Philanthropy

Grants don’t build trust—relationships do.

The philanthropic sector is at a crossroads. Communities are calling for more than funding—they want transparency and shared power. In the Re/Designing Trust in Action Lab, funders and philanthropic leaders step out of their silos and into co-creation with the people they serve. Together, participants build trust-centered frameworks that transform how decisions are made, how impact is defined, and how philanthropy shows up in solidarity, not saviorism.

Example Trust Redesign Opportunities in Philanthropy:

Grantees report that foundation staff are disconnected from on-the-ground realities and routinely overlook grassroots leaders.

Small, BIPOC-led organizations are overwhelmed by burdensome grant applications and reporting requirements that drain capacity.

Short-term, restricted grants prevent nonprofits from planning or growing—leading to burnout and instability.

Foundations demand rigid outcomes that ignore context, extract stories, and reinforce white dominant metrics of success.

Grantees and applicants lack visibility into how decisions are made, leading to confusion and mistrust.

Foundations solicit feedback after funding cycles, but grantees rarely see their input reflected in policy or practice.

Boards and executive teams lack representation from the communities they fund, reinforcing elitism and exclusion.

Across four powerful days, reimagine philanthropy with the people it claims to serve. Build funding practices, relationships, and governance models that confront power, redistribute resources, and rebuild trust from the ground up. Philanthropy can be transformational, but only if we’re ready to redesign how it shows up.

The Re/Designing Trust Action Lab: Philanthropy will culminate with co-created trust-based interventions to be publicly disseminated for industry-wide systems change.

This is not a retreat. It’s a reckoning. Walk in with a problem. Walk out with a plan—and a community.

Rebuilding Trust in Philanthropy  Starts Here.

By the end of the Re/Designing Trust Action Lab: Philanthropy experience, participants will be able to:

• Identify historical and systemic injustices—such as racialized giving patterns, extractive evaluation practices, and exclusionary funding processes—that have contributed to deep-rooted mistrust between philanthropic institutions and excluded and underinvested communities.
• Examine their roles, decision-making authority, and institutional power within philanthropic systems, and how their identities and positions impact trust and access for grantees and grassroots leaders.
• Co-create trust-centered philanthropic interventions that directly respond to historical and contemporary harms experienced by underfunded and overburdened organizations and movements.
• Develop actionable strategies for long-term grantee engagement that move beyond transactional grant cycles or performative statements to authentic, community-led relationships grounded in transparency and reciprocity.
• Strengthen their capacity to embed dignity and trust into philanthropic systems by reimagining how funding decisions, investments, communications, and governance structures can repair harm, restore relationships, and build sustained trust with communities.

By the end of the Re/Designing Trust Action Lab: Philanthropy experience, graduates will receive:

• Certificate of Completion

• Complimentary access to RE/EDU online community of practice

• Early access to additional practical learning experiences and resources

• Lab Newsletter

• Name acknowledgment in sector-specific Re/Designing Trust in Action Lab Trust Report

• Bonus: Redesigners for JusticeTM Participation Pin

• Bonus: Equity-Centered Community Design 1.0 field guide (by Creative Reaction Lab)

• Bonus: Nature of Trust Bio 360 Report (by Biomimicry 3.8 & Biomimicry for Social Innovation)

$2,444 per person

Buy One, Sponsor One: Each full-price registration covers your tuition and also sponsors a complimentary ticket for a living expert—an individual directly impacted by the industry of focus who does not work within it.

During registration, you may nominate a qualified living expert or designate someone to receive your sponsored ticket.

RDTL: Philanthropy

$2,444.00

Register Here