The home for philanthropy professionals who fund entrepreneurship.
EFN brings funders together to connect, learn, and act - driving meaningful impact through collaboration. Together, we learn faster, act smarter, and go further than any of us could alone.
Entrepreneurship builds agency, resilience, and economic opportunity.
It’s one of the most powerful forces for community transformation - from the small business owner and the tech founder to the social innovator or the young person just discovering what they’re capable of. When entrepreneurship thrives, communities do too.
Philanthropy is uniquely equipped to fund this work. Foundations can be patient where other capital won’t wait, bold where other capital won’t go, and strategic where other capital might not see the full picture. They can fund the programs, organizations, and ecosystems that create real pathways for entrepreneurs to grow. They don’t just support individual entrepreneurs. They shift what’s possible.
When foundations work together, sharing knowledge and aligning strategy, the potential for something larger become real. They change the conditions under which entrepreneurship happens. That’s what EFN is building.
Join us.
Connection
EFN is the only peer space specifically built for philanthropy professionals designing and implementing entrepreneurship strategies. EFN is the place where you can finally ask the questions you can’t ask anywhere else.
Learning
Through convenings, cohorts, and peer exchange, EFN members sharpen their strategies, find language for their work, and learn from others doing similar work across the country.
Action
EFN members form partnerships, shift grantmaking approaches, and coordinate across institutions in ways that improve conditions for entrepreneurs and the communities they serve.
“EFN is the only space where I can wrestle with the hard questions and not feel like I have to perform.”
If you’ve ever wondered whether your foundation could be doing more good, EFN is built for exactly that question.
Many funders who find EFN aren’t solely focused on entrepreneurship. They’re funding entrepreneurship as one strategy among several: workforce development, economic mobility, community resilience, youth opportunity. And they’re doing it without a peer group that speaks their language.
Philanthropy professionals working at that intersection often feel like they’re figuring it out as they go because there are very few places to have an honest conversation about how to do it well.
EFN changes that. Whether entrepreneurship sits at the center of your foundation’s strategy or at the edges of it, if you believe it’s worth funding, EFN is where you figure out how to do it better, alongside people who understand exactly what that takes.