A Message from Our Team

Amidst all that is happening in the world and here in the US, it’s taken us some time to find the right words to open this newsletter. Our hearts are heavy with the weight of grief and shock we feel in response to the rising tensions and death tolls in Gaza, Congo, and Sudan, coupled with the increase of Islamophobia and anti-semitism here and abroad.

In this moment, we are seeking ways to align our actions with our commitment to our values, our members, and the sector, while holding our humanity as a staff amidst so much suffering. Also, we are seeking to sustain the energy we gathered from the CHANGE Philanthropy Unity Summit, reflecting back to the calls to action that many of the movement organizers challenged us to do. As we share some of our learning from the Summit below, we encourage you to find what is most resonant for you in your work at this moment. When challenged, we believe that holding complexity is a core skill for philanthropists and part of the work for building a more just future, today. We recognize that many of you may be confused, afraid, angry, grieving, or feeling a multitude of varying and potentially conflicting emotions - we see you and will continue to affirm the humanity of all of our members. 

We encourage the EPIP community to take care of yourselves and each other in the weeks that unfold. The newsletter highlights many ways you can connect with the EPIP community to keep in the pursuit of love for humanity.

EPIP News & Events

Save the Date: EPIP’s 2024 Conference in New Orleans, June 3-5!

Join EPIP as we gather in New Orleans for our first in-person conference since the pandemic, and our first conference as a new nonprofit.

Every aspect of the EPIP Conference is designed to support the learning, connections, and inspiration early and mid-career professionals need to grow into stronger, bolder, inclusive leaders who can guide and support philanthropy to be more just, equitable and effective. EPIP’s 2024 Conference will prepare emerging leaders to be responsive to an ever-changing philanthropic sector and world through learning, connection, healing, joy, and local arts. Registration opens early 2024!  Questions? Email [email protected].

Deadline Extended: Apply for the EPIP Board of Directors

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy is seeking inclusive, thoughtful and talented leaders to join our Board of Directors.

After having been a fiscally sponsored project governed by a dynamic Advisory Board for over two decades, EPIP is in its first year as an independent 501 (c)3. We are excited about advancing and deepening our mission under the leadership of President and CEO Storme Gray.

The Board of Directors will play a critical role in strengthening the foundation of our incredible organization, ensuring good governance, and galvanizing resources to ensure a sustainable future for this important work. 

Deadline extended to November 9!

Learn more about joining EPIP’s Board of Directors and how to apply.

Reflections on CHANGE Philanthropy Unity Summit

Recently, the entire EPIP staff returned to the virtual office after attending the CHANGE Philanthropy Unity Summit Los Angeles. In addition to EPIP staff attending, presenting and volunteering at the Summit, we also convened the EPIP Board of Directors for a planning retreat, and strengthened community between the board and staff at an off-site dinner. 

Here’s a sample of what inspired our team at the Summit:

• The Unity Summit provided intentional time and space to rekindle and develop new relationships.
• The Unity Summit is the place to find the leading edge of the sector and real-time examples of what philanthropy is doing well to advance equity and justice.
• People still need a space in the sector where they can be radicalized, learn the history, and develop relationships and skills to find their place and speak out.
• People want to get to know each other. As an example, the “new timer” breakout was really well attended.
• “Pet a puppy” was a big hit!
• The Summit offered a great combination of on- and off-site options.
• The Summit integrated arts and culture from the main stage really well.
• The Whova app provided a platform for the most engagement we have ever seen for a conference.
• We appreciated the conference team for the care they showed in helping people find their way around the hotel and for ensuring participant safety.
• We appreciated that the Summit had movement leaders on the main stage that were sharing on-the-ground perspectives and experiences.
• The calls to action were repeated at the start of each day, built on each other, and were summarized at the end of the Summit.

Philanthropology is Back! Join the Winter 2024 Cohort

For the first time, we are opening registration for our signature curriculum to the entire sector!

In order to use philanthropy to drive social change, it is crucial that new practitioners in the sector understand its context, history, and challenges. Philanthropology™ is EPIP's signature curriculum that responds to this need with an in-depth critical study of philanthropy through a social justice lens that includes academic and practitioner perspectives. 

The Philanthropology™ curriculum includes 9 hours of synchronous virtual sessions spread over several weeks supplemented by reading materials, videos, and reflection activities. Participants learn the landscape and history of the philanthropic sector and dig into concepts like intersectionality, movement building, grantmaking with an equity lens, and strategies for putting this knowledge into practice.

Winter 2024 Cohort dates:

Module 1: Philanthropy History, Ecosystem, and Evolution, Wednesday, February 28 from 10 a.m. - 1  p.m. PST 

Module 2: Racial Equity and Equity Analysis in Grantmaking, Wednesday, March 13 from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. PST 

Module 3: Self-Advocacy and Personal Leadership, Wednesday, March 27 from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. PST PST

Member Registration Investment: $350 

General Registration Investment: $500 

Member registration is now open here.

General registration is now open here.

Communities of Practice

Upcoming gathering dates: 

• People of Color Community of Practice:  a 90 minute session  is scheduled for December 5 at 3 p.m. EST on Negotiation Strategies for Advancing Your Work. 
• White Affinity Community of Practice: Interest in the new cohort is open now! Register your interest in the 2024 6-month cohort.
• A community of practice mixer will be offered for any participants in a community of practice this year. 

As 2024 approaches, you might be thinking about new opportunities for professional development, peer coaching, and building relationships with other professionals in philanthropy. EPIP’s Communities of Practice give emerging professionals a space to grow, learn, and connect with their peers. Recent sessions include: 

• In September, the People of Color Network gathered for Peer Coaching and Table Talks. The session started with time for peer coaching, and concluded with table talks that provided folks of color across the philanthropic ecosystem with support and empowerment. 
• In October, the Emerging Women Of Color Community of Practice hosted  How to Pick Your Battles, an interactive, step-by-step session designed to help participants pick and choose when and how to lean in, to feel better prepared to effectively navigate and negotiate the inevitable conflicts that arise out of pursuing social justice work.

Ready to engage? Sign up for a community of practice here. 

Contact [email protected] with any questions or to express interest in getting involved as a facilitator for future sessions.

EPIP Chapter Updates

EPIP Bay Area Fall Happy Hour

Celebrate fall with EPIP’s Bay Area Chapter!

Enjoy light bites, libations, and conversation as you connect with colleagues and friends new and old. 

When: November 9, 2023, 5:30 p.m.

Where: District Oakland, 827 Washington St., Oakland, CA 94607

Contact: EPIP Bay Area

RSVP here.

EPIP Colorado 2023 Leadership Journeys

How do junior and mid-level professionals show up as leaders in the philanthropic sector regardless of title or position? How can organizations support leaders? And what does transformational leadership look like?

EPIP’s Colorado Chapter is thrilled to host our signature Leadership Journeys event to explore those questions and more. Regional members can attend in-person, and members across the country can join in virtually for a panel discussion and Q&A with Colorado leaders who are creating pathways for liberated leadership. Formal, in-person event followed by refreshments and networking.

When: November 16, 2023, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. MST

Where: Hybrid: The Colorado Health Foundation or Zoom

1780 Pennsylvania St.

Denver, CO 80203

Contact: EPIP Colorado - [email protected]

Register for the virtual event here.

EPIP Chicago Happy Hour

Join EPIP’s Chicago Chapter for a networking mixer! We are excited to gather in-person to rekindle connections and create new ones among the EPIP Chicago community. Light bites and drinks will be available.

When: November 29, 2023,  5 p.m. - 7 p.m. CST

Where: Impact House Bar & Lounge, 200 W. Madison, Floor 3, Chicago, IL 60606

Contact: EPIP Chicago · [email protected]

RSVP here.

EPIP Boston Lunch & Learn: The Social-Psychology of Equitable Compensation & What That Means For You

EPIP’s Boston Chapter invites you to attend a virtual, highly interactive workshop, where you will learn how to improve your workplace compensation using new organizational development understandings about pay equity.

When: November 30, 2023, 12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST

Where: Zoom

Contact: EPIP Boston · [email protected]

Learn more and RSVP here.

Sector News & Events

Upcoming Events from Neighborhood Funders Group

Neighborhood Funders Group has a number of upcoming virtual and in-person events, including:

• November 15 (Virtual) - Youth in the Lead: Shifting Power and Moving Resources to Youth Organizers
• November 16 (Virtual) - Midwest Funder Connection, Learning, & Strategy Session
• November 30 (Virtual) - Building Rural Worker Power Funder Briefing
• December 7 (New York City) - Delivering for Workers and Communities: Philanthropy's Efforts to Ensure Equitable Implementation of Federal Investments

Learn more.

Registration for Funding Forward 2023 is Open!

This three-day convening, from November 29 to December 1, will be held at Loews Chicago Hotel and will be the first in-person conference from Funders for LGBTQ Issues since 2019. Not able to attend in person? There will also be virtual content for hybrid participation. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot today.

What We're Reading, Watching & Listening To

• Are You Trustwashing? - Trust-Based Philanthropy Project
• Shifting Capital and Power to Build the Regenerative Economy - Justice Funders
• It’s Open Season on Civil Rights. Philanthropy Must Not Retreat. - The Chronicle of Philanthropy 
• A Reparations Roadmap for Philanthropy - Stanford Social Innovation Review 
• Stirring Change: Fresh Insights on Our Grantmaking Practices - Stupski Foundation

Have something new on your reading list or a resource you'd like to share with the EPIP community? Let us know at [email protected].

Job Board 

Looking for a new opportunity?

The positions below are just the beginning. Check our Job Board for more opportunities from around the country! 

• Client Success Manager, JustFund - Remote 
• Major Gifts Manager, Schott Foundation - Remote 
• Events Manager, Ms. Foundation for Women - New York City/Remote 

Want to explore the Job Board's filters and special features? Log in to your member account or join EPIP today!

Join Our Community!