EPC Partner Circle Terms

By accepting your invitation to join the EPC Partner Circle, you agree to the terms below.

Membership is by invitation and approval
The EPC Partner Circle is an invite-only membership circle for selected design leaders and aligned individuals. EPC decides who is invited, approved, renewed, paused, or removed from the Partner Circle. Membership is offered to the individual and not to their company, employer, organisation, institution, or affiliated entity.

Membership term and general membership requirements
Partner Circle status is available only to active EPC General Members. Maintaining an active EPC General Membership is mandatory for remaining part of the Partner Circle.

Partner Circle membership is valid for one year from the date of approval, unless EPC states a different period in writing. If a Partner Circle member’s General Membership expires, lapses, is cancelled, or is not renewed, their Partner Circle status will also end, even if the one-year Partner Circle term has not been completed.

EPC will review Partner Circle membership annually. After review, EPC may continue, revise, pause, or end the membership.

Member status
A Partner Circle member is recognised as an individual EPC Partner. This does not create an employment relationship, agency relationship, sponsorship relationship, organisation-level partnership, or legal partnership with EPC.

Member conduct
Partner Circle members must engage respectfully with EPC members, participants, speakers, hosts, collaborators, guests, partners, and the wider EPC community. Partner Circle members must not harass, intimidate, discriminate, bully, abuse, threaten, shame, or behave in a way that makes others feel unsafe, unwelcome, or disrespected. Partner Circle members must respect differences in background, discipline, seniority, geography, identity, opinion, and perspective. Disagreement is allowed. Disrespect is not.

Participation
Partner Circle members are expected to participate thoughtfully and meaningfully over time. Participation may include advisory conversations, strategic input, nominations, introductions, hosting, speaking, moderating, talent evaluation, knowledge contribution, sponsorship pathways, commercial introductions, advocacy, or support for EPC’s quality and trust. Partner Circle members are not required to contribute in every format. EPC will decide which opportunities are relevant for each Partner Circle member based on fit, timing, availability, and program needs.

Access to EPC initiatives
Partner Circle members may be invited to selected EPC events, sessions, programs, member formats, assemblies, retreats, immersions, closed conversations, knowledge formats, and community spaces. Partner Circle membership does not guarantee access to every EPC initiative. Some initiatives may require separate registration, approval, confirmation, payment, or additional terms. EPC decides final participation, seat allocation, selection, listing, featuring, hosting, publishing, documentation, and program structure.

Recognition by EPC
EPC may recognise the member as an EPC Partner across selected EPC platforms, event pages, publications, forums, partner pages, newsletters, reports, social media, and communication material. EPC may include the member’s name, professional role, organisation name, city, photograph, contribution, or relevant profile details in such communication.

Use of the EPC Partner title
Partner Circle members may refer to themselves as: EPC Partner in professional network and social media platforms like LinkedIn. This title can only be used while the membership is active and in good standing. Partner Circle members must not use the EPC Partner title after the membership ends, is paused, or is revoked.

Public representation of EPC
Partner Circle members may speak about their association with EPC and their role as an EPC Partner. Partner Circle members must not make public statements, commitments, announcements, claims, or representations on behalf of EPC unless EPC has approved them. Any co-branded announcement, organisation-level association, logo use, campaign, press mention, sponsorship communication, or formal public representation must be approved by EPC in writing.

No authority to bind EPC
Partner Circle members cannot make strategic decisions, financial commitments, hiring decisions, sponsorship commitments, partnership commitments, contractual obligations, pricing commitments, or delivery promises on behalf of EPC unless EPC has specifically authorised this in writing.

Communication
Partner Circle members agree to receive EPC communication through email, WhatsApp, phone, and other official EPC channels. EPC may add Partner Circle members to relevant WhatsApp groups or communication groups using the contact details shared by them.

WhatsApp and group conduct
Partner Circle members must keep group communication relevant, respectful, and non-disruptive. Partner Circle members must not use EPC groups for excessive forwarding, irrelevant posting, unsolicited pitching, repeated promotion, spam, recruitment, mass outreach, or personal gain at the cost of the community. EPC may remove a member from any communication group if the group is misused.

No misuse of EPC access
Partner Circle members must not use access to EPC members, participants, speakers, hosts, collaborators, guests, partners, or talent for unsolicited outreach. Partner Circle members must not add EPC contacts to external groups, mailing lists, communities, sales funnels, promotional databases, recruitment lists, or commercial outreach without their consent.

Confidentiality
Partner Circle members must protect all private and non-public EPC information. This includes private conversations, member discussions, unpublished material, internal plans, partner discussions, participant information, talent information, sponsor discussions, commercial discussions, program formats, research material, reports in progress, introductions, data, insights, strategy, and internal documentation. Partner Circle members must not share, publish, forward, reproduce, distribute, adapt, store, export, sell, or commercially use EPC confidential information without EPC’s written consent. EPC may require Partner Circle members to sign a separate NDA.

Private conversations
Many EPC spaces are created for honest and private exchange. Partner Circle members must not quote, attribute, record, publish, forward, or disclose private conversations from EPC spaces without permission from EPC and the relevant person. Insights from EPC conversations must not be used in a way that exposes private, sensitive, or identifiable information.

EPC intellectual property
All EPC-created material belongs to EPC unless agreed otherwise in writing. This includes formats, documentation, reports, frameworks, designs, program structures, question sets, moderation formats, publication concepts, knowledge material, research formats, event formats, talent pathways, and community models. Partner Circle members must not copy, replicate, reuse, adapt, disclose, or share EPC’s private formats, structures, questions, insights, conversations, introductions, unpublished work, reports, talent pathways, moderation frameworks, or program models with directly comparable platforms without EPC’s written consent. 

This does not restrict the member’s independent professional work, teaching, publishing, mentoring, advisory work, or public participation in other professional spaces.

Documentation of EPC activities
EPC may photograph, film, record, transcribe, summarise, or otherwise document its events, gatherings, sessions, conversations, and community activities. EPC may use this documentation for archival, editorial, promotional, research, publication, and communication purposes. By attending or participating in EPC activities, Partner Circle members agree that their image, voice, name, likeness, or contribution may appear in such documentation.

Use of quotes, recordings, and attributed material
EPC will seek reasonable consent before using directly attributed quotes, identifiable recordings, authored material, or clearly identifiable contributions. EPC may use anonymised or synthesised insights from moderated conversations and programs for reports, research, publications, or knowledge material, as long as confidential or sensitive information is not disclosed.

Use of member information
EPC may collect, store, and use information shared by Partner Circle members for membership administration, communication, event coordination, partner acknowledgement, program planning, talent coordination, community operations, and improving the member experience. This may include name, email, phone number, city, professional role, organisation name, profile information, participation history, contribution details, and communication preferences.

Talent pathways and finder’s fee
EPC’s initiatives, events, programs, partner sessions, talent pathways, screenings, fellowships, community initiatives, Wolffolio talent pool, and curated networks may create hiring, contracting, or commercial engagement opportunities.

If a Partner Circle member, their organisation, hiring team, client, collaborator, or relevant decision-maker wishes to hire, contract, or commercially engage talent through EPC or Wolffolio, a separate talent hiring, referral, or finder’s fee agreement will be required.

The separate agreement will define the applicable scope, fee, payment terms, invoicing timelines, replacement terms, role-specific conditions, and responsibilities of the hiring party.

Partner Circle members must inform EPC if any hiring, contracting, or commercial engagement conversation progresses as a result of EPC’s introduction, recommendation, program, event, talent pathway, Wolffolio pool, or EPC-led curation process, so the appropriate agreement can be discussed before the engagement proceeds.

Specific engagements
Any specific engagement involving hosting, sponsorship, commercial collaboration, publishing, paid participation, co-branded work, hiring, talent referral, formal delivery, media release, or recording consent may require a separate agreement. No financial obligation is created unless separately agreed in writing, except where a finder’s fee applies.

Payments for EPC formats
Partner Circle membership does not automatically include free access to all paid EPC events, programs, retreats, immersions, assemblies, or special formats.

Where a format is paid, EPC will share the applicable fee, payment timeline, cancellation terms, refund terms, and any additional conditions for that format.

Changes to membership benefits
EPC may add, remove, revise, or change Partner Circle benefits, formats, communication channels, recognition formats, access, participation pathways, pricing, and opportunities as the collective evolves.

Suspension or removal
EPC may remove a Partner Circle member from communication groups, suspend participation, pause Partner status, or revoke membership if the member breaches these terms or acts in a way that creates a clear risk to EPC’s members, participants, confidential information, reputation, community spaces, or work.

Grounds for suspension or removal may include:

• Breach of confidentiality
• Misuse of EPC’s name, platform, network, spaces, or communication channels
• Misrepresentation of the member’s role, authority, or association with EPC
• Making unauthorised commitments, statements, announcements, or representations on behalf of EPC
• Unauthorised use, copying, adaptation, or sharing of EPC’s private formats, intellectual property, documentation, research, or program models
• Harassment, intimidation, discrimination, bullying, abusive conduct, or behaviour that makes others feel unsafe or unwelcome
• Repeated unsolicited promotion, spam, mass outreach, or commercial misuse of EPC access
• Undisclosed conflict of interest that directly affects EPC’s work, relationships, members, partners, or opportunities
• Non-payment of applicable dues, fees, or agreed commercial obligations
• Any unlawful act or serious professional misconduct connected to EPC spaces, members, participants, partners, or work

Where appropriate, EPC may first raise the concern with the member and allow a reasonable opportunity to clarify or resolve the matter.

EPC may take immediate action without prior notice where the issue involves confidentiality, safety, harassment, serious misrepresentation, legal risk, unauthorised public representation, misuse of EPC’s name, or clear risk to EPC’s members, community spaces, reputation, or work.


Membership is personal and non-transferable
Partner Circle membership belongs only to the approved individual. It cannot be transferred, shared, reassigned, sold, or used by another person or organisation.

Ending the membership
Either EPC or the Partner Circle member may end the membership with written notice. Once the membership ends, the member must stop using the EPC Partner title and must stop representing themselves as associated with the EPC Partner Circle. Confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property, non-replication, and finder’s fee obligations will continue where applicable.

Updates to these terms
EPC may update these terms as the Partner Circle, membership structure, programs, benefits, formats, operational needs, or legal requirements evolve. Any significant change to these terms will be communicated through official EPC channels.

EPC will state the effective date of the updated terms upon communication of the change. If a Partner Circle member disagrees with a significant change, they may choose to end their membership by informing EPC in writing within 14 days of receiving the updated terms.

If the member continues to participate in the Partner Circle after the updated terms have been communicated and the effective date has passed, the updated terms will apply.

Ending the membership because of updated terms does not remove obligations that existed before the change. This includes confidentiality, data protection, intellectual property, non-replication, and any applicable finder’s fee or payment obligations.


Final discretion
All decisions regarding Partner Circle membership, approval, renewal, participation eligibility, public recognition, conduct review, access, and program involvement remain at EPC’s discretion.

By accepting your invitation to join the EPC Partner Circle, you acknowledge that you have read and understood these terms and agree to proceed in the spirit of mutual respect, contribution, confidentiality, and alignment.