Global Philanthropy & Children

 On Friday morning we will hear from Stephanie Heckman, the West Coast Director of the Epic Foundation, where moto is Give Better, Give Smarter, Give More. The Epic Foundation bridges the gap between a new generation of individual and corporate donors and organizations while supporting children and youth globally. They are developing new tools focused on enhancing how donors select, monitor and experience their impact. Their vision is to disrupt the philanthropic industry by combining passion and expertise with game-changing technology and partnerships. Supporting youth and understanding their challenges, they select exceptional NGOs and social enterprises by carefully reviewing their performance. Their areas of focus include education, economic empowerment, and health, along with rights & protection. Epic then provides ongoing monitoring using cutting-edge technology, field evaluations and research, to track and measure impact. They believe experience is a core component of philanthropy. To connect donors with their impact, Epic has developed innovative travel, technology and video experiences.

  Stephanie Heckman obtained a Master of Arts in Philosophy and Psychology and a Master of Sciences in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh. She is currently a post-graduate research student in Philosophy (Wellbeing and Philanthropy) at the University of Edinburgh. For the last fifteen years, Stephanie has been building effective partnerships to create a better world. Except for a year working at SFJazz, her career is with a series of non-profits, including almost 6 years at One World Children's Fund. She has been inspired by the use of virtual reality by the Epic Foundation. Through immersive experiences of their grantees work, founder Alexandre Mars manages to foster empathy and nurture global partnerships that ‘do good, better’ (to borrow a phrase from philosopher Will MacAskill). They have also applied technology to create a platform that builds trust between philanthropists and community leaders, by making results and impact data accessible and meaningful. Another goal is to leverage technology to make philanthropic giving easier for corporation teams and individuals.

  Over the last five years Stephanie has facilitated discussions with people from all corners of the world, aligned values, and identified common goals. She feels it has been wonderfully rewarding to witness the very best of humanity working together to solve some of today’s biggest challenges. She has fostered international partnerships with grassroots leaders and philanthropists from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa,  that have helped fight sex trafficking, child labor, lack of access to life-saving medicine, education, and more. She says the greatest achievement is the friendships she has made along the way.  She loves being a global citizen.