Fellowship Applications
Applications are accepted annually. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their information and will be notified when the next application cycle opens.
Who belongs in the room?
The Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative seeks to expand opportunity, strengthen professional belonging, and create pathways for people to learn, contribute, and lead within the planned giving profession.
Why This Work Matters
Planned giving is fundamentally about people. It is about relationships, trust, memory, and legacy. It is also a profession shaped by the people who built it. As our communities evolve, we must ask difficult questions about access, belonging, representation, mentorship, leadership, and professional opportunity. Who built the room? Who is welcomed into it? Who has the opportunity to remain and shape its future? And whose stories will remain after everyone leaves? The Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council believes a stronger profession is one that welcomes diverse experiences, perspectives, and voices. Our goal is not merely to increase participation. Our goal is to foster a profession in which people can learn, contribute, lead, and build lasting careers.
Featured Essay
Who Built the Room? Belonging, Memory, and What Mary Shelley Can Teach Us About Planned Giving and Artificial Intelligence
What does a nineteenth-century novel have to teach us about planned giving, professional belonging, artificial intelligence, and memory? More than we might think. This essay explores how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein raises enduring questions about who creates systems, who belongs within them, and who will be remembered after they are gone.
Read the Full Essay
Professional Belonging
Our Commitment
The Diversity and Inclusion Initiative seeks to strengthen the planned giving profession by expanding access, fostering belonging, and creating opportunities for people to learn, grow, contribute, and lead.
Our work includes:
- expanding access to education and professional development
- supporting emerging professionals
- increasing visibility for underrepresented voices
- creating pathways to leadership
- encouraging mentorship and sponsorship
- fostering professional belonging
- strengthening the future of planned giving in our region
We believe inclusion is more than inviting someone into a profession. It is about creating opportunities for people to participate fully, influence the conversation, build meaningful careers, and help shape the future of the field.
Belonging means more than entering a room. Belonging means having access to mentorship, sponsorship, leadership opportunities, professional growth, community, and a future within the profession.
A stronger planned giving profession creates room for people to stay, contribute, influence, and lead.
Fellowship Program
Fellowship Benefits
- Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council membership
- Planned Giving on the Run participation
- Educational programs
- Networking opportunities
- Mentorship
- Professional development
The Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council is more than a professional association. It is a community of fundraisers, advisors, consultants, and nonprofit leaders committed to learning, collaboration, and professional growth. Through education, mentorship, and networking opportunities, members strengthen their ability to help donors create meaningful and lasting legacies.
Who Should Apply?
We encourage applications from individuals whose experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives have been historically underrepresented in the planned giving profession.
Applicants may be:
- nonprofit professionals, consultants, employees, or volunteers interested in expanding their knowledge of planned giving;
- fundraising professionals seeking to strengthen their planned giving skills;
- attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, and other professional advisors whose work includes helping individuals create charitable legacies; or
- emerging professionals interested in exploring planned giving as a career path.
We particularly welcome applicants whose lived experiences contribute to a stronger, more inclusive, and more representative planned giving profession.
Application Deadline
Applications are accepted annually on a rolling basis. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit their information and will be notified when the next application cycle opens.
Questions?
Quinton Jefferson
Chair, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council
qjefferson@cincinnatisymphony.org