 
• How many speakers you envision having, what diverse perspectives you/they represent, and speaker accessibility accommodation information (if needed) 
• Your session’s title, description, primary learning objectives, agenda overview, target audience, Inclusive Leadership Framework cornerstone,  ideal session format ideal length, and how the session would support participants of multiple learning styles and identities. 
• EPIP will have the ability to offer a handful of virtual sessions, so please note your preference between in-person or virtual. 

The Conference Planning Committee and EPIP staff will review all submitted proposals and select sessions for the EPIP 2024 National Conference. Before making final selections, we may contact those submitting session proposals to ask for clarification, recommend different tracks, and offer other feedback to session presenters.

Final selections and notifications will be shared by mid February, 2024, with the expectation that session proposals and titles will be finalized for conference materials by late April 2024.

SPEAKER REGISTRATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy is a nonprofit membership association with a responsibility to its members to carefully manage its resources. We aim to keep our conference accessible to our members and those in the field who may have reduced access to professional development funds.

Speakers are responsible for covering their own travel and registration costs. If the session designer is a foundation who is inviting non-profit leaders to present, then the session sponsor is responsible for ensuring that their nonprofit speakers are also able to attend. 

If the registration rate is not financially feasible for any of our members or partners, we will work with you to ensure you are able to attend. Speaker stipends and additional support for participation in EPIP 2024 will be considered on a case-by-case basis and upon request. 

Speakers will receive a $100 discount off of their registration fee and will receive a discount code upon acceptance to the EPIP conference. There will be three options for speakers to choose from: attending the full conference, attending for one day, or for local speakers who are coming just for their session. The EPIP team will work with you to make sure you and your co-presenters are registered through the correct channel. To receive the discounted registration rate, the name of the presenter should be given in the proposal, or at minimum, the specific presenter role. Additional presenters or roles developed after proposal submission may not be eligible for the discounted registration rate and will need to be discussed with EPIP staff. 

If you have additional questions, please contact [email protected] with CALL FOR PROPOSALS in the subject line.