EPIP 2026’s biggest takeaway? Joy.

Over three days, the EPIP community gathered in a space that felt part family reunion, part conference. We are grateful to our planning committee, local partners, vendors, and sponsors, who made the gathering possible. 

Across breakout sessions, workshops, learning tours centered in Chicago’s Black and Latinx neighborhoods, evening social gatherings, art performances, and powerful mainstage moments, EPIP 2026 was designed with spaciousness and healing at its center. We left feeling informed, hopeful, and held.

If you were with us in Chicago, we’d love to hear your takeaways. Please be sure to complete the post-conference evaluation if you haven’t already — it closes this Friday the 31st. 

And if you couldn’t join us this year, worry not! Below, you can take a peek at some of our favorite photos, and we invite you to help us shape an EPIP Mixtape. We're also sharing a snapshot of EPIP's new strategic framework, and over the next year we'll invite the entire community into dialogue about what it means for our work.

The conference may be over, but the connections and work continue. Stay connected and check out upcoming events to connect with us in this newsletter.

During the conference, EPIP’s President and CEO, S. Gray, delivered a powerful keynote unveiling EPIP’s new strategic framework. 

“As a living framework, it is never finished.
It grows as we grow, it changes and we change, and it emerges as we emerge.” 

— S. Gray 

The framework didn’t come from a boardroom. It grew directly out of our membership, starting in 2024, with our members shaping the research and discovery. What we found was that our community was already living a newer version of our values — we just needed to name them.

The new framework names those five values, clearly defines who the work is for, and says directly what much of the sector is stepping away from: that resources and power belong with the communities from which philanthropy has historically extracted them. 

LIBERATION

COLLECTIVE CARE

LEADERFUL

SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER

ADAPTIVE IMAGINING

Unveiling the framework is just the beginning. Over the next year, we will invite the EPIP community into dialogue about how these values and the framework will continue to shape our work and the broader philanthropic sector. Our team is developing materials and launch kits for members, funders, chapter leaders, and partners. As S. shared from the mainstage, “We are EPIP: emergent, adaptive, responsive, and present.”

EPIP Events

Register for the fall cohort of our signature curriculum

New dates! We want to make sure everyone has the time they need to register, so we've pushed back the fall cohort's start date to October 7th. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Whether you've been in the philanthropic field 3 months or 3 years, you're probably asking yourself, how do I remain effective given all the change in our sector and government? Regardless of your role or geography, we know that in order to advance a philanthropic sector rooted in justice, equity, and liberation, you need foundational tools to execute your role and stay true to your values.

Now in its 5th year, Philanthropology™ is EPIP's signature curriculum that upends conventional philanthropy with an in-depth critical study of the sector’s history, context, and challenges through a social justice lens. The program has served hundreds of philanthropic practitioners over the years and is consistently refreshed to meet the moment. 

Join us for 9 hours of synchronous virtual sessions spread over several weeks. We’ll meet from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (PST) for three live modules: 

• Oct. 7 | Module 1: Philanthropy History, Ecosystem, and Evolution
• Oct. 21 | Module 2: Racial Equity and Equity Analysis in Grantmaking
• Nov. 5 | Module 3: Self-Advocacy and Personal Leadership

RSVP today!

Tap into the wisdom within you

In the kitchen of the midwife. In the garden of the herbalist. In the community that gathered around a new mother because their bodies knew it was right. This is folk sovereignty, and it is breathing in you right now.

Join us for an experiential practice space for emerging practitioners in philanthropy ready to trust what's moving through them. We will sit with the stories of Black midwives, Indigenous earth-tenders, herbalists and healers who understood that change itself is medicine, using collective singing, gentle movement, storytelling and deep rest to connect with the wisdom of your whispers.

This is part of our new member-only healing spaces available to individual and institutional members. Join Chicago-based healing practitioner Sojourner Zenobia.

Play chess while others play checkers

Capacity-building. Trust-based philanthropy. General operating support. Words we've circled for years while the same problems sit there, unmoved. Real advocacy costs something, and it's time we stopped pretending otherwise.

Shaun Randolph brings fifteen-plus years turning Wall Street's own tools, private equity, investment banking, public/private partnerships, into weapons for social good. He's here to teach you the moves that matter. 

Already decided to push forward? Good. Let's play chess.

Your quarterly space to reconnect

New date! We've pushed the date to September 16th to make sure everyone has time to RSVP. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Join EPIP for our quarterly member gathering, an exclusive space for members to connect, vibe, and deepen their networks. This gathering builds on our communities of practice model, offering identity-based skill building, healing practices, and peer coaching designed for emerging leaders.

Whether you're a regular in our communities of practice or a new member looking to connect, this space is for you.

Is your foundation ready for the AI era?

AI is reshaping the communities and causes grantmakers support, but many emerging practitioners lack the frameworks to make sense of its impact. Join EPIP and the National Center for AI, Philanthropy & Society for a webinar demystifying AI and offering a practical roadmap for funders. This session will be led by Iván Torres, founder of NCAIPS and a 20-year veteran of social change and philanthropic work.

Take a break with EPIP Chicago!

Debrief your EPIP 2026 experience in Chicago with other attendees! Let’s deepen our connections made at the conference and keep the learning going. Drinks and food will be available for purchase, and we’ll cover appetizers to share.

Celebrate Black Philanthropy Month: A conversation with Whitney Parnell

EPIP DC and Service Never Sleeps present an intimate discussion of Breathing Out: Ruminations of a Millennial Black Woman, Whitney Parnell's raw, groundbreaking anti-racism declaration drawn from her years of activism and work leading a Black-led organization. All attendees receive a complimentary copy of the book, plus some light, delicious bites. 

Our Reading, Watching, & Listening List

• To the Ones Who Are Tired: A Message for the Cathedral Builders
• The Science of Norm Design
• Birth Justice Report
• Effective Governance: Lessons from Philanthropy

Job Board 

Looking for a new opportunity?

View highlighted job opportunities from our Institutional Member and partner organizations below, and check our Job Board for more opportunities from around the country. 

• Program Associate, Climate & Clean Energy | Heising-Simons Foundation | San Francisco, CA
• Philanthropic Impact Advisor | California Community Foundation | Los Angeles, CA
• Senior Donor Services Associate | Proteus Fund | Remote
• Associate, Operations | Council on Foundations | Washington, DC
• Children and Family Program Officer | Los Altos, CA
• Events and Guest Services Assistant | McKnight Foundation | Minneapolis, MN
• Facilities and Building Maintenance Director | McKnight Foundation | Minneapolis, MN
• Director of Communications & Marketing | GMA Foundations, Inc | Boston, MA
• Executive Assistant, Gender Equity and Governance | William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | Menlo Park, California (Hybrid)
• Grants Manager and Impact Analyst | The Just Trust | Remote US

Would you like to post a job opening at your organization to the EPIP Job Board? Submit a job post here.

Join Our Community!