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EPNO Hosts Virtual Recruitment Event for 2021 Giving Circle

EPNO’s 2021 Class Experience Committee hosted a virtual recruitment event for individuals interested in joining this year’s Giving Circle Program. Attendees heard from Board members, a past grant recipient, and a former class member. Applications are open through April 23, 2021, for this year’s class. APPLY 

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EPNO Opens Applications for 2021 Giving Circle Program

Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans (EPNO) is now accepting applications for its 2021 Giving Circle Program, a six-month curriculum designed to engage community members of New Orleans in philanthropy. The 50-member class will award grants of up to $10,000 to organizations in the focus areas of Arts & Culture, Health, Environment, Human Rights & Justice,…

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2021 EPNO Board of Directors Announced & A Message From Our Chairs

Dear EPNO Community, It’s been a long year, filled with lots of ups, downs, and terrifying in-betweens. We hope this message finds you as healthy and well-rested as you can be, and proud of the challenges you have overcome this past year. We close out the EPNO 2020 year with gratitude, determination, and hope. We…

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2020 EPNO Grant Cycle

We are thrilled to announce that Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans (EPNO) has opened applications for our 2020 grant making cycle. This year’s process has been streamlined and accelerated to push impact into our community as soon as possible. Four teams will award up to $5,000 to grantees in the following areas: Human Rights &...
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Standing Up For Racial Justice

EPNO is an organization that has always focused on collective action to tackle some of our region’s toughest problems. Today, EPNO joins all members of the local community who are standing up for racial justice and an end to the police brutality and gross inequities that plague our city and our country. We support those…

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2019 Grant Cycle Opening

Arts & Culture Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans’s (EPNO) Arts and Culture team seeks to invest in organizations that have been culture bearers for New Orleans and focus on using art as a catalyst to advance New Orleans culture and make an impact on the community.  Requirements:  Focus on Orleans Parish  Support individual artists in...
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A Message from the Chair

EPNO Alumni and Friends, It is an understatement to say that this has been a difficult couple of months for us. The loss of Sharree Walls, our friend and first EPNO Executive Director, was sudden, tragic, and heartbreaking. The impact of this loss is yet unfolding for each of us. As a Board, we are...
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A Statement regarding EPNO Executive Director Sharree Walls

It is with great sadness that EPNO announces the death of our executive director, Sharree Walls. While details are still unclear, we learned that she was killed by a drunk driver, Saturday, March 2nd. In addition, EPNO board member, Harry Vorhoff, and his wife, Sophie, were among those injured. We pray for their swift and...
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Media Coverage

      • “The impact of EPNO goes far beyond grant dollars. By engaging the city’s up-and-coming talent in philanthropic giving, EPNO is laying a foundation for young professionals to become engaged community leaders and effective, lifelong philanthropists — committed to impacting positive change in our region.” — Letter to The Times-Picayune, November 2011
      • “It is fitting that Thanksgiving comes as close as it does to National Philanthropy Day, because it’s often out of a sense of gratitude that people make the decision to give. The Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans, for example, just announced that its 82 members helped distribute $82,000 dollars to 21 local nonprofit organizations. The needs in this city remain great. Such gifts are wholly appreciated.” — Jarvis DeBerry, The Times-Picayune, November 2011.
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      • “The value of EPNO is visible not only in the time and money that its members commit, but in the ranks of those young professionals in New Orleans who were empowered by their experience and are poised to become the community leaders and philanthropists of tomorrow.” — The Second Line blog, June 2010
      • “The Crescent Fund was conceived as a giving circle for young professionals. The idea – that if each participant makes a small donation, the impact on the community can be huge – has caught on. ” — Greater New Orleans Foundation newsletter, December 2010.
      • “If a small group of young professionals pooled their resources to give back to their community, could they make a difference? Just ask one of the Crescent Fund’s first four grant recipients. Melissa Sawyer, accepting a Crescent Fund grant for the Youth Empowerment Project, said, ‘You don’t necessarily need a lot of money to make a difference….When money is used thoughtfully and efficiently, you can make a huge impact.’” — Greater New Orleans Foundation newsletter, December 2009.
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