In April, we bring together AAPIP’s leadership and friends. What can we look forward to at the Annual Membership Meeting?
For the first time, we are convening our membership from across the regions separate from the Council on Foundations’ annual conference. It will be held at The Ford Foundation where we will announce the results of the election for new AAPIP Board members, our officers for 2015, and share a “State of AAPIP”.
Most importantly, it is our annual moment to make visible AAPIP Chapter leaders from Boston, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. This meeting will also lay the groundwork for a robust participation in the JAG UNITY Summit this June in Washington, DC. Lastly, we will begin building momentum towards the AAPIP 25th anniversary celebration in 2015!
How and why did AAPIP become a member of Joint Affinity Groups (JAG)?
AAPIP became a founding member of JAG 20 years ago. We came together with a shared social justice vision: to organize, educate and work toward a society and a philanthropic field that would reflect a more equitable distribution of resources. JAG is where AAPIP is able to fully express that we are both in solidarity with other communities across the country and in alliance with other constituency-based affinity groups in the field of philanthropy. With this in mind, we find it a crucial space to be in the day-to-day practice of working with organizations with whom we share values, a sense of hope, deep commitment to create change, generosity and laughter.
This Year, AAPIP’s Banyan Tree Award will be presented at the JAG Unity Summit along with many other affinity groups’ awards. Why is this year especially exciting?
We will announce the 2014 Banyan Tree awardee for exemplary leadership at the JAG Unity Summit this June in Washington, DC. This particular year it will be an exciting venue as the Summit and the annual Council on Foundations conference join forces to create a more robust and inclusive gathering as a backdrop to all of our leadership awardees.
AAPIP initiated the Banyan Tree Award to acknowledge leaders who are building democratic philanthropy. Previous honorees like Alandra Washington of the W.K.Kellogg Foundation in 2012 and Tom Layton and Stacie Ma’a of the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation in 2013 exemplify those who exert their leadership in ways that encourage others and builds community. They help us stay true to the origins of why AAPIP was created and why we continue to do this work. It takes a village to achieve the change we want to see and they are investing in the village!
We are inspired by opportunities to highlight outstanding examples of “leveraging individual action for collective good” which is the core practice of democratic philanthropy.
Register for AAPIP’s Annual Membership Meeting.
Register for JAG UNITY Summit.
