Peer-learning is more than a format: It is a way of working that increases funders’ capacity to respond to a fast-changing world. By creating steady, well facilitated environments where funders can share uncertainties as confidently as they share expertise, Philea helps strengthen individual practice while nurturing a more cohesive philanthropic ecosystem.
Navigating complexity
With 40 representatives coming from 30 organisations, peer-learning became increasingly important to our work with funders and Philanthropy Infrastructure Organisations in 2025, helping them navigate a year defined by turbulence, heightened scrutiny and shifting geopolitical realities. Across all our networks and communities, we worked to create spaces where funders could learn with and from one another, using shared experiences to navigate complexity and strengthen their practice. This approach mattered not only because it generated practical knowledge, but because it rebuilt confidence, connection and collective purpose at a time when philanthropy is increasingly required to think and act systemically.
Communities of Practice
CEOs of Philanthropy Infrastructure Organisation Members
Hosted by the Knowledge Centre for Danish Foundations in Copenhagen, we brought together chief executives from PIOs for half a day to discuss futures methodologies in designing strategies, and to explore data collection, aggregation, segmentation and analysis. We also conducted a large benchmark exercise of PIO strategies and finance models, and released a study: Philanthropy Infrastructure in Focus.
Communications Professionals in Philanthropy
The Communications Professionals in Philanthropy community wrestled with how to communicate credibly in polarised and high-risk environments. Through their spring and autumn meetings, supplemented by online exchanges with Reimagine Europa and member-led sessions, practitioners compared the pressures they face, from rapidly shifting narratives to rising public suspicion of institutional actors. The resulting publication on communicating in polarised contexts distilled this learning into practical guidance.
Data Science and AI Group
Recognising the growing importance of data and artificial intelligence, in 2025 the community took time to reflect on where it stands on these issues and how it can best position itself to affect positive change going forward. Through a dedicated listening tour engaging members from different foundations and contexts, the group clarified its shared priorities and ambitions and established a sounding board; a set of short-, medium-, and long‑term objectives; and a clear sense of direction for the community’s future. With a committed and diverse group of members, the community is better equipped than ever to provide a trusted space to data and AI professionals working in philanthropic foundations to exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and share practical approaches to data science and AI in philanthropy while remaining grounded in real‑world practice.
European Financial and Investment Officers Group (EFFIO)
At their autumn meeting in Brussels, participants confronted the pressures reshaping Europe, from geopolitical fragmentation to rapid technological change, and examined how these forces must inform investment thinking. The group’s deep dive into Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund in the spring was more than a study visit: It illustrated how long-termism, transparent governance and integrated climate considerations can shape decision-making at both national and organisational levels.
90% of participants at ours events feel welcomed and supported in expressing their own perspectives and life experiences, especially when they differed from those of other participants.
Evidence and Learning
A small but committed core group stewarded collective learning around equitable and systems oriented Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) approaches. Public webinars on systems change MEL and equitable MEL brought together practitioners seeking to assess work that is inherently long term, relational and non-linear. The discussions offered funders a rare chance to compare how they adapt traditional evaluation models to the realities of complex change. By year’s end, growing interest in joining the formalised Evidence and Learning Community of Practice signalled a broader recognition that meaningful learning cannot be done in isolation.
Organisational Development Community
The Organisational Development community deepened its role as a space for collective problem solving. Its year-long exploration of “Building Resilience in Times of Crisis” brought together funders navigating partner distress, consultant selection, and the realities of supporting organisations through instability. The series’ three linked sessions helped funders compare how they approach crises in their portfolios, while additional discussions ‒ such as the strategic review webinar and the late-year session exploring transatlantic perspectives ‒ created opportunities to connect broader sectoral debates with day-to-day funding practices. The updated “OD Goodie Bag” resource library and new knowledge products provided tangible outputs and helped participants rethink what effective organisational support looks like under sustained pressure.
Operations Professionals Network (OPN)
OPN convened members to examine how philanthropic organisations can respond to shrinking civic space. By gathering in Brussels around the topics of threat monitoring, early warning indicators and preparedness strategies, and later in London to reflect on collaboration within and across institutions, OPN members were not just exchanging tools, they were testing assumptions, comparing organisational realities, and building the trust needed to carry difficult conversations forward.
Exchanges and Initiatives
Beyond Grants
This first year of the Beyond Grants: A Holistic Approach to Philanthropy initiative marked significant progress in building a common understanding for philanthropic organisations exploring impact investing across their programmes, endowments and leadership roles. As part of this initiative, we strengthened our collaboration with the European Investment Bank Institute and interested DGs (notably DG EMPL) in the European Commission regarding potential co-investment opportunities.
CEO Exchange
In March, an online, transatlantic edition of the CEO exchange took place in collaboration with the US Council on Foundations to discuss the USAID funding freeze and increasing challenges to civic space and democracy globally. In July, a summer edition in Amsterdam hosted by the European Cultural Foundation and Laudes Foundation discussed "Solidarity and Resilience: Our Role in a Changing Europe?".
Enterprise Foundations in Europe (ENEF)
We supported ENEF throughout the year, highlighting the importance of foundations that own some of the largest European companies. The group provided input into a European Law Institute project drafting a “Model Law on Enterprise Foundations”, published in December, which aims to stimulate a more favourable operating environment for Enterprise Foundations. A representation from the ENEF Steering Committee met with the Cabinet of EU Commissioner for Internal Market Stephane Sejourné to highlight the added value of enterprise foundations for Europe.
Futures Philanthropy
Futures Philanthropy Gathering of Leaders
The 2025 Futures Philanthropy Gathering of Leaders, convened on the African continent, embodied the kind of relational, reflective and regenerative philanthropy we hope to see across other continents. It reminded us that creating just futures requires more than new strategies – it requires new spaces, new stories and new ways of being together.
Futures School Sandboxes
We launched our inaugural Futures School Sandbox: an online learning journey that brought together almost 30 practitioners representing foundations, philanthropy infrastructure and social movement organisations who explored how futures methodologies could be integrated into organisational strategies, programme development, learning and culture at large.
Futures School Executive Leadership
The Futures School: Executive Leadership Programme is a comprehensive initiative designed for senior leaders in philanthropic organisations to raise their ambition and make progress in the face of uncertainty. The first in-person gathering in Copenhagen brought together 23 leaders from across Europe as well as Canada, Ghana, Tanzania and the US.
Generation Now
Generation Now focuses on today’s generation of young people in philanthropy who will become tomorrow’s leaders. Created in 2010 as Next Gen, Generation Now is structured around the Philea Forum 2026 as an opportunity to connect with leaders from across the philanthropy field. It includes a full programme at the Forum, plus a series of online sessions before and after the event providing a space for learning and reflection.
“As a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf, I was initially unsure how my presence and customs would be received. During my first meeting, I chose not to shake hands in accordance with my beliefs. I was pleasantly surprised and deeply appreciative that the other participants [...] responded with understanding and respect. This made me feel genuinely welcomed and supported in expressing my identity and perspectives, even when they differed from others in the room."
Anonymous event attendee
PEX Collective
PEX entered a new chapter, transitioning into a collective governance model stewarded by Assifero, ECFI, iac Berlin, Inspire and Philea. Born in 2020, PEX Collective now brings together over 400 professionals across 80 philanthropy infrastructure networks. This next chapter focuses on catalysing the collective intelligence of Europe’s philanthropy infrastructure community – sharing best practices; reshaping narratives around funding and shared resources; and embedding systems practice and foresight to anticipate and shape emerging futures.
With support from Robert Bosch Stiftung, the PEX Collective built momentum towards PEXfest 2026 and modelled a more decentralised, collaborative decision-making strategy to unlock the collective potential and agency within the philanthropy infrastructure community.
Philanthropy and Crises
We hosted a member-led discussion attended by more than 100 participants on how philanthropy can continue supporting grantees and safeguarding democratic values in light of the US aid freeze. This resulted in a set of publicly available funder recommendations. A special edition of the CEO Exchange, co-hosted with the US Council on Foundations, brought together nearly 30 CEOs from both sides of the Atlantic to discuss the evolving situation. As a follow-up, our Organisational Development Community of Practice launched a dedicated event series focused on supporting grantees facing fragility.
Later on in the year, Philea again brought members together for an exchange on Gaza, sharing resources and gathering key takeaways and recommendations. Against this backdrop of continuing urgencies, we began developing an internal philanthropy and crisis strategy (with input from the membership) to support our ability to be strategically responsive to emerging and urgent topics for our membership, identifying our role, support and value in times of rapid onset crises.
Philanthropic Leadership Platform
The Philanthropic Leadership Platform ‒ both its alumni network and the China-Europe cohort ‒ continued to show how international peer-learning can stretch thinking and unsettle assumptions. The alumni gathering on inequality, power and philanthropy encouraged participants to share their own organisational blind spots, while the in-person exchange between Chinese and European leaders provided a unique chance to explore what “co-leading with equity” means across very different contexts.
These encounters strengthened relationships across continents, and several participants revealed that hearing how others confront inequality, public scrutiny or state pressure helped them reframe their own challenges.
Supporting Infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe
As part of our outreach and engagement with more diverse voices from different constituencies and geographies, we organised two online conversations for philanthropy infrastructure practitioners in CEE on the themes "Building financial resilience of philanthropy infrastructure in the region" and "Resourcing movements". Open to members and non-members alike, this space is designed to stimulate the building of infrastructure in the CEE region and support the fledgling building of alliances and ecosystems in the face of challenging external societal contexts.
Visionary Leadership Retreat 2025
We hosted our first “Visionary Leadership Retreat” from 24-25 November in Cap Roig, Spain, bringing together foundation board chairs and CEOs to create a common space for inspiration and connection. Together, participants explored what emerging realities mean for their respective roles. A central theme of the first edition was trust ‒ between leaders, within organisations and across the sector ‒ as a cornerstone for protecting our licence to operate.
Building on the enthusiasm and connections forged, a second edition will take place in 2026, deepening conversations and strengthening collaboration.