“The place where operations professionals can speak their language and be completely understood” – Operations Professionals Network summer meeting 2019

The EFC’s Operations Professionals Network (OPN) held its summer meeting on 8-9 July 2019 in Philanthropy House, Brussels, to open up discussions and dialogue on topical operational issues impacting the HR, IT, finance and legal functions of philanthropic organisations across Europe.

OPN is a network of 13 international grantmaking foundations, that creates a safe space for shared learning on key operational matters and has been described by participants as ”the place where operations professionals can speak their language and be completely understood.”

Mehran Gul, Project Lead, Digital Transformation of Industries at the World Economic Forum, kicked off the opening plenary on the complexities and opportunities brought by digital transformation. OPN members had the opportunity to discuss why digital transformation goes beyond digital technology, drivers and bottlenecks, as well as the singularities that make it differ from other change processes.

The programme featured a wealth of topical exchanges among the OPN subgroups (COOs, HR, IT, Finance and Legal) on a range of operational topics including process management, risk assessment and management, business intelligence, cyber-security and onboarding. Participants exchanged best practices from their foundations and shared and planned together, potential solutions to common challenges.

The closing plenary took the form of a town hall meeting that brought together the entire OPN community to reflect upon what the network has achieved in the 4 years it has been operational and participants reaffirmed their commitment and desire to lift each other up and drive operational excellence in their organisations.

OPN members will stay in touch through regular calls and webinar in the lead up to the autumn meeting, which will take place in Lisbon on December 2-3 hosted by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

For more information on OPN, please contact Stefanos Oikonomou.