Join us for the 2025-26 Career Pathways Program Information Session to learn more about applying to and participating in this program

During this session expect to discuss:

• 2025-26 program schedule
• Curriculum
• Application Process
• Waldman Scholarship
• Program benefits, outcomes, and much more! 

Details to Note

• Come prepared with questions for the Q&A section
• This session will be recorded
• Applications for the Career Pathways 2025 are March 3, 2025.

For more information about Career Pathways leadership development program, visit cof.org/careerpathways or email educate@cof.org

Join us for the 2025-26 Career Pathways Program Information Session to learn more about applying to and participating in this program

During this session expect to discuss:

• 2025-26 program schedule
• Curriculum
• Application Process
• Waldman Scholarship
• Program benefits, outcomes, and much more! 

Details to Note

• Come prepared with questions for the Q&A section
• This session will be recorded
• Applications for the Career Pathways 2025 are March 3, 2025.

For more information about Career Pathways leadership development program, visit cof.org/careerpathways or email educate@cof.org

Career Pathways is a leadership development cohort program designed to accelerate the careers of diverse professionals in the philanthropic sector. Graduates of the program will deepen their expertise, expand their networks, and hone their leadership skills to advance the field.

Career Pathways empowers individuals to become the best candidates they can be by cultivating philanthropic acumen, confidence, and networks. Participation in this program will build an individual's capacity to become even more effective in their current roles and more deliberate in their contributions to the field of philanthropy.

Learn more about Career Pathways

If you’re a mid- to senior-level philanthropic professional committed to equity and looking for support to advance it, Career Pathways is for you.​

This informational webinar covers:

• If Career Pathways is right for you or someone at your organization
• About the 2025-26 program schedule and curriculum
• What to prepare for in the Application Process
• Waldman Scholarship 
• the answers to your questions about benefits, outcomes, and much more! 

Applications for the Career Pathways 2025-26 Cohort are due March 3, 2025.

Are you looking for a supportive community of funders to help you build constructive dialogue and understanding across differences? You’ll get just that with the Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort.

The Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort is a facilitated virtual learning experience meeting monthly from April 2025 until November 2025, hosted by the Council on Foundations in partnership with the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley (GGSC). This course will support the work of the Council's Building Common Ground Strategic Pillar.

Find more information about the cohort, and a link to the application. Applications are due February 21, 2025 at midnight PT. 

In Partnership With:

Led by Council on Foundations staff and philanthropic leaders, this training will address policy advocacy strategies that support effective practices. Participants will gain helpful tools and resources while networking with peers who are developing and implementing their foundation’s advocacy strategy.

Training Hours

• Tuesday, March 4: 1:00-5:00 pm ET
• Thursday, March 6: 1:00-5:00 pm ET

Participants will explore the following during the course:

The Big Picture

• Why engaging in policy advocacy is essential for foundations to achieve their goals
• A refresher on legal rules governing grantmaker funding and actions
• Inside the Foundation: Understanding staff roles and how to build internal support

Building understanding and support across the foundation for policy advocacy engagement

• How different staff roles across the foundation can support advocacy
• Characteristics of grantmaking that support effective policy advocacy
• Outside the Foundation: Working with others to advance policy 

Using all a foundation’s assets to advance policy

• Funding vehicles that support effective policy advocacy
• Building an effective relationship with nonprofit partners and grantees to advance advocacy
• Appropriate evaluations of partner contributions
• Real-life Challenges and Action Planning

Who Should Attend

• Private foundation staff with a basic understanding of policy work.
• Foundation staff of all experience levels that incorporate policy advocacy into their work - such as those in leadership, communications, grants management or strategic planning.

Please note, this course is limited to foundation staff and Board members only.

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5-7 people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before February 4, 2025 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after February 4, 2025.  

Led by Council on Foundations staff with collectively decades of experience with global philanthropy, the Global Grantmaking Essentials will also feature guest speakers with deep knowledge on specific issues or countries.

Course Hours

• Wednesday, November 12: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET
• Thursday, November 13: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, November 19: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET

This virtual training will be conducted live on Zoom and is designed around your participation, creating space for you to directly engage with peers and content. We ask that you plan to be fully present during the hours of the training, minimizing distractions to the best of your ability. We do not offer a recording of the course due to platform and privacy issues.  Please plan to actively participate during all three sessions.

Each of the three sessions is 4 hours and includes two breaks. 

About Global Grantmaking Essentials 

The Global Grantmaking Essentials course is built on the Council’s more than 40 years of experience in supporting foundations who work and grant internationally.  

This three-day training will provide attendees with a thorough understanding of the regulatory frameworks governing global grantmaking, offer tools and resources to help navigate these complex systems, and suggest better ways of operating internationally based on trends, data, and research. 

 Global Grantmaking Essentials also includes time for networking and discussion based on the type of grantmakers in attendance, providing unique space for dialogue and reflection among peers. 

Who Should Attend

This training is primarily designed for grantmaking, program, or legal staff at U.S.-based foundations with no prior experience making global grants or for staff with working knowledge who are seeking additional insights and tools.  

Global Grantmaking Essentials is open to staff at independent and family foundations, corporate grantmakers, community foundations, and public charity grantmakers such as global intermediaries. This training is also open to Board members of foundations. 

Please note, this course is limited to foundation staff and Board members only. Foundations registered outside of the U.S. are welcome to participate but please note the course is targeted to U.S.-based grantmakers with a focus on U.S. law as it impacts global grantmaking. 

Participants will explore the following during the course:

• Introduction to Global Grantmaking 
• Legal Basics: Equivalency​
  Determination and Expenditure Responsibility
• The Alphabet Soup of ​
  Global Regulations
• Navigating Country Laws
• Working with Intermediaries
• The Policy Landscape: ​Foreign Aid, Investigations, & What’s Next

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5-7 people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before October 12, 2025 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after October 12, 2025.  

Government policies and programs affect almost every aspect of our lives, from housing, healthcare and the environment to education, transportation, and safety.  For foundations striving to create equitable, inclusive, and widely prosperous communities, it is necessary to focus on strengthening and reimagining policies and systems.

Participation in advocacy is an essential strategy to advance the mission of community foundations. Yet a lack of understanding of the rules of advocacy and lobbying, confusion about the appropriate governance and risk management, as well as a dearth of tools and internal capacity needed to be successful prevents many community foundations from engaging in public policy. 

This learning opportunity is intended for CEOs and senior leadership staff from community foundations of all sizes that are committed to getting more involved in policy and advocacy work.

Training Hours

• Tuesday, October 21: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET
• Thursday, October 23: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET

This training will provide community foundations across geographies and of all sizes with:

• Increased understanding of the importance of public policy to improve outcomes

• Improved policy practice

• Increased advocacy action

In this training, participants will:

• Understand a comprehensive picture of possible community foundation strategies to engage in effective public policy advocacy that advances the greater good

• Understand the complex dynamics around foundation staff’s relationships with policy advocacy organizations and explore the optimal relationship for your foundation

• Learn how to build support for advocacy among your foundation’s staff and board

• Learn how to improve your foundation’s grantmaking to more effectively participate in policy advocacy

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person, and each person must be registered individually to attend. Council and CFLeads Members, email educate@cof.org to register two staff for the event and receive the Pair Registration Rate.

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before September 21, 2025 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after September 21, 2025. 

Offered in partnership with: 

Led by Council on Foundations staff and philanthropic leaders, this training will address policy advocacy strategies that support racial equity and effective practices. Participants will gain helpful tools and resources while networking with peers who are developing and implementing their foundation’s advocacy strategy.

Training Hours

• Tuesday, September 16: 1:00-5:00 p.m. ET
• Wednesday, September 17: 1:00-5:00 pm ET

Participants will explore the following during the course:

The Big Picture

• Why engaging in policy advocacy is essential for foundations to achieve their goals
• A refresher on legal rules governing grantmaker funding and actions
• Inside the Foundation: Understanding staff roles and how to build internal support

Building understanding and support across the foundation for policy advocacy engagement

• How different staff roles across the foundation can support advocacy
• Characteristics of grantmaking that support effective policy advocacy
• Outside the Foundation: Working with others to advance policy 

Using all a foundation’s assets to advance policy

• Funding vehicles that support effective policy advocacy
• Building an effective relationship with nonprofit partners and grantees to advance advocacy
• Appropriate evaluations of partner contributions
• Real-life Challenges and Action Planning

Who Should Attend

• Private foundation staff with a basic understanding of policy work.
• Foundation staff of all experience levels that incorporate policy advocacy into their work - such as those in leadership, communications, grants management or strategic planning.

Please note, this course is limited to foundation staff and Board members only.

Group Rate

Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5-7 people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group. 

Cancellation Policy 

All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before August 16, 2025 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after August 16, 2025.