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Community-Driven Philanthropy in Practice

As we urge philanthropy to be more courageous, the call to center community leadership and foster meaningful partnerships is more urgent than ever. This interactive session, led by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO), will feature local stories that directly respond to that call by offering practical strategies to move beyond transactional community engagement practices and foster authentic partnerships that build collective power. Through collaborative exercises using real-world case studies from our respective networks, participants will work alongside peers to design pathways to integrate community feedback into decision-making processes and identify opportunities to redistribute power. Grounded in the purpose of truly understanding and responding to community voices, attendees will learn how to develop collective strategies that shift power.

This is a breakout session, held at Southern California Grantmakers’ 2025 Annual Conference: Acts of Courage. To attend, register here.

Speaker

Jaser Alsharhan

Jaser Alsharhan is the Director of Programs overseeing cohort development and peer-to-peer programming at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. Jaser comes to GEO after working at Philanthropy Colorado, a regional association dedicated to serving, convening, and managing funder peer cohorts. Before working for Philanthropy Colorado, Jaser completed a one-year Fulbright Program Fellowship in Rubavu, Rwanda, where he coordinated with the U.S. Embassy to conduct weekly programs and research at the American Corner, a resource center that aims to increase understanding between Rwanda and the United states. Prior to working in Rwanda, he participated in the Duke University India Summer School for Future International Development Leaders. This field research position in Udaipur, India allowed him to analyze and propose creative, locally sourced approaches to rural development. He also was a Curatorial Assistant for the Biennial of the Americas and interned for Children’s Future International, writing and researching grant opportunities for the organization’s expansion of education and basic needs services for disadvantaged youth in Cambodia.

Jaser received a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and graduated from the University of Denver, where he was a Boettcher Scholar majoring in International Studies and Political Science. He enjoys hiking, running, watercolor painting, and giving back to diverse communities throughout his home state of Colorado.

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