WFN’s peer communities of practice
The Women’s Funding Network’s peer communities of practice provide intimate virtual spaces that enable members to tap into one another’s expertise and knowledge for collective organizing and mutual support. Peer communities are a place for WFN members to share experiences, expertise, challenges, solutions, and resources that collectively move us forward, and members can engage in the following ways:
- Virtual meetings: Attend meetings, suggest meeting topics, and share experience & expertise by presenting at and/or engaging in conversation at meetings.
- SharePoint: Each peer community has a dedicated SharePoint site where members can stay updated on relevant news, learn from shared resources, and add resources.
- Listserv: Each peer community has its own listserv where members stay connected with each other, ask questions, and share ideas and updates.
- Co-Chair: Each peer community is led by member Co-Chairs serving one-year terms. With the support of WFN staff, Co-Chairs guide the group by choosing meeting topics and facilitating meetings.
There are currently six peer communities that meet throughout the year. Continue reading to learn more about these peer groups and their co-chairs, leaders from within the WFN community.
- Advocacy & Public Policy Community
- Communications Community
- Development Community
- Executive Leaders Community
- From Margin to Center Community
- Research & Data Community
Advocacy & Public Policy Peer Community
This peer community focuses on policy priorities and advocacy tactics, and has the opportunity to organize to move regional, state, and national policy priorities forward.
Communications Peer Community
This community welcomes all staff working on communications strategies to join this group. Together, peers share ideas and work through challenges as well as refining messaging where groups can find alignment and opportunities for amplification.
Development Peer Community
This peer community welcomes all staff working in fundraising development to connect and explore topics, opportunities, and challenges relevant to this important work. As a community-guided space, this peer community will source topics top of mind from the members and engage outside expertise and learning around particular areas of interest.
Executive Leaders Peer Community
This peer community is just for executive leaders and a chance to connect with other executive directors, CEOs, presidents, board leadership, and individual practitioners to share best practices with a network of women’s philanthropy peers. Senior leaders enjoy exclusive access to our CEO/executive directors’ discussion group, connecting our network’s leaders to create a collaborative environment of shared expertise, professional development and peer learning. Membership of this peer community is automatic for executive leader members.
Join over 100 women’s foundation CEOs and executive directors in this essential knowledge-sharing tool, in addition to exploring the Women’s Funding Network’s learning labs, research cohorts and other opportunities for learning and collaboration.
From Margin to Center Community
This new community group evolved in response to member requests and feedback. The purpose is to provide a forum for connection and learning among members who self-identify as PGM (People of the Global Majority), BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), or who are from a marginalized racial/ethnic group in their region. This peer community is a place of learning for people with a shared lived experience, while honoring that there is a variety of PGM and BIPOC experiences within a larger shared experience.
Research & Data Community
This community shares strategies for research design, data collection and database platform integration. In addition, they discuss how to use these tools to make the case for funding and public policy initiatives that support marginalized genders.