‘The Light Is Already On’: Day Two at CEP2025

As elections took place across the U.S., day two of CEP’s 2025 conference got underway and democracy in the U.S. — and around the world — was a key theme throughout the day. The main stage saw a back-and-forth with philanthropy leaders about the role of coalition-building to strengthen institutions, a sense-making discussion with Ezra Klein about the state of democracy in America, and an genre-bending, “paint-peeling” performance from five-time Grammy nominee Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah.

Building Strong Institutions for a Changing World

Setting the stage for the first main-stage discussion of the day, Felicia Wong, visiting senior fellow at the Freedom Together Foundation posed a rhetorical question to the crowd: “What is the new approach that we can bring to the American project? Each of us as philanthropists has a role.”

Priscilla Enriquez, president and CEO of the James B. McClatchy Foundation echoed the sentiment, noting the need to eschew “operating from a fear-based mindset,” while Peter Laugharn, president and CEO of the Conrad C. Hilton Foundation exhorted philanthropy to be clear about the goals of foundation advocacy and system-strengthening work.

The conversation among the panelists soon turned to the work of bolstering democracy and the importance of coalition-building, with the Skillman Foundation CEO Angelique Power noting, “at this moment we are all democracy funders,” and offering examples of the ways in which the Foundation has worked to bring funders and advocates across Michigan together to interpret and respond to changes at the federal level.

A Bridge Too Far?

On the subject of coalition-building, session moderator and Vice President of Programming and External Relations Grace Nicolette asked a perennially challenging question of the panelists: how does one stay true to their values while building greater coalitions, and perhaps widening the tent, to make progress on challenging issues of the day?

The panelists offered a variety of takes on the subject, with Wong contending that “none of this bridging will really make a difference unless we also get to the material and economic root of our divisions.”

Power noted in turn that while there is a line to be drawn — “I’m not talking about bridging with those that want to kill us, ” she emphasized the belief that “the majority of this country is actually looking for safe communities, places where they can raise children, where their elders are taken care of, where food is affordable.”

Ezra Klein on This Precarious Time

Later in the day, attendees sat in on the first on-stage, live recording of the Giving Done Right podcast as CEP’s Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette interviewed Ezra Klein, New York Times opinion writer and host of The Ezra Klein Show about what civil society can do in a precarious moment for American democracy.

Klein pulled no punches, exhorting “the people who lead important parts of civil society not to be cowards” in this deeply consequential moment.

Asked whether the stakes are “as high as they sometimes feel like they are,” he observed that “in many cases [he has] noticed there’s a lot more bravery in those who live quiet lives than those who live in social responsibility.”

Buchanan and Nicolette posed challenging questions of the seasoned interviewer and political commentator, including about critiques he received for a piece he wrote in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the tensions that arise when creating a ‘big tent’ coalition to further a liberal agenda means working alongside deep ideological disagreements.

In responding to the latter, Klein closed with a message not so much of hope as of determination, noting “We’re so worried about not causing harm within our own coalition that we are allowing much more harm to be caused — as long as it’s not us doing it.”

The conversation will be released in full as an episode of the Giving Done Right podcast in the coming weeks — look for it and listen wherever you get podcasts.

‘The Light Is Already On’: An Evening With Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah

The day wrapped with a musical performance from Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah and band, who delivered on a promise to “peel the paint off these speakers.” Adjuah performs what he has dubbed stretch music — a genre-blind music that seeks to “communicate our human experience across the genre.”

In a closing chat with President of The Winston-Salem Foundation LaTida Smith, Adjuah demurred from offering lessons to philanthropy from the boundary-blurring work he does with music, instead sharing:

“The light is already on. If you are working in this — I wouldn’t say vocation because [this work is] a love thing — but you are in these spaces … the light is on, so double down on things that will feed you while we are enduring this moment of disruption.”

Take Note: Attendee Reflections

In addition to the main stage events described above, attendees had the opportunity to delve deeper on a variety of topics in the day’s breakout and workshop sessions, which covered, among many subjects, the efficacy of “soft power” and cultural influence to effect change, tactics to protect nonprofits in an era of escalating threats, understanding when AI is helpful or hurtful — and how to navigate it — and lessons from abroad on fighting democratic backsliding.

As they moved through the day, attendees had the chance to answer the following question: “If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change about our sector?”

Here’s some of what they said:

• More opportunities to center the community and have them play a role in decision-making.
• Consistently and rigorously prioritize the perspectives and knowledge of community leaders closest to the issues.
• Less navel-gazing, more action.

As the conference comes to a close tomorrow afternoon, we’ll bring you one more update from CEP2025 — stay tuned.