This post originally appeared on the KnightBlog: The blog of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on May 29, 2015.

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Earlier this month I had the pleasure of attending the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) national conference May 12-14 in New Orleans. The conference brought together diverse young leaders in philanthropy to learn from peers and seasoned leaders to better advance pathways of social change.

Here are three insights I gained from the conference:

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Jenny's Raggedy Thoughts on EPIP Conference New Orleans

By: Jennifer Shanks

New Orleans was the perfect location for EPIP to convene. As one of the opening panelists poetically described, New Orleans is a city that is dealing with the disaster of inequality that hit the shores of Louisiana over 100 years ago. Katrina's devastation has provided a reminder of systemic inequities - and the opportunity to create new paths for creative problem solving, civic engagement and community building - and collectively figure out solutions to new challenges including the preservation of the city's vibrant communities and combating gentrification. Center stage is movement building around the issue of institutionalized and systemic racism.

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What It Means to be Part of a Network a.k.a I Found My People

By: Hafizah Omar

EPIP National Board Member, Christine Reeves, told us the four times she has felt that she was at the right place, doing the right thing, with the right people. One such time was as part of EPIP. 

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While conducting research for our 2015 National Conference, we came across these great resources to help you prepare for your participation at EPIP in NOLA. We hope you will take some time to dive as deeply as possible into some of these topics and issues in order to get the most out of your conference experience. See you all soon in New Orleans!

 

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EPIP in NOLA has three program tracks that encourage a broad range of topics and emphasize the learning goals of EPIP members. Priority will be given to proposals that speak to our focus on social justice, build valuable professional skills, encourage interactivity and highlight innovative problem-solving. Program Tracks Track 1: Place-Based Funding with an Eye on the South What can we learn from “place-based” funding and apply to the South? Track 2: The Intersection of Social Justice, Art and Culture How can support of the arts and culture have a sustainable impact on struggling communities? Track 3: You Say You Want a Revolution? Strategies for Collective Impact and Movement Building What does it take to make significant societal change? Learn More and Apply For information on our conference theme and tracks, click here To submit your ideas, click here for the survey (a preview of the survey can be found here: http://bit.ly/1yDcyw0) To read more about our speaker/presenter policies, click here Still have questions? Contact us at: [email protected] Submission deadline: February 20, 2015 at 8pm EST. The 2015 EPIP National Conference May 12-14*, 2015 Le Méridien New Orleans(registration coming soon!) * Possible Friday, 5/15 programming. Stay tuned for more information. Read more