PEAK Grantmaking

Yielding is not an option if we want to undo the systemic damage that keeps people from opportunity and abundance. At PEAK, we believe that spurring philanthropy to drive toward racial equity and make transformational shifts to better serve disadvantaged people and communities begins with us. 2023 was a year of organizational growth and evolution. We advanced along our equity journey, leaned into the practice of emergent learning, sharpened our strategy, and deepened our commitment to be a people-centered workplace. Read more in our 2023 Impact Report.

In Satonya Fair, JD's recent LinkedIn post, she reflects on her many years with our organization—from volunteer to board member to our first chief executive—and how transforming the sector depends on deep partnerships and financial investment from our community. Read on and learn how you can help ensure that PEAK remains strong for many years to come.

Welcome, new PEAK Organization Members! Agog CARESTAR Foundation Color Congress The England Family Foundation Global Support and Development Healthy Places by Design The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation Sequoia Climate Foundation Stranahan Foundation Learn more about our Organization Members: https://lnkd.in/gG8579bf

The PEAK Black Caucus this year hosted a book club focused on White Women Cry and Call Me Angry by racial justice strategist Dr. Yanique Redwood, who led a discussion with caucus members at #PEAK2024seattle. Here, Redwood reflects on her experiences in philanthropy, her vision for the future, and how to create healing spaces for Black professionals across the sector.

PEAK’s Assessing Financial Health Virtual Training Series, developed in partnership with BDO USA, begins this September. In anticipation of our newest learning opportunity, BDO’s Melissa Cameron and Jennifer Pedroni explore three strategies to drive equity when reviewing a nonprofit’s finances.

#PEAK2025nola Call for Proposals Change begins with us, and each member of the PEAK community is an inherent leader. And we live in a moment that requires us to courageously lean into the headwinds that challenge us. To this, we say: Onward! PEAK2025 will be a call for our community to lead, to build on our momentum, and to constructively engage with our feelings of discomfort to transform philanthropy and dismantle systems that disenfranchise people throughout our nation. As individuals and as a collective, let’s lead with courage and boldly move toward a future where justice and equity prevail. Be a part of this movement by cocreating the PEAK2025 program with us! Submit your proposal for a session that will inform and inspire grants professionals to become activated change agents in philanthropy and lean into the headwinds that challenge us. The deadline to submit proposals is September 17. Download today: https://lnkd.in/g8bCHxQ7 [image description: PEAK2025 Call for Proposals is in white text on a red background. The PEAK Grantmaking logo is on the top left.]

Celebrating 4 years at PEAK Grantmaking! It’s hard to believe that there have been four professional revolutions of the sun since I joined PEAK as President and CEO. Every day of this journey, I’ve learned something new and made new friends in our growing community. I have been buoyed by the amazing staff team and the work culture we’re boldly creating together that centers our shared belief in advancing and living equity as a human-centered endeavor. And I have enjoyed unparalleled support from our board of directors and PEAK champions. It has been an honor to lead and learn with you! I love PEAK. Prior to joining the staff in 2020, I served on its board and volunteered for ten years. I advocated for my home institutions to become members and to sponsor events and resources, because the learning and growth opportunities PEAK provided were often the only targeted resources my colleagues and I received. I’m now blessed to be able to lend my vision and experience to lead PEAK forward. Leading an equity-forward nonprofit like PEAK comes with challenges, and leaning into them has helped me double down on my commitment to lead unapologetically, waving the banner that principled grantmaking practices make a difference. How money moves toward communities in need matters, and I’m committed to this work because I believe philanthropy continues to hold significant promise and potential as the most flexible, big-bet-making component of the social sector. For me and my PEAK colleagues, our business is YOU and we’re going to keep living through our actions what it means to be a philanthropy-STRENGTHENING organization. As I move into my fifth year, PEAK is poised at a critical turning point in our evolution – working to bring more thought leadership to the sector, refreshed resources, enlightened programming, customized learning engagements anchored in our Principles, and more career development support to our members. Celebrate this milestone with me by donating to ensure PEAK is financially sustainable well into the future. I challenge you to go beyond membership and make a personal commitment to ensure that PEAK remains strong. Consider the impact if each member of our community of more than 8,000 individuals made a $100 donation! I hope you’ll lead the way by making your donation to PEAK at https://lnkd.in/d6ef7GcR. While I’m asking, please don’t stop there! The enduring support of our Organization Members is critical to our nonprofit. Increase your investment by becoming a Sustaining Member. Sponsor our programs and resources. Make a year-end unrestricted grant as a vote of confidence in our work. And, please, keep volunteering your thought leadership to our community. We literally cannot do this without you and the financial support of this community. Cheers to many more milestones and celebrations ahead!

See PEAK’s Learn, Share, Evolve Principle in action in this piece from our latest Journal. Here, Traci Johnson, MPM shares how The Pittsburgh Foundation has challenged foundations to be more transparent, more engaged with the needs of the organizations and communities they serve, and more willing to share power. The secret? Trust-based practices that successfully center people and relationships.

If you have not yet heard me say it, money matters. Money drives mission and it fuels the great work of our sector. PEAK Grantmaking like many other PSOs often struggle with asynchronous funding cycles and differing standards on what's expected of us, so we're so excited to promote this series with our amazing partners at BDO FMA. We hope you'll prioritize attending and share back with us what you learn.

If you have not yet heard me say it, money matters. Money drives mission and it fuels the great work of our sector. PEAK Grantmaking like many other PSOs often struggle with asynchronous funding cycles and differing standards on what's expected of us, so we're so excited to promote this series with our amazing partners at BDO FMA. We hope you'll prioritize attending and share back with us what you learn.