Experts by experience
One of the primary reasons that IncuBrighter was founded is because of our founder’s lived-experience. Leah’s time as a caregiver for a multi-systems youth and then as a Family Peer Supporter exposed her to the many, many wonderful people who want to turn their pain into purpose and support their community.
The issue is that formal education is wildly expensive. Accelerators are expensive and often geared toward for-profit industries. And Doing-It-Yourself methods are FULL of trial-and-error that can put a program at risk.
IncuBrighter continues to build towards a world where hierarchy is flattened, lived-experience is respected as much as learned theory, and practical needs are met with compassion and hope. We will continue to bridge the divide between academic theory and real-world application to meet people where they need met.
EPIC TRAINING
What are EBEs? Experts by Experience are people whose direct lived experience with systems (poverty, child welfare, DV, SUD, homelessness, etc.) gives them deep, actionable insight into how those systems work, fail, and can be transformed. They're distinguished from Peers in that Peers typically provide relational support at the micro/mezzo level, while EBEs operate at the macro level — shaping policy, programs, and structures across sectors.
Why EPIC? Too often, lived experience is invited in but not built into decision-making. Tokenism and extraction dominate "inclusion" efforts. Without structural shifts, lived experience becomes decoration, not direction.
The Four Stages
E — Engage with clarity, transparency, genuine consent and choice, and acknowledgment of the emotional weight of participation.
P — Partner through equitable compensation, shared decision-making power, clear roles, and meaningful follow-through.
I — Integrate by embedding EBEs structurally — in org charts, leadership, hiring, budgets, and evaluation — not just as a special initiative.
C — Co-Create by inviting EBEs at the idea stage, distributing power equally, centering shared ownership, and building structures that outlast any single person's involvement.
The core warning: Staying symbolic burns EBEs out, erodes trust, misses critical gaps, and lets harm continue under the banner of "engagement." Equity becomes performative rather than transformative.
What does EBE stand for?
What is the EPIC method?
faqs
EBE stands for Experts by Experience — a term for people who bring firsthand, lived expertise to a professional or organizational context. At IncuBrighter, EBEs are recognized as holders of a distinct form of knowledge that complements (and sometimes surpasses) formally credentialed expertise.
EPIC stands for Engage, Partner, Integrate, Co-Create. It is IncuBrighter’s Lived Experience Integration Method: a structured framework for moving organizations beyond tokenistic “inclusion” toward genuine structural integration of Experts by Experience into leadership, advisory, and program roles.
How is EPIC different from a traditional advisory board?
Traditional advisory boards often involve inviting people with lived experience to share their story, with limited structural power. EPIC builds the organizational systems, compensation structures, decision-making pathways, and care protocols that allow EBEs to participate as genuine co-designers — not just consultants or tokens.
What organizations benefit most from EPIC?
Any organization that works with or on behalf of communities with lived experience of adversity, including child welfare, substance use recovery, peer support, housing, mental health, and family services. EPIC is especially valuable for organizations that are legally or contractually required to include people with lived experience in governance but are unsure how to do so ethically.
How do I get EPIC training or consultation for my organization?
Please use the form below to request training on EPIC or to open up a conversation on how EPIC would support the work that your nonprofit does. Training is available as a half-day workshop, full-day session, or multi-session series. Organizational readiness assessments are also available.
Bring EPIC to Your Organization
Bring EPIC to Your Organization
Your team is already doing the work. EPIC helps you do it better — with the people most impacted at the center of every decision.
The EPIC Framework is a practical, evidence-informed training designed for nonprofits, service providers, and systems-level organizations ready to move beyond tokenism and into genuine collaboration with Experts by Experience. Whether you're building a new program, restructuring community engagement, or strengthening your equity practices, EPIC meets your organization where you are and gives your team concrete tools to go further.
Custom trainings are available for staff teams, leadership cohorts, boards, and cross-sector coalitions — designed to fit your context, your population, and your goals.
Fill out the form below to inquire about bringing EPIC to your organization.