Connect + Reflect through the Years
What started as a simple meeting of the minds has become one of our community’s most cherished traditions. Each year deepens our solidarity, empowers us with new insights, and builds our individual and collective power.
2024 Connect + Reflect: Planting the Seeds of Powerbuilding
June 2024
Tacoma, Washington
Our most recent Connect + Reflect gathered us on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish: the Duwamish, Suquamish, Stillaguamish, and Muckleshoot people. We centered donors of color and their desire to drive systemic change, providing a space to connect with values-aligned peers and shape their giving strategies to make the biggest impact.
2024 Speaker Highlights
Mele Miller
CFO/COO, Denkyem
Margaret Huang
President, Southern Poverty Law Center
Maxim Thorne
CEO, Civic Influencer
Imara Jones
Media Producer, Journalist & Creator of TransLash Media
Isabel Wilkerson
Prize-Winning Journalist & Author
2024 Conversations
Philanthropy and Reparations
Experts in the field of reparations examined how philanthropic wealth was gained at the expense of Black communities. They also shared new practices for foundations to acknowledge and rectify historical injustices in collaboration with the community.
Giving Strategies Power Pod(‘ing)
This hands-on session engaged members in Implementing a strategic giving framework that considered their goals and pushed donors to make the biggest impact.
Faith Matters: Bridges to the Possible
In this interfaith panel, thought-leaders explored how faith can help us navigate internal and external tensions and build a bridge toward a greater sense of community and belonging.
What We’re Up Against: How Racist Forces Are Dividing Our Communities
This panel dissected the strategies that opposition forces use to divide us and discover what we can do to combat these attempts at division.
Keynote with Isabel Wilkerson
Isabel Wilkerson delivered a powerful keynote and engaged us in a conversation about race, interlocking systems of oppression, and the effects of a caste system that was designed to divide our power.
Our Most Memorable Moments
Attendees engage in lively conversation and reflection along the serene waters of the Sound.
Speakers discuss strategies to building solidarity across communities, highlighting our commitment to cross-racial, cross-class unity.
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Attendees gather for celebration, music, and performances to embrace joy during our Garden Party.
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Members gather to share powerful and intimate stories during our Story Slam, fostering deeper connections and understanding.
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Featured speakers that lead an interactive session, guiding members through personalized giving plans inspired by our Portrait Report to maximize impact across issue areas in philanthropy.
Our Executive Director, Isabelle H. Leighton, energizes the crowd, sharing our vision and impact on the last day.
Connect + Reflect Through the Years
Each year is a celebration of the depth of our connections and the strength of our community. And with every gathering, our power grows.
2023 Connect +Reflect: Radical REsources
April 2023
Atlanta, Georgia
The third Connect + Reflect brought our community together in Atlanta, GA—the Blackest city in America. We grounded together at an epicenter for civil rights and Black history to deepen the solidarity within our community, expand our strategy for racial justice, and uplift the lived experiences of our cross-racial community.
Speakers
ALOK
Ibram X. Kendi
Monica Simpson
2022 Connect + Reflect: Returning to the Birthplace of DOCN
April 2022
Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
The 2022 Connect + Reflect rooted our community in a shared mission to build the collective power of people of color to drive systems change and advance racial equity. We reconnected in DOCN’s birthplace after two years of being separated to organize around a shared analysis and strategy for racial justice.
Speakers
Nikole Hannah Jones
Angela Davis
Mari Copeny
Urvashi Vaid
2019 Connect + Reflect: Inaugural Gathering
February 2019
Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
This inaugural gathering represented the seed of DOCN’s mission being planted among our early members. What was originally envisioned as a simple meeting of the minds became hallmark programming and a sought-after gathering space within philanthropy.
by invitation only
Connect + Reflect is an invite-only retreat for people who share these three traits.
Identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color.
Possess a deep desire to advance racial equity and racial justice.
Have the capacity to give at least $50,000 annually personally, or have the authority at your organization to move at least $50,000.
If this describes you, we hope to see you at the next Connect + Reflect.
Are you ready to build powers alongside values-aligned donors and racial justice leaders?
Join us at the next Connect + Reflect.