A Love Note to the PEAK Community

Although I’ve usually written a letter to the PEAK community at the start of the calendar year, a colleague once told me that you get to decide when your year begins. For me, February feels right. Since I try to navigate my day-to-day life in a way that keeps love always at arms reach and also because, in my world, Black History Month is every month of the year. Ignoring convention and reimagining February as my own start to the year centers my values in a way that energizes me to take on the next 12 months. And in that spirit, PEAK is working to reimagine everything about philanthropy in 2024.

I feel fortunate to have found my way toward philanthropy and have been able to ply my trade in this rarified sector. As one leg of a many-legged stool, the promise of philanthropy is still something I believe in deeply. Even more than this sector, I love PEAK Grantmaking. Like a dear friend, this community has stood with me through life’s professional and personal turns. Specifically, and you know how you are, I am deeply appreciative of the people in this network. Last but not least, I am incredibly proud to be one of many amazing professionals working at PEAK and I hope my addition to our collective magic positions PEAK for growth and organizational sustainability.

My appreciation for the sector does not mitigate that there is room for reimagining how the sector approaches its work. With love and respect, funders would be out of work if the way they’ve always done things was completely successful. In that spirit, I’m starting my year by sharing a few hard truths as well as some prompts that hopefully spur us closer to fully realize the potential of philanthropy to drive equity and opportunity for all.

Transformation requires we stay the course

Many had heard the encouragement for philanthropy to hold the line on driving toward racial equity and making transformational shifts to better serve disadvantaged people and communities. But I forget at times there are also voices in opposition to justice, fairness, equity, and truth, who are saying the same thing to their audiences. I have a poster of the iconic Muhammad Ali/Sonny Liston bout where Ali is standing over Liston after knocking him down to the mat. The warning back then was that Ali could take all the body shots in the world, but hitting him in his “pretty” face carried consequences. 

My own bobbing and weaving hasn’t kept me from feeling the direct blows of philanthropy’s retractions from equity. But like Ali and my icon Shirley Chisholm, I stand before you unbought and unbossed by those voices of scarcity and fear. This is personal. And for those advocating for going back to the way philanthropy used to be, well, those are fighting words.

As we sit in the shortest month of the year that has been set aside to acknowledge 400 years of sacrifice and contributions from Black descendants of slaves like me, there is a very long road ahead to unlearn extractive practices and unwind the policies still doing damage to those most vulnerable in our communities. Too many funders are changing their targets, often far short of their own stated goals and before sustainable shifts can take root. Yielding is not an option if we want to undo the systemic damage that keeps people from opportunity and abundance.

Love is where this work starts and ends 

Our sector should be ungirded by love. Yet that does not always describe the relationships across the industry. Instead, they are narrowly defined by scarcity, retraction, protectionism, inflexibility. While I am excited to witness innovations in technology, more open reporting practices, and more investments in nonprofit capacity building, how the sector thinks to measure results could use some sprucing up.

For PEAK, while we are thrilled at seeing our membership grow, those numbers are only one measure of success. Rather, when we are invited to go deep into the weeds with our members to help bolster the corps of change agents for equitable practices that we see the impact of PEAK’s 28 years. Using the relationships we build has been a more valuable indicator of our accomplishments.

Similarly, the sector could better value how people feel on the other side of philanthropic activities or pronouncements. It takes time to build trusting relationships and we know that advancing equity requires bending time to meet the moment. A better philanthropic future is about leading with love—not fear—together and being one village in radical, choreographed alignment when it comes to leading and sustaining real change.  

You have to be in it to change it 

On a regular basis, someone contacts me asking for some time to talk. After introductions and a heartfelt check-in, they share that they are questioning whether to keep working in this sector. Despite their dedication and daily grinding, many people are made to feel like outsiders at work, and end their day asking What does one do when the love you give doesn’t come back to you? That’s been a recurring conversation for PEAK’s Black Caucus. I don’t have a good answer, but I often share my belief that God and the universe put me where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be there. That’s not said lightly or to ignore whether one feels safe and supported in a professional setting. I simply have learned that trying to change any system from the outside is an even harder challenge. You have to sometimes protect your heart and your health while going into those weeds to advocate for new ways of working and being in community as an authentic and reliable partner.

So, fearless warriors, PEAK sees you and we’re working hard to be the best tool in your leather bag that follows you as you move through the sector and your career. Our ask is that you stay engaged and be in it to win it—and shift the sector to be good and right. One more thing: as your career changes and you realize success, share your story so that others can use your example to move more seamlessly toward their own change.

There’s only us

Equity coaching often includes a component of noticing, looking beyond the surface at the people, sensing and being curious about them and their disposition, as well as the community around you. Sadly, there are prominent divides within philanthropic institutions. Programs versus operations. Board versus staff. Staff versus community. Senior leaders versus everyone else. That failure of aligned purpose is also clearly visible to the community and the sector. We have to confront the divisions between us, within and outside of our organizations. Until we can show up as unified, purposeful partners aware that our contribution is but one jigsaw piece of the puzzle, the gains we make will seem few and unsustainable. Strive to be a better advocate, a reliable ally, and the best coconspirator for equity, fairness, and justice. We can. It’s up to us.

As PEAK prepares to reimagine people-centered change, persistence, and leadership at PEAK2024, I invite you to do the same. The possibilities are endless when we allow space for more blue sky innovations, more collective action, and more love.

Thanks for allowing me to share. Being a part of this community has made my heart full. Best of health to you and happy new year!

Peace and love,

Satonya