Orange County Grantmakers

Membership Development & Education

Membership Development & Education

development

Quarterly Member Forums

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Four times a year, Orange County Grantmakers convenes all of its members to network, share best practices, and discuss pressing issues of the Orange County philanthropic community. These meetings provide the opportunity for funders to engage with their peer network and discuss strategies for impact change.

Past meetings have covered topics such as:

  • Immigration
  • Homeless Collaboratives
  • An Equity Profile of Orange County
  • Prop. 47 and the impact on the Re-Entry Population
Education

Learning Workshops

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Twice a year, OCG members are invited to a half-day learning workshop, providing a “deep-dive” on a specific subject or topic. Open only to OCG members, this is a chance to learn from experts on a variety of philanthropic topics.

Past presenters have covered:

  • “What you Need to Know About Outcomes as Grantmaker,” presented by Blue Garnet Consulting
  • “Advocacy and Impact in the Philanthropic Center”
Local Nonprofits

Community Events

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In partnership with other collaboratives and organizations in Southern California, OCG hosts a variety of events for the nonprofit community. These events are open to the full nonprofit community and present a chance for OCG members to connect with other funders and nonprofits.

Past events include:

  • A policy Discussion with the Alliance for a Healthier Orange County
  • A panel discussion on the connection between Health & Wealth hosted in partnership with the Asset Funders Network
Networking

Social Events

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Throughout the year, OCG members come together to catch-up and relax in an informal setting. This is a perfect chance to reconnect with other members, and share information on current projects.

Membership

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How do we build a compassionate and inclusive America in an age of distrust? WAJAHAT ALI knows from personal experience that when we come together to be the superheroes of our own stories, we can create honest social change. The beloved TED speaker has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic about our urgent issues—immigration, politics, parenthood—with boldness, hope, and humor. His memoir Go Back to Where You Came From, one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year, follows his life as a Muslim Pakistani-American on a surprising, emotional, and challenging quest for the good life. Iconic journalist Katie Couric says that “we are all so fortunate to be on the receiving end of his intellect, his humanity, and his heart.”

Wajahat Ali

“With wit and charm, Ali delivers a masterful meditation on growing up brown in America...he gives us a clear-eyed affirmation of the country America could be.” — Mara Gay, New York Times

Mara Gay, New York Times

Wajahat Ali uses his platform to fight tirelessly for the social change we need in our country—and he isn’t afraid to get personal while doing it. The Daily Beast columnist and former New York Times writer, TED speaker, award-winning playwright, and Peabody-nominated producer of the documentary series The Secret Life of Muslims offers us his experiences of triumph over hardship as a beacon of hope and resilience in the face of life’s impossible situations. From his experiences of Islamophobia growing up as a Muslim Pakistani-American to his two-year-old daughter’s liver cancer diagnosis, Wajahat is living proof that when we share our authentic stories, we build the America we wish to live in.”

In his memoir Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, Wajahat teaches us how to create our own superhero origin story, invest in hope for the future of America, and enact real social change. The book was called “biting and funny and full of heart” by NPR. Representative Ilhan Omar called Wajahat’s work “hilarious” and “deeply moving”, and legendary writer Dave Eggers said it was the book he’d “been hoping Wajahat Ali would write for ten years—hilarious, stylistically fearless, deeply humane.”

Wajahat is also the author of The Domestic Crusaders—the first major play about Muslim-Americans in a post-9/11 world. He was the lead researcher and author for the Center for American Progress’s seminal report “Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,” and served as a national correspondent for Al Jazeera America, where he told stories about communities and individuals often marginalized or under-reported in mainstream media.

As Creative Director of Affinis Wajahat Labs, he worked to create social entrepreneurship initiatives to support and uplift marginalized communities. He also worked with the US State Department to design and implement the “Generation Change” leadership program to empower young social entrepreneurs. Wajahat initiated chapters in eight countries, including Pakistan and Singapore. For his work, he was honored as a “Generation Change Leader” by Sec. of State Clinton and recognized as an “Emerging Muslim American Artist” by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. 

He has given keynote speeches around the world such as TED, The Aspen Ideas Festival, Google, the United Nations, and The New Yorker Festival. His writing appears regularly in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and The Guardian. He’s a Senior Fellow at The Western States Center and Auburn Seminary and co-host of Al Jazeera’s The Stream.