Next Gen Fellows Program

In this program, you will:

• Be guided by fellow practitioners
• Learn about current and emerging practices and trends
• Try out new skills and discuss concepts in a safe and encouraging environment
• Come away with an unmatched peer group that will provide support, ideas, and guidance
• Reflect on learnings individually and with peers and work to identify opportunities to bring ideas and next steps to your philanthropic work.

You’ll gain the competence and confidence to lead—in your foundation, in your community, and in your field—and you’ll return to your foundation ready to ask thoughtful questions, make meaningful contributions, and strengthen your giving.

Leadership in Lean Philanthropy

A manager is handed a playbook, a leader writes the playbook. Leaders look for opportunities to solve both simple and complex challenges. In philanthropy, leadership is a mindset and a practice grounded in humility, listening, and curiosity. These qualities empower leaders – whether staff, donors, trustees, or family members – to embrace the unique abilities and powers of lean foundations and spark outsized impact. By leveraging all of their available resources and going beyond grantmaking, foundations, and donors that practice catalytic leadership think and act less like funders and more like agents and facilitators of change.

During the In-Person Intensive and the Virtual Learning Series, we’ll explore these leadership qualities on both the personal and organizational levels.

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Program Components

Foundations 101 Virtual Seminar | Pre-Work

Learn the fundamentals of good governance, investments, legal basics, grantmaking strategies, and an overview of the nonprofit sector with our Foundation 101 virtual seminar series. You’ll watch five recorded seminar modules at your own pace before we meet on November 10, 2025. This is optional, though it’s recommended for level-setting, particularly for those with less than three years in philanthropy.

In-Person Intensive | November 10, 2025, Columbus, OH 

The In-Person Intensive is a day-long pre-conference program designed to help you get to know your cohort members and dive into core topics to begin our work together. This highly interactive program will set expectations and introduce key skills and concepts on the topic of leadership in lean foundations through conversation, reflection, and deep listening.

2025 Annual Conference| November 11-13, 2025, Columbus, OH

At the year’s premier conference for lean funders, build off the knowledge you gain in the Foundations 101 series by attending conference sessions to explore a wide range of topics in philanthropy. Connect with the field’s leading thinkers and doers and choose from dozens of relevant sessions over three days in Columbus. The conference registration fee is included in Next Gen program fees. Participants cover their own travel and hotel expenses.

Peer Coaching | December 2025-February 2026

In addition to having opportunities to connect with all cohort members, fellows will be thoughtfully grouped in small peer coaching groups. They will continue to connect in with their peer coaching groups over the winter. Your peers will support your individualized learning and work with you to engage with questions that arise from the content – serving as a trusted resource long afterward. Exponent Philanthropy staff will meet individually with fellows in advance of the program.

Virtual Learning Series | March-April 2026

Together with your peers, you’ll build off the knowledge gained from the In-Person Intensive and Annual Conference. This six-module series is an opportunity to learn about and grapple with nuanced topics in philanthropy today. The carefully selected themes are intended to spark dialogue and to explore new possibilities in your philanthropic context.

All Virtual Learning Series modules will be scheduled for 2:00-4:00 PM ET. The Virtual Learning Series dates will be announced in early 2025 so participants can hold time on calendars well in advance. Fellows are expected to attend all six modules.

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Key Themes for Learning Series

While Foundations 101 covers the basics of what you should consider in your work, each foundation decides, through board and/or staff conversations, how they want to move their work forward within those guardrails. As much as we want to find answers in a book, philanthropy has no easy how-to guides. Instead, we will engage in essential conversations for foundations around what questions to ask and how fellows might approach their leadership with intentionality. The topics below represent the themes we will learn about and wrestle with in both the In-Person Intensive and the Virtual Learning Series. These issues are relevant for rising leaders in the philanthropic sector regardless of role within a foundation.

In the two learning series, expect to engage with each other as well as speakers, and work to identify opportunities to engage in the next steps in your own philanthropic work.

• Cohort Connections. Get to know your cohort and begin making connections with those in similar roles and grantmaking focus.
• Lean Funders as Leaders. Let’s talk about the key qualities of leadership at lean foundations and discuss your Leadership Self-Reflection. Learn about Catalytic Leadership in Philanthropy.
• Building Relationships, Making Connections. Deeper relationships can lead to honest, trust-based conversations among board, staff, and grantee partners for more effective grantmaking.
• Equity & Inclusion Practices. Funders are rethinking barriers to entry and enacting practices that streamline grant requirements, engage constituents in the grantmaking process, and more. How do you start these conversations and what does it look like in practice?
• Change Management. Next gen staff and trustees in philanthropy have power and influence regardless of professional title. Making change is key for implementation of decisions and moving forward.
• Assessing Impact. Impact means something different for every grantmaker as each funder has different goals. How do you know if you’re making a difference?
• Understand Your Power. Explore how foundations can use their power to create transformative change in their communities. Transformative change comes about when funders understand their community and leverage all assets to support social change.

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Facilitator

This 2025 Next Gen Fellows Program will be facilitated by Kerry McHugh, a Next Gen Fellow alumna and past Exponent Philanthropy board member.

Kerry is a seasoned facilitator and serves as a program officer and board member at The Helen J. Serini Foundation, named after her grandmother. She also works with the Equitable Evaluation Initiative as knowledge curator, advancing the practice of the Equitable Evaluation Framework, and previously worked in communications with a variety of government and nonprofit clients. Kerry is an avid reader and book reviewer and has volunteered with various local nonprofits and philanthropic institutions in her hometown of Frederick, MD, where she lives with her husband and two small children.

Speakers

Our speakers are selected for their rich experience with philanthropy and nonprofits, as well as their accessibility and presentation styles. Fellowship speakers are philanthropy practitioners, nonprofit leaders, researchers, and keen observers of the field of lean philanthropy.

Andy Carroll, senior advisor at Exponent Philanthropy. Andy advises foundations in the areas of leadership, advocacy, and catalytic philanthropy. He works to empower more foundations and donors to leverage their unique position and assets.

Gali Cooks, founding CEO of Leading Edge. Leading Edge influences, inspires, and enables Jewish organizations to continuously improve performance through culture and leadership. To Leading Edge, Gali brings extensive professional experience in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors.

Bari Katz, is an NYC-based social justice educator, coach, and facilitator working to build relationships where everyone’s humanity is honored and oppressive systems and dynamics are disrupted.

Brendan McCormick, associate director of research & publications at Exponent Philanthropy. Brendan leads our efforts to learn more about our community of lean funders, focusing his research on how foundations approach impact and evaluation, investments, operations, demographics, and equity practices.

Practitioners: We recognize that learning directly from those doing the work and leading changes within their foundations and communities is invaluable.

Additional speakers will be Next Gen Fellowship alumni and Exponent Philanthropy members who are engaging in these leadership practices. They will share their practices, challenges, and how they are working toward the organization’s mission and community change.

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Audience

The 2025 Next Gen Fellows Program is open to those who are roughly ages 18–35 and currently or soon-to-be trustees or staff at a foundation. The fellowship content, resources, and discussions are geared toward staff and trustees at lean foundations (i.e. foundations operating with few or no staff). If you have a question as to the program’s fit for your particular role or goals, please contact info@exponentphilanthropy.org. Please review the participant guidelines for all Exponent programs.

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Application Procedure

Act now to invest in yourself and the future of your foundation. Applications will be reviewed to ensure that participants meet age guidelines and are currently or soon-to-be trustees or staff at foundations. As we fill the cohort, we will assess all applications to ensure a diverse range of personal backgrounds, experiences, foundation types, and geography. We will also consider the fit between applicants’ learning objectives and program design.

The Application will open soon! The deadline to apply is July 1, 2025.

Participants will be notified of their participation status (i.e. accepted, waitlisted, or denied) by Labor Day so they can make plans to travel to Columbus in November.

Registration Fees

Details coming soon.

Cancellations

By applying for this program, participants are agreeing to the Exponent Philanthropy Participant Guidelines. Cancellations (especially those close to the event date) can negatively impact the cost-effectiveness and quality of our programs. However, we understand that situations may arise that prevent your participation in the cohort. Written cancellation requests received at least 15 days before the program starts on November 10, 2025, will be approved only under extreme circumstances and will be subject to a $100 processing fee; your spot will not carry over to future cohorts and you will need to reapply. No refunds will be issued for cancellations received within 15 days of the program start date or if you leave the fellowship once the program has commenced. Please submit all cancellations by e-mail to info@exponentphilanthropy.org.

Platform and Accessibility

The In-Person Intensive will be held at the Hilton Columbus Downtown.

• Use of one floor
• Elevator access to all conference facilities
• A designated gender-neutral restroom at the conference hotel
• Food allergy accommodations with our hotel partners

The Virtual Learning Series uses Zoom; automated closed captioning is available. We can provide additional accommodations upon request (e.g., live captioner, ASL interpreter).

Please contact info@exponentphilanthropy.org or call 202-580-6560 by November 1 if you need accommodations.