“What if?” is the guiding question for visionary communities to take organisations, sectors and societies forward. This question took European philanthropy infrastructure organisations on a journey of prototyping an infrastructure for philanthropy networks – can it be well-connected and act collectively? Three years in, we have championed the climate philanthropy movement, engaged in “What if? Reimagining philanthropy” conversations and reached the community milestone – the PEXforum in Istanbul in 2022, hosted by Philea and TUSEV, to then openly acknowledge: in an eco-cycle of every community development, we met the crisis point.

Against the backdrop of unfolding multiple crises, rapid developments in the sector, and the direct transition associated with the host organisation of the PEXcommunity (in 2022, Dafne and EFC converged to form Philea), we committed to an evaluation process to explore the added value of PEX to its community and the philanthropy ecosystem. We heard clear and loud: the shared narrative that brings the community together is philanthropy needs to change. The motivation that drives PEX is collective hope that meaningful change can be realised through the power of community – by activating our fractal agency, aligning on our values and creating multiplier effects across thematic and geographic boundaries.

We approached the evaluation process as an inherent ritual of what and how we want to be as a community: transparent, collaborative, participatory. The leadership, companionship and encouragement of the Istanbul-based Heart Mind Design empowered us to acknowledge that PEX is no longer about organisations, it’s about practitioners working in philanthropy infrastructure. As practitioners, we commit to embodying the change we want to see: in the way we work with our philanthropic communities and with each other, in the way we relate to and care for each other. By backcasting this change, we identified our purpose as an inspiration for ourselves as practitioners, as organisations, as our shared philanthropy ecosystem: How can we practise new paradigms in philanthropy?

A group of PEXcommunity members, also known as the PEX core group, inspired by the vision and action in-the-making, put on an explorer hat to chart the path for the next part of the journey, including its next milestone in Rome – because, as you know it, whatever road you take, all roads lead to Rome.

Self-led space to catalyse action

We have long been inspired by the possibilities of the infrastructure to support nuanced, long-term transformation, and ultimately create better conditions for the future across geographies, themes, and communities. In PEX we explore the practices, seeds, and possibilities of philanthropy infrastructure to work in a ‘catalytic’ way – a metaphor for amplifying and incentivizing solutions, experiments, paths, and capacities for change. PEX allows us to work in a way that is inspired by the future, by collegiality and solidarity, curiosity, hope, commitment, assets, and potential. In many spaces of work these are not the main drivers of action, but in PEX we offer these to ourselves in the diversity of self-led, co-created spaces with an expanded team of like-minded people – who we call chosen colleagues.

Messy (and needed) process of collaboration

We believe in the potential of PEX to support European philanthropy to stay and become even more relevant. There is no other space of similar size and reach that has the capacity to connect people from all futures of the sector as humans and colleagues. These connections are essential to what we need more of: building trust, learning together, and the grit to collaborate at a strategic and systemic level. There have been debates, ambiguities and messy moments over the past few months. We sincerely hope that we manage to keep some of them. They are an unmistakable sign of something in the making.

Embracing the intention for the good of the collective

As PEX core team members, we’ve come to realise the magic that happens when we embrace our individual strengths, stories, and creativity, creating a canvas painted with collective wisdom. Did canvas reflect our individual expectations 100%? Not necessarily, and it didn’t need to – because intentions hold more power, create more safe spaces to grow collectively than personal projections. It is not always the easiest to shed the rigidity that comes with the comfort of the usual; but we are there for each other while we were discovering new voices within ourselves and converging these towards a shared purpose.

Creating the space to exchange, be challenged, unlearn and dream big

PEX is a space where we are comfortable to share, to be challenged, to unlearn what we have always taken for granted, from a personal and professional point of view. PEX seeds more questions and ideas to pursue and at the same time makes us feel empowered and hopeful. The potential of PEX is in its community members, their generosity – in terms of time, ideas, feelings, and support – and the honesty to dream big but recognize the challenges and bumps in the road. The trust that can be built in such a space of chosen colleagues. The openness and inclusivity, we want to strive for, in welcoming people in. The potential to concretely experiment together new solutions, accelerate and embrace the existing ones.

Embracing the living lab with care for each other

PEX feels like a living lab of what infrastructure actors can inquire into, collaborate like and aspire to, when connected as a community. The last 6 months have been a journey of exploration of the sum of the parts, dreaming of what a connected community can enable. “Building capacity for experimentation and seeding new ways of organising, learning and collaborating.” We are inspired by the deep caring and leadership of each other and by chosen colleagues’ openness to explore new paradigms and future practices.

What becomes possible when infrastructure has infrastructure? We are going to explore this at the #PEXforum2024 in Rome on 25-26 January.

This is a mosaic of thoughts and perspectives of the PEX core team: Birce Altay (TUSEV), Vinzenz Himmighofen (iac Berlin), Francesca Mereta (Assifero), Alina Porumb (Inspire), Alina Shenfeldt (Philea), Hanna Stähle (Philea), Alexandra Stef (Inspire), Olga Tarasov (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors)