Looking Back at PEAK2023

It was a joyous reunion. Our first in-person convening since 2019 boasted record-breaking attendance, with 966 individuals joining us in Baltimore and 277 online. Across the three days, we debuted new ways of gathering that invited attendees to join us on a collective emergent learning journey toward more equitable, effective grantmaking. We focused on our Learn, Share, Evolve Principle, lifting up stories and insights from across the PEAK community, and exploring ways that members are leaning into each of our five Principles to be activated change agents for philanthropy. Engagement in the convening app was high, and a whopping 96 percent of post-convening survey respondents told us that they would recommend our annual convening to colleagues. 

Four diverse keynotes formed the cornerstones of PEAK2023, full of practical tips and inspiration focused on building communities of care that empower all people, and using the power we have to reshape the practice of philanthropy. We partnered with artist Cori Lin to distill the wisdom of our guest speakers into four graphic recordings to help our community initiate changemaking conversations at their organizations.

The #PEAK2023baltimore social wall was a hit! Featured on big screens alongside the mainstage and online, the social wall prompted an outpouring of real-time community sharing. Attendees responded enthusiastically by sharing the joy of once again connecting in person (or virtually) and their personal convening highlights. The introduction of a new feature—the ability to post directly—was well-utilized, paving the way for the creation of a PEAK-exclusive social space.

Our opening reception at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture was an opportunity for attendees to celebrate reconnecting with the PEAK community and to take in 400 years’ worth of Black Marylander history. Attendees also had the opportunity to see a performance of the critically acclaimed play Sizwe Banzi Is Dead. Mounted by Arena Players Incorporated—the oldest continuously operating African American community theater in the United States—the play examines issues of identity in apartheid-era Africa. And a stay in Baltimore wouldn’t have been complete without taking in an Orioles game at Camden Yards.

Attendees enthusiastically put emergent learning concepts into practice. Throughout the convening, attendees contributed to our idea boards to offer their perspectives on practices, policies, and processes carried out during the grant life cycle that closely align with equitable grantmaking and take grants management to the next level. By the end of PEAK2023, the boards provided a vivid picture of how our community is approaching the implementation of next-level grantmaking practices. In addition, the world café and open fishbowl breakout session formats were dynamic, interactive opportunities for everyone in the room to listen to and learn from each other. Attendees were also invited to explore topics of their own choosing with their peers by hosting pop-up roundtables.

We reunited—and it felt so good! The entire PEAK community was excited to reconnect and catch up with one another. During the convening, all of our peer communities, including 14 PEAK chapters and our many peer groups, enthusiastically gathered in person to host meetings for their members to network, learn together, and deepen relationships that had been forged online or years ago. Sessions ranged from the purely social and fun to the deeply thought provoking. In addition, some chapters paired opportunities for reconnection and idea sharing with regional flair—like “Being Wicked Smaaht” with PEAK New England or the Greater Washington, DC chapter’s capital region-themed “Triviapalooza 2023.”