#OpenDialogue 16 Jan 2025. Blueprint 2025 Release with Dr Lucy Bernholz
Your invitation to the launch event for Blueprint 2025, an essential conversation for philanthropy networks.
- 🗓️ Date: January 16, 2025
- ⏰Time: 9am PST / 12 noon ET / 5pm UK / 6pm CET / 7pm SAST (90 mins)
- đź”— Register on Zoom here to secure your place.
As global geopolitics reaches an inflection point, the role of philanthropy in strengthening civil society has never been more critical. In this context, the insights offered by Dr. Lucy Bernholz’s Blueprint 2025 are more timely and crucial than ever before. The challenges we face demand immediate action from the philanthropic sector. Blueprint 2025 presents a roadmap for philanthropy’s response to these unprecedented challenges, with insights and implications that transcend national borders.
Blueprint 2025 provides a comprehensive analysis of how private resources can be used for public benefit in the digital age, offering:
- An overview of the current philanthropic landscape
- Identification of significant trends and ideas
- Thoughts (not predictions) of potential Black Swans in the coming year
The upcoming launch event will explore:
- Industry perspectives on defending civil society spaces.
- Strategies to strengthen civil society resilience under pressure.
- Insights from those experienced in maintaining civil society under authoritarian regimes.
- Immediate actions for philanthropic transformation
A Global Conversation
The Impact Trust, in collaboration with Dr Lucy Bernholz, Stanford PACS and the Resilience Funder Network invites philanthropic leaders, civil society practitioners, and concerned citizens to join us for the launch of Blueprint 2025 on January 16, 2025.
This event is not just a presentation, but an opportunity for engagement and action. It forms part of the broader Resilience Philanthropy Dialogue Series, emphasising the need for a global perspective on pathways for sustaining civil society under pressure. Coming just ahead of the Inauguration of President-Elect Trump in the US, with implications for civil society and philanthropy the world over, Blueprint 2025 emerges at a pivotal moment.
Join the Conversation
This is not just an event. It’s a critical, interactive dialogue about reshaping philanthropy’s role in an increasingly complex world.
- 🗓️ Date: January 16, 2025
- ⏰Time: 9am PST / 12 noon ET / 5pm UK / 6pm CET / 7pm SAST (90 mins)
- đź”— Register on Zoom here to secure your place.
Understanding Blueprint: A Fifteen-Year Journey of Insight
For over a decade and a half, Blueprint has been the philanthropic sector’s most anticipated annual publication—a critical compass guiding social innovation and strategic giving. Developed by Dr. Lucy Bernholz, a renowned Senior Research Scholar at Stanford’s Centre on Philanthropy and Civil Society, this publication has become an indispensable resource for philanthropic leaders, policymakers, and social change agents.
Blueprint’s Track Record
Since its inception, Blueprint has:
- Anticipated emerging trends before they become mainstream.
- Provided early warnings about critical shifts in civil society.
- Influenced philanthropic strategies across global organisations.
- Offered nuanced analysis of how private resources can drive public benefit.
Each year, the publication has been remarkably prescient. It has:
- Highlighted the growing role of digital technologies in social change.
- Explored the intricate relationships between philanthropy, policy, and societal transformation.
- Challenged traditional thinking about charitable giving and social impact.
Why Blueprint Matters Now More Than Ever
In 2025, we face unprecedented global challenges:
- Democratic institutions under increasing strain
- Technological disruption reshaping social interactions.
- Climate and systemic inequities demanding innovative solutions.
- Civil society spaces shrinking in multiple regions.
Blueprint doesn’t just describe these challenges—it provides a roadmap for action.
Dr. Lucy Bernholz: The Visionary Behind Blueprint
With 15 years of consistently groundbreaking analysis, Dr. Bernholz has established Blueprint as more than a publication—it’s a strategic foresight tool. Her work bridges academic rigour with practical insights, challenging philanthropic sectors to reimagine their potential. “We’ve argued that foundations need change,” Dr. Bernholz notes, “and perhaps it takes a calamity to spark true transformation. That calamity is here.”
- 🗓️ Date: January 16, 2025
- ⏰Time: 9am PST / 12 noon ET / 5pm UK / 6pm CET / 7pm SAST (90 mins)
- đź”— Register on Zoom here to secure your place.
Blueprint 2025 offers an essential roadmap for philanthropy’s response to unprecedented challenges. Join us for a pivotal discussion on the future of civil society and philanthropy.
Conversation guides
Lucy Bernholz is Senior Research Scholar at Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and Director of the Digital Civil Society Lab. She writes about civil society, philanthropy, and technology in the annual Blueprint Series and on the award winning blog, philanthropy2173. She has written/edited four books: Creating Philanthropic Capital Markets: The Deliberate Evolution (2004); Philanthropy in Democratic Societies, (2016); Digital Technologies and Democracy Theory (2020), and How We Give Now: A Philanthropic Guide for the Rest of Us (2021). Bernholz studied history and has a B.A. from Yale University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Gerry Salole is an independent consultant specialising in international development and philanthropy, currently operating through his consultancy, “drawing conclusions”. He previously served as Chief Executive of the European Foundation Centre and has experience of having worked with organizations such as the Ford Foundation, Save the Children and Oxfam. Gerry is a Senior Advisor to the Africa-Europe Foundation. In addition to his consultancy work, Salole holds several board memberships, he’s the chair of the European Cultural Foundation, and sits on the Board of the Unicredit Foundation, The Evens Foundation, The Africa Capacity Building Foundation and the Impact Trust. He also teaches as an adjunct lecturer at the Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investment at the Business School of the University of the Witswatersrand.
