Build Connections, Strengthen Relationships, Protect Our Lakes

The GLF offers a range of in-person and online events to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and to explore topics of common interest. These gatherings provide an exclusive opportunity for representatives from foundations, donor-advised funds, and other philanthropic organizations to share insights, align strategies, and foster collaborative efforts toward sustaining the Great Lakes region.

Please Note: Unless otherwise specified, our programs are exclusive to representatives of the philanthropic community, ensuring focused and strategic discussions tailored to our members’ unique roles and contributions.

A group of Great Lakes Funders stands in the tunnel to Niagara Falls. They have paused their tour of the falls to take a photo. They are wearing yellow ponchos and smiling for the camera.

Leadership & Professional Development Peer Community

Are you newer to Great Lakes philanthropy? Are you interested in connecting with peers to share lessons learned and collectively level up your skills? Join us for the launch of GLF’s Leadership & Professional Development Peer Community.

Led by Co-chairs Beatriz Canas, Crown Family Philanthropies and Preeti Shankar of The Joyce Foundation, we’ll host quarterly peer conversations, discussing topics such as:

  • How to have challenging conversations

  • How to build authentic relationships with partner organizations

  • How to approach board meetings

  • Co-designing tools and leadership pathways to support new practitioners in the region 

Our goal is to build a leadership pipeline in the Great Lakes philanthropic community. We seek to develop clear pathways for early and mid-career professionals, opportunities to learn from seasoned leaders, and a regional strategy to retain talent.

Join us on Zoom Thursday, September 3, at 10am CT/11am ET for our first call. We’ll dig into authentic relationship building, including how to develop relationships without raising hopes of funding, and how to deal with the power dynamic inherent in grantmaking.  

Register Here!

Annual Meeting 2026

Detroit, MI, United States
April 27-29, 2026

Register Here!

Annual Meeting 2024

Chicago, IL, United States
September 24-25, 2024

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A group of children play in a fountain in Chicago. The water sprays up around them as they run through.

Annual Meeting 2023

Niagara, Ontario, Canada
October 3-4, 2023

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A group of funders enjoy dinner together in the Barrel Room during the conference in Niagara, Ontario, Canada. They are seated at a long dining table set with a runner and candelabras. They are engaged in discussions with one another.
A lighthouse on Lake Erie in Ohio, at sunrise.