For our opening keynote, Ford Foundation’s Bryttnee Parris will moderate a dynamic conversation between Women’s Foundation of the South President and CEO Carmen James Randolph and Kresge Foundation CEO Rip Rapson, both of whom are deeply engaged in supporting communities in New Orleans. They will be joined by two of their grantee partners – HousingNOLA’s Andreanecia M. Morris and Sankofa Community Development Corporation’s Rashida Ferdinand – who are on the front lines of addressing the complex challenges facing the city’s historically marginalized populations, such as racial inequity, poverty, and the long-term impacts of historical trauma. Together, they will explore the issues and opportunities facing New Orleans, the importance of long-term commitments and courageous grantmaking practices, and share inspiring examples of how funders and grantees are working together to build a more equitable and resilient future for all residents.

We thank Marguerite Casey Foundation, SmartSimple+Foundant, and Salesforce for their support of our keynotes.

Join the Tides Foundation and our partners in this workshop session to reflect on how the philanthropic sector showed up for democracy in 2024 and to strategize for 2025 and onward. Though investments in civic engagement and democracy-focused organizations are at an all-time high in response to 2024’s most critical elections, community organizers know that strategizing on state and local levels should not be undervalued or invested in. This is especially important given the visceral state-level battles around social welfare policy, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion over the past few years.

Regardless of your or your organization’s experience levels with this type of work, tolerance for risk, or cause areas, this workshop is designed to provide learning, community, and, most importantly, tangible examples of ways to support the democratic work that you can bring back to your organization.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Strategies for supporting democracy work regardless of experience level, risk tolerance, and cause area to bring back to their organizations
• The challenges and needs that grantee partners in the democracy ecosystem doing this work face, especially in years without federal elections

Speakers

Sarita Michaca, Tides
Beth Huang, Tides Foundation
Riley Hewko, Tides Foundation
Julie Terbrock, Missouri Voter Engagement Action

High performers frequently get tasked with managing direct reports without formal leadership training or guidance. While rising stars excel at the art of grantmaking, the art of managing people requires additional skills.

Join this workshop to learn 10 management tips that I’ve learned in the last 10 years of facilitating manager training. We’ll cover everything from the mechanics of effective one-on-one meetings to building psychological safety. You’ll walk away with practical resources, templates, and articles to continue building your leadership skills.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Actionable tips and resources to build influential management skills in their day to day work, including psychological safety, trust, goal setting, addressing bias, performance management, giving and receiving feedback, and delegation

Speakers

Sarah Sprott, Candid
Christopher Percopo, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

Join this session to better understand fiscal sponsorship and how you can develop policies and procedures for the management of grants to fiscally sponsored projects. Fiscal sponsors can provide a helpful structure to maximize efficiency of grant funding by providing back-office infrastructure to sponsored projects, helping with compliance oversight, and facilitating collaboration across funders. Although fiscal sponsorship is a longstanding practice in the grantmaking and nonprofit community, it is still an area where many grantmakers struggle to understand the nuances of the fiscal sponsorship relationship and how it impacts grants management.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The fundamentals and common misconceptions about fiscal sponsorship and the challenges that can arise when funding fiscal sponsors
• Practical tips and best practices for grants managers dealing with fiscal sponsors
• Equitable practices within fiscal sponsorship and best strategies to ensure a more diverse and transformational approach to fiscal sponsorship

Speakers

Hayley Smith, Build Up, Inc.
Ajani Husbands, Build Up, Inc.

Rarely read and often submitted too late to inform strategy, written reports have long been a source of frustration for both foundation staff and grantees. In 2023, RWJF instead asked whether and how reporting could better align with its organizational values and launched the Written Reporting Alternatives Project (WRAP) to investigate and potentially reimagine its approach to narrative reporting to make it more purpose-driven and grantee-centered. This session will explore the development of WRAP and share preliminary findings and reflections.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to align reporting practices with values
• Grounding practice change in participatory research
• The barriers and rewards of changing reporting practices across the field

Speakers

Indya Hartley, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Monique Shaw, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Jessica Bearman, Bearman Consulting, LLC

Learn about Who Keeps the Keeper (WKTK), a program that uses restorative practices to equip frontline workers and movement leaders who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) with tools to create and sustain a healing culture. Trinity Church and the BREATHE Collective, one of their grantees, developed WKTK to answer the fundamental question within their collective: Who takes care of those dedicated to repairing the fabric of our communities, healing the wounds of injustice, and driving transformation? The program seeks to address the pervasive issues of burnout, turnover, and isolation in the nonprofit sector and demonstrate how the philanthropic sector can use capacity-building offerings to ensure the success of grantee organizations.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How restorative and healing justice can be tools to promote self and community care
• How investing in BIPOC leaders and movement practitioners is critical to the success of grantmaking institutions

Speaker

Cheavanese Diedrick, Trinity Church NYC

This immersive workshop is designed for philanthropy leaders and managers grappling with the increasing burnout concerns in the social sector. Speakers will guide attendees through an experience to better understand how survival patterns can lead to burnout, equipping them with the awareness to recognize these patterns within the workplace. Attendees will explore the principles of a healing centered culture to encourage collective empathy, resilience, and restoration. Learn about supportive tools and techniques for managing teams and harmonizing the demands of philanthropic work with sustainable well-being practices.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Discover how your unique survival archetype perpetuates burnout.
• Techniques to build a healing-centered culture for leadership and team culture strategies.
• Explore sustainable approaches to manage personal and team burnout.

Speakers

Manuela Contreras, Con Fuerza Experiences
Nicole Torres, Ouroboros Healing

In this discussion, Kristin Pazulski and Richelle Pittella of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Grantmakers Forum will facilitate a conversation about the fundamentals of AI and its growing impact on the philanthropic sector. We’ll demystify how AI works (and doesn’t work) and explore potential uses of this technology in the workplace. Participants will hear practical examples of how AI can enhance processes such as writing, data analysis, reporting, and have the opportunity to share their own. This session is aimed at those at the early stages of AI use to help provide a solid foundation for incorporating this technology into their workday.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Learn about examples of how your peers in philanthropy have used AI-enabled tools in the workplace.
• Learn more about how common AI tools, like learning language models, generate responses, and explore key considerations.

Speakers

Richelle Pittella, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Kristin Pazulski, The Louis Calder Foundation

This session brings together Annie E. Casey Foundation–Atlanta Civic Site, grantees, and consulting firm Community Build Ventures (CBV) to explore how this unique collaboration led to a transformative strategy designed to empower grantees. In 2024, the foundation made a bold move by yielding its power and stepping aside, allowing grantees—those closest to the challenge of retaining and sustaining effective Black male educators in Atlanta—to drive the strategy development process. Grounded in racial equity, this approach ensured that the ideas and priorities reflected the needs of the community. CBV designed the framework and facilitated the process, ensuring that grantees remained at the heart of decision-making.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Grantee-led strategy development approaches grounded in racial equity
• Effectively partnering with consulting firms to support grantee leadership
• Shifting power dynamics, allowing grantees to drive solutions
• Building capacity to apply these practices and foster more equitable and inclusive philanthropic strategies

Speakers

Natasha Harrison, CommunityBuild Ventures (CBV)
Rubye Sullivan, The Annie E. Casey Foundation – Atlanta Civic Site

In this session, we’ll navigate the challenges of implementing trust-based grantmaking practices and support each other’s journeys to evolve and improve by creating a brave space to share where we and others have tried and failed. We will explore the causes of failure in our work and invite participants to bring their own experiences and examples and engage in an open, nonjudgmental discussion to learn from past mistakes and so that we may find collective momentum to keep pursuing equity in our work.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Building an understanding of the variety of challenges of trust-based grantmaking
• The experiences of others working to implement trust-based practices
• How we can improve our practices and avoid the pitfalls others have faced so that we can continue to increase equity in our philanthropic practices

Speakers

Chase Williams, GlobalGiving Foundation
Oswaldo Alvizar Bañuelos, GlobalGiving Foundation

With increasing anxiety around the state of the world, we are excited to come together and provide a space for our community to be vulnerable, share joy, and discuss ways to address concerns surrounding our grantee communities as well as our personal and professional lives. There will be significant time allotted for smaller group discussions on a variety of topics so that folx can have the opportunity to get to know one another better and connect on issues that are most important to them at the moment. We look forward to meeting with you!

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

The Racial Equity in Philanthropy (REP) Fund at Borealis Philanthropy is sunsetting after seven years of supporting philanthropy-supporting organizations working to define or expand their racial equity efforts across the sector. The journey of this fund is both nuanced and unique but offers several valuable lessons for funders of all kinds working to implement social justice-centered grantmaking and understand what it truly takes to do this work well.

Several stakeholders will join the conversation to explore the challenges and successes of the REP Fund in relation to Borealis, donors, and grantee partners.

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

Join this session to explore how flexible funding for programs offers an alternative to traditional, more limiting, grantmaking practices, providing the necessary funding for specific programs or projects within an organization while allowing the grantee flexibility in how they use the grant funds. This approach empowers grantees to direct resources where they are most needed, whether addressing unexpected challenges or seizing new opportunities, without the worry of requesting budget modifications.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• An understanding of what flexible funding for programs is and how it differs from project and general operating support grants
• How flexible funding for programs helps organizations achieve their mission with greater flexibility, resilience, and sustainability
• How to implement this approach in your own grantmaking practices, through case studies and practical insights
• How flexible funding for programs can help social justice funders shift the power dynamics in grantmaking and drive equitable, justice-centered outcomes

Speakers

Rokeya Rahman, Mellon Foundation
Nora Mitnick, Mellon Foundation
Carly Benkov, Ford Foundation
Jim Gallagher, Ford Foundation

In this interactive fishbowl conversation, we will explore how beliefs-aligned leadership, embedded within clear organizational structures, can drive transformation within the philanthropic sector. Moderated by Marguerite Casey Foundation Chief Human Resources Officer Hannah Nichols the session will open with insights from representatives from the Marguerite Casey Foundation and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation as they share their journeys navigating leadership in philanthropy, before transitioning into a dynamic fishbowl format.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in a meaningful discussion about what it takes to not just lead, but lead in alignment with your core beliefs, and help shape a more just and inclusive sector for all.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How belief-aligned leadership can transform the philanthropic sector
• Strategies that help drive equity focused, impact-drive, inclusive teams
• Practical tools and examples to influence culture, advocate for equity, or rethink your leadership style

Speakers

Zeeba Khalili, Marguerite Casey Foundation
Hannah Nichols, Marguerite Casey Foundation
Amanda Lanceplaine, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Join this session to learn how the NDN Collective, alongside key partners, is revolutionizing philanthropy by placing Indigenous leadership and self-determination at the core of its grantmaking strategies. By dismantling traditional philanthropic power structures, NDN Collective’s model transfers decision-making authority directly to Indigenous communities, ensuring that those most impacted are driving the solutions. Grounded in the principles of Defend, Develop, and Decolonize, their approach emphasizes long-term, flexible funding that empowers community-led initiatives, fosters wealth-building, and promotes self-sufficiency.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How Indigenous-led, community-centered grantmaking challenges traditional philanthropic models
• Practical strategies for shifting power and decision-making to historically marginalized communities, fostering equitable partnerships, and implementing trust-based funding.
• An enhanced capacity to advocate for and integrate decolonized, equity-driven approaches into their own philanthropic practices

Speakers

Christina Chavez, NDN Collective
Nicole Maria Yanes, NDN Collective
Gabrielle Strong, NDN Collective
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Sacred Earth Solar

Research demonstrates that smaller nonprofits, especially those led by people of color, often lack the infrastructure and resources necessary to compete for large foundation grants. Join this session to hear from two grants managers from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust on how their foundation started a pilot program to provide grants to grassroots organizations and other small nonprofits. They will share the background research they conducted, how they incorporated trust-based grantmaking concepts into the program, what they have learned so far in the pilot program, and future questions they hope to address as the program continues.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to implement a grassroots grantmaking program to help their organizations practice more equity-centered grantmaking
• The value of trust-based grantmaking

Speakers

Josh Abel, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
Rachel Weaver, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

Foundations have the money, relationships, and convening power they need to advocate for change, but are they leveraging another crucial asset—data—for good? Native Ways Federation Executive Director Carly Bad Heart Bull and a representative from Allegany Franciscan Ministries will join Candid CEO Ann Mei Chang for a compelling session on how funders and funder consortiums can get the most out of data to support informed and equitable grantmaking decisions. Their discussion will explore how data-driven practices are critical for improving accessibility, accountability, and transparency in the nonprofit sector, but only if the practices are developed with community direction and input.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Addressing challenges and implementing changes to create a more equitable philanthropic landscape
• How alignment on data standards, collaborative data sharing, and better grant data coding for specific groups can highlight funding gaps and support equitable, data-driven giving.
• How to leverage nonprofits’ Candid profiles for demographic data collection and assessment strategies

Speakers

Ann Mei Chang, Candid
Carly Bad Heart Bull, Native Ways Federation
Brittney Frazier, Alleghany Franciscan Ministry

Learn about the tools you can use to predetermine if an organization is suited for equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility and how to prepare and support nongovernmental organizations through the equivalency determination process. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Tools and approaches foundations and NGOsource have developed to help grants managers work with program staff to determine whether to use equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility
• What to ask during the pre-vetting decision-making process that precedes equivalency determination
• How working with a local partner can ensure a localized approach

Speakers

Jonathon Fairhead, TechSoup Global/NGOsource
Mirela Gegprifti, Hillspire LLC

Are you struggling to document your organization’s complex processes and keep them up-to-date? In this interactive session, five foundations of various sizes will share their approaches to documentation and offer practical tool and tips, and then lead an exercise aimed at developing your process documentation skills. Then, participants will have the opportunity to apply these next-level practices by starting to draft process SOPs. You’ll leave with a practical roadmap for creating a process document tailored to your organization’s grantmaking procedures.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Awareness of different types of documentation and tools to support each type
• Process mapping and how to create detailed, step-by-step documentation

Speakers

Mary Kadzielski, Philanthropy. io
Astrik Tenney, Strada Education Foundation
Jen Ruffner, Summit Foundation
M.J. Thorne, The Goizueta Foundation
Aaliya Ahmed, Quadrature Climate Foundation

Join this interactive workshop where New Breath Foundation and grantee VAYLA-New Orleans share five tips on how to center equity, inclusivity, and accessibility when approaching grantee site visits in ways that level problematic power dynamics, focus on the grantee experience, and build relationships rooted in trust.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The key components of what makes a site visit valuable for grantee and grantmaker alike
• How to use a trust-based and participatory grantmaking framework to shift your practice of site visits to be more equitable, inclusive, and valuable approach
• How to strategically approach site visits going forward

Speakers

Claudia Leung, New Breath Foundation
Jacqueline Thanh, VAYLA New Orleans
Anthony Johnson, VAYLA New Orleans

By steering clear of the discomfort that can come with conflict, organizations make dissent and unique ideas uncomfortable and focus too much on consensus. When that happens, organizations may miss opportunities to innovate. In this session, the Walter & Elise Haas Fund will bust five common myths about conflict as they share their continuous journey in making major innovations in its grantmaking strategy. Participants will also learn practical tools to bring constructive conflict back to their organization. If you’re looking for tools to help you disrupt the status quo and support change management, this session is for you.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to develop a useful definition of conflict
• The connection between innovation and conflict in the nonprofit sector
• How to assess the prerequisites for healthy conflict, focusing on power imbalances and toxic organizational cultures
• Tools to help harness the power of creative conflict and resources for more tools

Speakers

Betsy Block, B3 Coach
Jamie Allison, Walter & Elise Haas Fund

The Delaware Valley team is excited to announce our upcoming journey to PEAK2025 in NOLA, where we will focus on fostering meaningful connections, networking opportunities, and collaborative discussions. We invite you to join us for an engaging afternoon dedicated to building relationships with fellow professionals in the philanthropic sector. This event will provide an excellent platform for exchanging ideas, sharing best practices, and exploring potential partnerships that can enhance our collective impact. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect with peers who are equally passionate about making a difference in our communities.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us for a discussion with the American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program’s Terrebonne Parish field team. We will learn how Dr. Gilda Brown Ebanks, Dr. John Navy, and Ryan Sims-Gilkey have created lasting, trust-based relationships in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana and beyond. This panel discussion will explore the team’s key successes and challenges in addition to their approach to building relationships with nonprofit partners.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Let’s talk about remixing foundation practices and systems and dance to our own principled, and equity-centered mixtape! Come to the PEAK Mideast chapter meeting mash-up where we will discuss burning topics at your foundation. Come to this safe and open space to share your thoughts and learn from each other.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us to network and celebrate our incredible group of members in the Midwest region. Additionally, we will be hearing from leaders of GrowDat, a New Orleans nonprofit, to learn more about the work they do and the role of philanthropy and nonprofits in the Southeast region. We look forward to seeing you there!

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us to catch up on the latest hot topics, debrief on our mentorship pilot program, including testimonials from both mentors and mentees, discuss how to articulate your grant’s evaluations and impacts, and make time for member networking. As always, bring any questions or issues you may need help with as we will have the best and brightest minds in the room!

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us in NOLA for bonding, thinking, talking, and fun! We’ll talk about who we are, select the major topics that will shape PEAK Northeast’s future, and discuss the heck out of them. Candy and salty snacks will be provided—and maybe ballroom dancing.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us for some speed networking to make connections and get to know each other better. We’ll cap our time off with a trivia game to get to know New Orleans better, too. We promise fun and semi-fabulous prizes!

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join your fellow PEAK Pacific Northwest members from across Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington for our annual chapter meeting. We’ll connect within our chapter and learn about the best work we’ve done for partner organizations in the past year. We’ll have a facilitated conversation about staff structures and grants management staffing and career trajectories in grants management. We’ll close by checking in about what you want from our regional chapter and how the chapter’s volunteer leadership can help.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us for in-person speed networking with some Rocky Mountain flair at PEAK2025! Attendees will have a chance to reunite with colleagues and make new connections.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join us for a dynamic session exploring the critical role philanthropy plays in disaster preparedness, response, and long-term recovery. This session will feature case studies from organizations in New Orleans and the surrounding region, a hub of resilience and innovation in the face of challenges. Discover strategies to collaborate with local communities, maximize resources, and ensure sustainable recovery efforts. Attendees will gain actionable insights and tools to enhance their disaster-related grantmaking practices and foster meaningful change.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Join peers from the PEAK Northern California and PEAK Southern California chapters for networking, fun, and games!

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Connect with your fellow PEAK Florida members and help us plan for 2025 and beyond. We will spend time getting to know each other better and find ways for us to support each other in the face of changing and challenging policies. We will discuss how to include perspectives not only from foundations, but also leaders from the fields of corporate philanthropy and governmental grantmaking. To ensure chapter leaders deliver on what is most useful to our members, we will also review upcoming events and ideas for future learning and connection.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

In the past few years, the South has taken a prominent role in driving our national agenda. Those of us working in the Southwest region are at the center of a cultural shift that calls on us to deeply reflect on our role in leading with courage. During this meeting, members will get to know one another through small group discussions on three of the key roles we play:

• Leading collaboration internally with our teams and externally with other funders
• Leading locally with our partners in the community
• Leading in the changing diversity, equity, and inclusion environment

This meeting will also include an introduction to your 2025 Southwest Chapter Steering Committee and a preview of our plans for the year.

We thank May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust and Archstone Foundation for supporting our Chapter Meetings.

Building community is in our DNA! Join the PEAK Latinx Caucus to strengthen our community ties and collective learning through speed networking. Caucus members will get the chance to engage with one another in an informal setting and gain an expanded network of colleagues who are passionate about philanthropy and help move money to good places.

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

As leaders grow, their focus often shifts from cultivating themselves to cultivating their teams and getting the work done. In this interactive and collaborative session, learn new frameworks for your development, from reflecting on how you want to grow to making a greater impact on your organization and community by amplifying your skills, strengths, and lived experience. In addition, you will learn how to create supportive systems of accountability as well as tips and tricks to use with LinkedIn. The conversation will focus in part on those who, historically, have been faced with additional career barriers—namely people of color, women, and working parents—and will include time to respond to questions from participants.

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

With so much happening politically, organizationally, and socially, have you stopped to decide how you want to show up in the world right now? For our second keynote, Memphis Music Initiative President and CEO Amber Hamilton will challenge us to examine and explore how we, as individuals and as a sector, decide if we are willing to work together towards bigger impact, or whether our old ways of being are enough to meet the moment. Join us for this moment to connect, laugh, bond, and fortify each other as we navigate a pathway forward.

We thank Marguerite Casey Foundation, SmartSimple+Foundant, and Salesforce for their support of our keynotes.

This collaborative session will explore the constantly evolving international grantmaking landscape. Whether you’re new to global funding or a seasoned pro, come ready to share how you’re creating accessible calls for proposals or supporting grantees in multiple languages, discuss payment logistics and show off how many SWIFT codes you have memorized, and take a deep dive into ED, ER, FCRA, CFR, OFAC, CLABE, or whatever new acronym there is this week. (IYKYK, right?).

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Resources to help inform international grantmaking practices
• Troubleshooting common questions that arise when making an international grant, such as regulatory considerations and payment challenges
• Techniques to increase accessibility in the international grantmaking process

Speakers

Mallory Womble, Mozilla Foundation
Sarah Gallagher, Mozilla Foundation
Marcia Nichoel-Polycarpe, Ford Foundation

This interactive workshop will explore the role of narratives in grantmaking spaces through a case study, small group discussions, and reflective prompts. We will introduce a framework that situates diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) principles and practices within a narrative landscape, and walk through a case study that documents how an organization-wide DEIB-focused initiative on change ultimately led the leader of the design—a well-liked and widely respected employee—to resign.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How harmful narratives show up in the philanthropic sector and how to apply a narrative lens to identify, question, and disrupt harmful narratives within ourselves and our organizations
• The tools, strategies, and tactics that can help inform healthy and effective change management through a narrative lens
• How to initiate conversations with peers, managers, and leadership on how narratives shape grantmaking decisions

Speakers

Maya Faulstich-Hon, ideas42
Eva Matos, ideas42
Ursula Stewart, Salesforce

When COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in 2020, we saw a massive boost in money being moved to individuals and collectives—particularly people and communities of color. Those funds dried up when the emergency was declared over in 2023, in part due to funder fears around navigating additional paperwork requirements and in part due to giving up control over how funds would be used. This session will discuss both the how and the why of moving funds to individuals. Evaluated from a wealth redistribution and trust-based philanthropy lens, the disbursement of no-strings-attached money to individuals and unincorporated collectives can be a tremendously effective strategy for addressing community wealth issues, persistent inequality, and power imbalances in the nonprofit field.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How grants to individuals are expedient, compliance-friendly, and practicable
• The legal, systems, and business tools to undertake this work
• How to think critically about this funding strategy and to be able to argue for it within your organization
• How wealth redistribution and trust-based philanthropy are important outcomes

Speakers

Randall Huerta, Possibility Lab
Mohit Mookim, Sustainable Economies Law Center
Tamara Prosper, Cooperation NOLA

This session will provide real examples of how ArtsKC, the Kansas City Metropolitan Regional Arts Council and intermediary funder, made progressive and equitable changes to their grant programs through collaboration and feedback. In order to narrow the power gap and find equitable, mutually beneficial solutions to problems, it’s essential to not make decisions alone. Change is hard, but it’s easier when you work together!

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Practical ways to collaborate with grantees, other funders, and internal assets to solicit feedback to make equitable changes to existing grant programs
• How to identify ways that external and internal collaborations can narrow the power gap and improve grant programs.

Speaker

Tara Karaim, ArtsKC-Metropolitan Regional Arts Council of Kansas City

Join this session to learn the essential elements to building successful, community-driven, public-private funding partnerships. Over the next 18 years, Massachusetts can anticipate $1 billion in opioid settlement funds. Representatives from the Massachusetts’ Mosaic Opioid Recovery Partnership will tell the story of how they formed an innovative cross-sector collaboration to distribute opioid settlement funds to historically underserved community-based organizations and municipalities. Attendees will learn how the entire program was driven by the community, especially people with lived experience, and how the grantmaking process amplified their voices.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The key steps to building successful public-private funding partnerships
• How to implement data-driven decision-making to prioritize funding to communities that have been historically underserved
• How to apply evaluation methods to improve access and equity in their grantmaking process in real time

Speakers

Jen Tracey, RIZE Massachusetts Foundation
Ranjani Paradis, Institute for Community Health
Elizabeth Black, C4 Innovations
Julia Newhall, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services

Join Danielle Royston-Lopez from Kataly Foundation and Dr. Sulma Gandhi from the Stupski Foundation for a rich discussion focused on wealth redistribution grounded in justice and equity. In recent years, many foundations have made the decision to spend out. This movement to urgently return resources to communities has afforded opportunities to externally focus on trust and relationships as assets, and internally become more creative with greater integration between program and grant staff.

While we won’t make the case for every foundation to spend out, we will offer insights that disrupt the muscle memory of traditional philanthropy to move us all to explore what’s possible in the context of a limited-term foundation.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to shift and share power
• Creativity and trust-based philanthropy
• Relationship building and sustainability
• The role that we all can play in shifting power, regardless of whether our institution’s grantmaking is time bound or not

Speakers

Danielle Royston-Lopez, Kataly Foundation
Sulma Gandhi, Stupski Foundation

Courage is for chumps. It’s time to lead with evil! Join the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Allison Gister and Richelle Pittella for this tongue-in-cheek session on discovering your point of view and finding opportunities to infuse it into your work. Just as true super villains would, they will share their origin stories and divulge their dastardly plans, such as improving the grantee experience, ensuring information is not misinterpreted, and more. Hear about the patented BRAT framework for achieving evil aims and see tangible examples that can be adapted to your organization. Don’t know what BRAT is? You’ll have to go to the session. Diabolical!

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Recognize your sphere of influence and what levers you can pull to enact change from where you sit
• Identify and develop a point of view and framework for grants management work within your organization
• Learn to create opportunities to apply your point of view to your workstreams

Speakers

Allison Gister, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Richelle Pittella, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

What does it truly take to build an organization that not only values justice, inclusion, and equity, but actively incorporates these values at every level of its operation? This session aims to transform attendees into proactive leaders who can navigate and champion equity-focused changes, ensuring that all team members feel valued and are given the opportunity to thrive and contribute meaningfully.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The foundational concepts of justice, inclusion, and equity, particularly in the context of organizational culture
• Systemic barriers that prevent the effective implementation of these practices
• Assessment techniques to perform honest appraisals of their organizations using surveys and third-party assessments
• How to host curiosity sessions
  

Speakers

Jackie Hanselmann Sergi, Radical Spark Coaching
Caitlin McDanels, PEAK Grantmaking

In today’s fast-paced and often high-stress environments, mindful leadership is essential for fostering equity and effectiveness. This interactive session will explore how mindfulness practices can enhance leadership and support equitable outcomes. We’ll discuss the challenges grants management professionals face, especially those in marginalized roles, and how mindfulness can help you navigate these challenges. A diverse panel will share their experiences incorporating mindful leadership for themselves and when collaborating with others.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Integrating mindfulness into your leadership practices to enhance personal well-being and advocacy for equity
• Navigating high-stress situations and uncertainty while promoting inclusive practices
• Using mindfulness to proactively empower yourself as a change agent

Speakers

Bill Robertazzi, Human42
Ligia Marroquin, The Tow Foundation
Keonna Baldwin, Health Forward Foundation

In this session, you will learn how philanthropy can adopt liberatory research and evaluation methodologies to shift power and center Black-led movement organizers, discuss the harms of traditional evaluation processes, and collectively envision a future where evaluation can center social justice movements and organizers. This conversation will be guided by the learnings from the Movement Defined Learning (MDL) Project, a participatory impact and learning project that engages Black-led movement organizers in cocreating research, evaluation, and learning processes that recenter the priorities and capacities of organizers. The MDL Project has been a valuable forum for exploring meaningful learning priorities, alternative learning methods, and novel ways of sharing learnings, all of which were used to create the MDL Tool.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How the MDL Project’s process can be adapted for other philanthropic organizations and practices
• How to think beyond traditional learning and evaluation processes

Speakers

Jeree Thomas, Borealis Philanthropy
Win Guan, Social Insights Research
Ashley Crawford, Starck Borealis Philanthropy

On Tuesday, don’t miss this important yearly opportunity to hear from PEAK leadership about our progress over the past year, learn about the candidates for PEAK’s board of directors, and celebrate all we have accomplished together in the past year.

Join this interactive workshop to explore the transformative power of inquiry. Drawing inspiration from the idea that “we live in the world our questions create,” participants will examine the questions shaping their current grantmaking practices. Through guided exercises, you’ll learn to craft powerful questions that challenge assumptions, break down barriers, and open up new possibilities for equity-driven outcomes. Join us to discover how shifting your questions can lead to more innovative, abundant approaches to philanthropy.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How the questions you ask shape strategies and outcomes, and how shifting them can lead to more courageous, equitable, and innovative grantmaking
• Strategies to reframe and refine questions, challenge assumptions, and unlock bold possibilities in your work
• How to foster collaborative learning and explore courageous approaches to sector challenges

Speakers

Daniel Weinzveg, Meeting Guru
Karissa Oien, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Through case study examples and practice activities, this session will explore how to transform grant applications into tools for strategic learning. Attendees will create a sample learning agenda, translate it into meaningful grant application domains, and then dive into approaches for visualizing those data to summarize insights about grant partner relationships.

Recent trends advocate for concise, targeted reporting to enhance learning and engagement, making data more accessible for decision-makers. By focusing on purposeful data collection and analysis, attendees will discover how grant applications can support organizational learning, real-time course corrections, and long-term strategy refinement.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The value of a learning agenda to guide data collection in grant applications and begin creating one
• The skills to design application questions that align with their organization’s strategic learning goals
• How to build capacity to translate grantee data into visual reports that inform decision-making

Speakers

Martena Reed, Reflect Evaluation
Jennifer Marsack, Pivot Data Design

A 360 review can bring together your stakeholders to interpret your final reports and take a qualitative approach to understanding your foundation’s impact while also putting your grantees and community on more equal footing with your reviewers and board. Join this session to learn how the ARDC Foundation successfully improved processes and accountability to their grantees through a more collaborative approach to final report review.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to bring together community members, grantees, staff and board members to foster greater understanding of overall success of granted projects
• How to share power by creating space for stakeholders to define grant success together
• The importance of identifying and advocating for process changes that support grantee success, and ensuring that we use the information we require grantees to provide
• The value of increasing transparency and impact by publicly sharing grant results

Speakers

Chelsea Parraga, Amateur Radio Digital Communications
Rosy Schechter, Amateur Radio Digital Communications

Join this session to explore equitable grantmaking innovation and best practices to eliminate access barriers and create inclusive systems that close the power gap.

We will focus on critical areas, such as language and disability access, while holding space for a broad sharing of success in other inclusive approaches. By leading with equity, we aim to empower grantmakers to examine and modify existing systems to allow organizations and individuals from underrepresented and historically marginalized communities to engage fully in the grant process.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Identifying barriers to access faced by grantees, particularly those related to language and disability
• How to jumpstart reflective action on existing grantmaking practices, including approaches for speaking to organizational teams on why and how to take the first steps toward more inclusive processes
• Strategies and tools implemented by organizations to improve inclusion and access

Speakers

Bryttnee Parris, Ford Foundation
Linda Gargiulo, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Justin Graham, University of Vermont Health Network

Emergent learning (EL) is a set of principles and practices that help teams think, learn, and adapt together to improve impact. In this session, learn how to use EL principles and practices to promote organizational change and how grants managers and operations teams can use EL as a framework for promoting equity and next-level grantmaking practices.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The basic principles and practices of emergent learning
• How to use an Emergent Learning Table to inspire courageous thinking and conversation
• Tools to be a change agent in their organizations
• Resources to further explore emergent learning

Speakers

Caroline Raue, Omidyar Network
Kenneth Chu, NeighborWorks America
Sarah Small, Margaret A Cargill Philanthropies

Although private foundations can’t lobby, that doesn’t mean they cannot have meaningful discussions with lawmakers. In this session, Bolder Advocacy attorneys will work with willing and courageous attendees to role play scenarios where private foundation representatives interact with legislators. Learn the many safe and legal opportunities available to private foundations to add their voices on a variety of issues to build resilient communities, identify and develop community leaders, and bring about lasting systems change.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How foundations can be change agents for the sector
• Strategies to engage lawmakers legally and safely
• How to uplift grantees by making introductions and connections that will further their work and build capacity for their advocacy

Speakers

Quyen Tu, Alliance for Justice
Tim Mooney, Alliance for Justice

This panel discussion will explore the dos and don’ts, common pitfalls, and lessons learned from funders who recently transitioned to a centralized grants management (GM) team and function. In recent years many grantmakers have acknowledged the potential benefits of centralized GM: more strategic, streamlined, consistent, and equitable grantmaking practices; greater cross-programmatic learning and collaboration; reduction in silos; risk mitigation through clarity of compliance processes; and a structure that supports individual professional development and career trajectories. But this shift requires appropriate internal buy-in and change management to ensure success.

By attending this session, participants will gain a better understanding of:

• the sector-wide trend towards shifting to a strategic, centralized grants management model;
• the potential benefits of centralized grants management, including increased equity, consistency, collaboration and efficiency, as well as professional growth opportunities for staff;
• lessons learned – and pitfalls to avoid — from other funders who have recently undergone centralization; and
• how to generate buy-in and make the case for centralization at all levels of the organization.

Speakers

Adriana Jimenez, Resources Legacy Fund
Sarita Michaca, Tides Foundation
Indya Hartley, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

While discussion of trust-based philanthropy has increased, tangible steps continue to be elusive in practice. Philanthropy often prioritizes caution over bold action, resulting in risk-averse funding practices that exclude grassroots organizations and movements. This session explores the critical role of intermediaries in bridging the gap between institutional philanthropy and frontline partners, making trust-based giving a reality. Through real-world case studies from a private foundation, a funding intermediary, and a community partner, we will examine how risk can be strategically redistributed, trust can be deepened, and power imbalances can be dismantled in funding relationships. Attendees will leave with tangible strategies to advocate for trust-based grantmaking within their own organizations.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Private funder flexibility in grantmaking and ability to influence peer funders
• Funding intermediaries as a vehicle to help risk-averse funders support frontline organizations and mitigate power imbalances
• The needs of frontline organizations in mobilizing and building power in historically marginalized communities to advance progress

Speakers

Helen Wong, Borealis Philanthropy
Elaine Mui, General Service Foundation
Dom Kelly, New Disabled South

Join PEAK staff and experts from LaCire for an insightful session exploring the latest trends in grantmaking compensation and benefits. Drawing on data from PEAK’s 2023 Grants Professionals Salary Report, we’ll delve into key findings and equip you with actionable strategies for:

• Elevating your career: Understand current salary benchmarks, identify career advancement opportunities, and negotiate your worth.
• Advocating for equity: Use data to drive equitable compensation practices within your organization and advocate for fair treatment across the sector.
• Optimizing organizational strategies: Make informed decisions about hiring, retention, and resource allocation based on data-driven insights.

Speakers

Lita Ugarte Pardi, PEAK Grantmaking
Jamie Albaum, LaCire
Kristen Craig, PEAK Grantmaking

Join PEAK’s Black Caucus to gain invaluable insights from seasoned executives on navigating the path from mid-level management to the C-suite. Hear firsthand accounts of pivotal career moments, learn essential leadership skills for building presence and driving change, and gain practical tips for developing your own leadership brand. A panel of senior philanthropic leaders will share their experiences, offering actionable takeaways on strategic decision-making, organizational growth, and navigating complex challenges. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain the knowledge and confidence to advance your philanthropic career!

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

Join us for an engaging and interactive conversation to participate in facilitated breakouts with grantmaking professionals from other large funding organizations. Together, we will explore and discuss pressing topics that are shaping the philanthropic landscape, including the challenges of the current environment, the impact of artificial intelligence, and other emerging trends. This is your chance to share insights, learn from others, and collaboratively navigate the current state of philanthropy with your peers. This meeting is limited to PEAK’s Grants Management Peer Group Experience members and funders that manage an endowment of at least $2 billion or award at least $100 million annually.

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

Join PEAK’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Caucus for a speaker session with Song Community Development Corporation (Song CDC), an organization that works to pursue the full liberation across all BIPOC intersectional identities in vulnerable communities in Southern Louisiana. Together with community partners, Song CDC’s justice work encompasses climate, food, education, housing, workforce, as well as culture and arts. Song CDC prioritizes the direct input of those with lived experiences to guide programming from development to implementation and evaluation. Their work and strategies are a direct result of BIPOC residents’ priorities gathered from ongoing community conversations, dialogues and surveys.

We thank Surdna Foundation for supporting our Peer Group Meetings.

Join this session to learn how the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (Health Fund) has elevated collaborative leadership as an effective, inclusive approach to tackling complex problems. In partnership with Healthy Places by Design, the Health Fund provided Collaboration Lab—a 10-month learning journey infusing practical tools and peer learning—to a cohort of local partners: nonprofits, regional foundations, and government leaders. Join this session to learn about the Health Fund’s strategy to deepen cross-sector collaboration and the results, and engage in activities from Collaboration Lab to build your collaborative muscles.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to sharpen their own collaboration skills by applying key Collaboration Lab concepts and practices
• An understanding of how a funder and technical assistance partner worked together to enhance collaboration leadership skills among grantees
• Creative ways to collaborate with peers in philanthropy, grantees, and others, as well as to support grantees in building their collaboration capacity

Speakers

Jamie Elliott, Healthy Places by Design
Veronica Marchese, Michigan Health Endowment Fund
Teresita Maz, Healthy Places by Design

Philanthropic risk management is typically thought of in terms of risks to funders, but grantmaking can also create significant risks to grantees. One such risk is financial instability resulting from chronic underfunding of projects. This session will share how indirect cost rates and grantees’ ability to build reserves directly impact their ability to cover their true costs and gain financial resilience. You will also hear from a peer funder who revised their policies and will leave with practical advice for advocating for policy change at your organization.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• The fundamentals of indirect cost rates and true cost coverage
• How project grants need not be the enemy of financial resilience
• Understanding options for better supporting grantee operating costs

Speakers

Jennifer Pedroni, BDO
Elizabeth Powley, MacArthur Foundation
Radhika Shah, BDO

This workshop is tailored for grantmakers looking to improve how they communicate reporting, legal requirements, and payments to grantees in their grant letters. Participants will explore strategies for writing grant letters that are clear, transparent, and aligned with the needs of their grantees. By learning how to craft grant letters that emphasize partnership, impact, and inclusivity, funders can empower their grantees to submit stronger applications and foster more effective collaborations.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Actionable strategies to update and enhance grant letters that encompasses finance, program, and grants management needs
• How simplifying grant letters can help ensure equity and accessibility for all applicants

Speakers

Stephen Switzer, Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Shaena Johnson, Funders for LGBTQ Issues
Danielle Royston-Lopez, Kataly Foundation

In this interactive and engaging workshop, you will examine how your social identities, and those of your grantees, consciously and unconsciously impact your approach to grantmaking. You will gain self-awareness about your identities through an intersectional lens of power, privilege and positionality. By gaining deeper insights into your strengths and areas for reflection, you can develop a concrete action plan for more equitable grantmaking practices.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Better understand the myriad of social identities that they hold
• Gain knowledge of the ways in which their social identities and those of their grantees play a role in their grantmaking practices
• Come away with an action plan to move their equity and inclusion values into daily practice

Speakers

Rashi Jawade, Embracing Equity
Nicole Evans, Embracing Equity
Marianne Hunkin, Embracing Equity

From trust-based practices to participatory practices, grantmakers are exploring ways to center change makers by shifting power dynamics, fostering collaboration, and empowering communities. Technology can be a powerful tool in helping grantmakers build deeper, more meaningful relationships and practices, ultimately creating greater equity and opportunities for their applicants and grantees.

In this session we’ll explore several ways that technology is contributing to centering change makers throughout the grants lifecycle. We’ll present case studies that demonstrate how innovative tools and technology are being used to streamline application processes, improve transparency, and enable more inclusive decision-making.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to use data, digital platforms, and feedback mechanisms to create more inclusive, participatory grantmaking processes
• Concrete examples of how technology can streamline applications, improve transparency, and enable equitable decision-making
• Strategies and insights on how to use technology and data to challenge existing barriers and promote long-lasting, equitable outcomes for applicants and nonprofit partners

Speakers

Sam Caplan, Submittable
Angela Randle, The Coca-Cola Company
John Mohr, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Over the past four years, the Equitable Evaluation Initiative (EEI) has engaged 44 foundations across the US in the practice of the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ (EEF). This session invites intimate conversations between and across foundation peers to understand how the practice of the EEF can align and advance their stated aims and day-to-day activities toward equity. Evaluative thinking—understood as the daily, ongoing process of taking in and using information to inform choices and make decisions—offers an entry point into new ways of being, thinking, and doing.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to influence, organize, and mobilize yourself and others to align aims and intentions to advance equity with practices by applying the EEF
• Peer examples of how the EEF has been applied across functions, programs and strategies
• How to find opportunities to apply the EEF for within your own organization and bring others along in this practice

Speakers

Kerry McHugh, Equitable Evaluation Initiative
Beth Willett Jones, Greater Clark Foundation
Sadikshya Aryal, Northwest Area Foundation
Candace Malone, Kansas Health Foundation

Ever feel like managing a team is like trying to tune a room full of out-of-sync instruments? This interactive session is designed to help you ditch the solo act and transition to being an impactful team leader. We’ll explore the exciting (and sometimes daunting) transition from managing one or two people to managing a team—a shift that requires a whole new set of skills.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Exploring how authentic leadership can unlock your team’s full potential
• Building trust and truly hearing what your team is (and isn’t) saying
• Discovering how to identify, leverage, and champion each team member’s unique strengths and nurture their learning edges, using PEAK’s Grants Professionals Competency Model and other tools
• How to strategically collaborate and communicate effectively with your peers and the C-suite, helping you build bridges across the organization

Speakers

Lita Ugarte Pardi, PEAK Grantmaking
Sara Sanders, PEAK Grantmaking
Jen Sarduy, PEAK Grantmaking

Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies (MACP) will explore how, through working with vendor partner Grantbook, they improved the user experience for grantees for renewal applications, embracing experimentation by launching a pilot program for introducing changes. For this presentation, MACP will incorporate grantee and program officer perspectives by having them as co-presenters.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• Practical ways to make grantees true partners, starting by addressing the initial barriers and listening to their voices.
• Incorporating grantee voices to inform practice and process change, including tactics for fostering increased communication, stronger relationship-building, and clear values alignment
• The themes and values that mattered to MACP grantees and how their preferences translate into grantmaking practices.

Speakers

Sarah Small, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Leyla Razeghi-Hutchison, Grantbook
Yer Lor, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
Matthew Aliberti, YMCA of the USA

In a rapidly evolving and often uncertain world, nonprofits and philanthropic organizations must demonstrate courage and intentionality to achieve sustainable growth and equity. This session delves into how organizations can prepare for the future by embracing next-level and equitable practices in three essential areas: recruitment and hiring, performance management, and succession planning. By investing in the success and professional growth of their workforce, leaders can build inclusive, loyal, mission-driven teams that thrive amid disruption and change. This session will offer concrete, actionable strategies to foster an equitable workplace, support employee growth and retention, and maintain organizational momentum over time.

By attending this session, participants will deepen their knowledge in the following areas:

• How to build and retain a strong team that is committed to seeing your organizational mission through
• How to invest in the most valuable asset your organization holds: its people
• How to move your equity and inclusion values into daily practice

Speakers

Jamie Albaum, LaCire
Zach Maynard, LaCire

PEAK2025 concludes with a powerful conversation on leading with courage. Felecia Hatcher, CEO of Pharrell Williams’ Black Ambition Opportunity Fund, will open the session with her inspiring talk on how you can tap into your own zone of genius to embrace your power, silence limiting beliefs, and lead with authenticity. Hatcher will then join PEAK President and CEO Satonya Fair and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies Managing Director, Programs, Ify Mora to explore practical strategies for unleashing one’s leadership potential and share their perspectives on the importance of courage and authenticity in grantmaking and beyond.

We thank Marguerite Casey Foundation, SmartSimple+Foundant, and Salesforce for their support of our keynotes.

Join us for a festive opening night reception at Mardi Gras World on Monday evening. Mix, mingle, and get a behind-the-scenes look at the art and artistry of this signature New Orleans celebration.

We thank Walton Family Foundation, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and Submittable for supporting our Welcoming Reception.

PEAK is grateful to have a community of dedicated, engaged, and dynamic volunteers. On Tuesday evening, we invite these VIP changemakers to mix, mingle, and connect with longtime colleagues and meet new peers.

If you’re a Grants Management 101 participant or alum, we invite you to join us on Sunday evening. Prepare to make the most of the convening by reconnecting with colleagues, networking with past and present program participants, and meeting members of PEAK’s staff and board.

We thank Blackbaud and Annenberg Foundation for supporting our GM101 Reception.

Are you new to PEAK Grantmaking? Is this your first time at our annual convening? Join us for this welcoming event on Sunday evening to kick off your PEAK2025 experience. You’ll connect with other first-timers, learn more about PEAK, and meet members of our staff, board, and convening committee.

We thank GivingData for supporting our Newcomer Reception.

Our Tuesday evening dine-arounds provide opportunities for networking, stimulating conversation, and shared learning experiences. Join colleagues for an informal group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Explore options and sign up through the app.

Join PEAK President and CEO Satonya Fair, Chief Operating Officer Dolores Estrada, Chair Emeritus Miyesha Perry, and your PEAK board alum peers for a gathering over breakfast to network with this special community. Celebrate another year of impact together and discuss ways that you as board alum can continue to be an activated change agent and lead within the PEAK community. This event is invitation-only.

Get to know more of your PEAK colleagues in a series of fast-paced, one-on-one conversations that could spark valuable relationships and new ideas.

Set some time aside to learn how our vendor partners can support your work. Build on existing relationships and forge new partnerships with exhibitors whose services, products, and technologies can enhance your grantmaking. You can also participate in Solutions Center Bingo for a chance to win a prize. The winner will receive one complimentary registration to PEAK2026 and will be chosen via a raffle drawing and announced on the mainstage during the closing keynote.

We thank Sputnik Moment for supporting our Solutions Center Bingo.

Stop by to relax and connect with PEAK staff, volunteers, and peers. We’ll have copies of our publications and a selection of fun ribbons you can wear on your badge to celebrate and showcase your personality. Plus, members of the PEAK team will be available to answer your questions about the convening, membership benefits, and volunteer opportunities.

If you opted for PEAK2025 swag, you can pick it up in the Solutions Center.

In the PEAK Café, we are excited to bring back our Ask Me Anything area, where knowledgeable members from within our community will be available to answer questions on a variety of topics. These could include anything from funding public policy  to centering wellness in your work. Check the app for details.

We thank Bush Foundation for supporting our Ask Me Anything.

Share your reflections and experiences with us to help inform the next iteration of the Principles for Peak Grantmaking, which we plan to debut in 2026. Throughout the convening, stop by and share how you have been able to operationalize the five Principles:—Tie Practices to Values, Narrow the Power Gap, Drive Equity, Steward Responsively, and Learn, Share, Evolve— and what has supported you and what has held you back as you have worked to transform your organization’s grantmaking practices.

PEAK is partnering with One Book One New Orleans to support their literacy efforts and resources. Each year this organization selects a book for a shared reading experience across adult education programs, juvenile justice facilities, and for people in prison. The book selection for 2025 is Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran, which tells the story of the women of the Trung family, what brought them from Vietnam to New Orleans, and their centuries-long history of fighting against oppression and assimilation. To assist this effort, make a donation by purchasing  and donating a paperback copy of the book. A very limited number of copies will be available for purchase at our bookstore, so we strongly encourage attendees to purchase the book prior to joining us at PEAK2025. Donation details will be available in the Cvent app. Thank you for joining our call to action.

Take advantage of opportunities for an individual, 50-minute coaching session and professional headshots. Space is limited for these complimentary resources, and sign-up information will be shared via email.

Experiencing sensory overload? Use our designated wellness room to reflect, enjoy some quiet time, and recuperate. Start each morning with group yoga or a group walk around the French Quarter, and stop by throughout the day to recharge and reset.