PEAK2026 Online Keynotes – Biographies

Nick Tilsen (He/Him), is a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, an Organizer, Social Entrepreneur, Community Builder and Movement Leader. Nick has over 20 years of experience in movement building, organizing and equitable community development. He founded NDN Collective to change the conditions in which Indigenous people organize, while building needed philanthropic, social impact investment, capacity and movement infrastructure geared towards building the collective power of Indigenous Peoples. His work has reached over 1,500 Indigenous Communities, Tribes and Nations across North America.

Tilsen has received various fellowships and awards ranging from the Ashoka, Rockefeller & Bush Foundations. In 2022 Nick & NDN Collective were recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Innovation. Nick has received a Social Impact Award from Claremont-Lincoln University and holds an honorary doctorate degree from Sinte Gleska University.

Aria Florant, Co-Founder and CEO of Liberation Ventures, is a conduit, constantly bridging worlds; Black and white, movement and mainstream, ethnic studies and finance. She holds multitudes of them all, and the essence of her work is creating for others that which she wants for herself: a world where all people’s whole selves belong. Aria believes that building trust and transformational partnership across differences is the key that can unlock that world, and that building a culture of repair is the path to true belonging for Black people, and all people, in America. Aria loves trekking at high altitude with just a backpack and no cell service, enjoying a good speakeasy with the fullest-bodied glass of red wine they have, and long, lively dinners with her people.

Eusebio Díaz is the current Interim CEO of PEAK. He was Health Forward Foundation’s vice president of strategy, learning, and communications, and he has more than 20 years of experience in strategy and program development for nonprofits and philanthropic organizations in Texas. He previously served as Episcopal Health Foundation’s chief of staff. In this role, he oversaw a diverse portfolio of projects and was a strategist and advisor to the president and CEO. Díaz previously served as vice president of programs for the Baptist Health Foundation of San Antonio, where he supervised the distribution of more than $85 million in funding over 13 years. A United States Air Force veteran, Díaz holds a bachelor of arts in anthropology and a master of arts in bicultural-bilingual studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He served two terms on the board of Philanthropy Southwest and is a founding member of the Asset Funders Network of San Antonio.

Saida Agostini-Bostic is the President of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, a network of more than a hundred foundations, corporations, and funding institutions collectively awarding more than $1 billion annually, including approximately $100 million specifically devoted to LGBTQ issues. A longtime cultural organizer, activist, and seasoned nonprofit leader, she has guided statewide advocacy efforts promoting the rights of LGBTQ youth in foster care, education, and juvenile justice, winning critical new protections, and directed national art actions uplifting the visibility of Black girls, women and nonbinary people. Founder of the Rooted Collective, a gathering of Black LGBTQ healing justice activists in Baltimore, she has received honors for her art and activism from Cave Canem, the Baltimore Sun, R.W. Deutsch Foundation, Leeway Foundation, and the Blue Mountain Center. She holds a Masters of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Barajas-Román is the President and CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, the world’s largest philanthropic alliance for gender equity and justice. Prior to her current position, she served as CEO of the Solidago Foundation and held key roles at The Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health. Elizabeth is active in several advisory boards, including the Ida B. Wells Society. She was appointed by the Massachusetts Treasurer to the state’s Economic Empowerment Trust Fund Board and the Advisory Board on Wage Equality. An alumnus and Trustee of Oberlin College, she also holds a master’s degree in international policy from Harvard University. Elizabeth was named one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in U.S. Philanthropy,” by Inside Philanthropy, a leading publication in the nonprofit sector. Her insights have also appeared in U.S. and global publications including USA Today, The Hill, Marie Claire, Health Affairs, Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nonprofit Quarterly, Inside Philanthropy, and Alliance Magazine.

Sara Richman Sanders, Managing Director of PEAK, leads the organization’s efforts to build and grow our network of changemakers and our community of institutions investing in PEAK’s mission, all with the goal of transforming philanthropy by operationalizing equity. Sara brings over 15 years of experience working with diverse audiences, specifically in volunteer management, stakeholder engagement, facilitation, and relationship and community building . As PEAK’s membership director, she coedited the winter 2022 edition of PEAK Grantmaking Journal, Driving Racial Equity in Philanthropy, and has helped PEAK break membership recruitment, retention, and engagement records by collaborating across the organization and leading a dynamic team. Sara is passionate about voting rights for all. She started her career at the US Department of Defense, training military voting assistance officers to help service members vote and ensuring ballots were sent on time to overseas citizens. She has also worked at the League of Women Voters and the School Nutrition Association. Sara graduated summa cum laude from The George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in history and criminal justice. She loves spending time with her family and friends, is an avid sports fan and museum enthusiast, plays the viola in a local community orchestra, enjoys many hobbies, and can’t wait for her next travel adventure.