Community News

VOLUNTEER LEARNING

Volunteer Leader Retreat at PEAK2023

For the first time ever, PEAK chapter and peer group leaders met together for an in-person retreat. With a focus on networking, innovative ways to engage members, and expanding volunteer management skills, participants discussed the highs and lows of managing groups as well as best practices, resources, and methods for hosting impactful and meaningful programs. 

Spark Consulting Chief Strategist Elizabeth Weaver Engel served as a facilitator for the retreat, leading conversations on volunteer recruitment, retention, and succession planning. These discussions sparked many questions and aha moments, helping leaders feel more connected to their work.

Participants also attended volunteer management training, where role-playing allowed them to practice recruiting, engaging, and supporting volunteers; to share ideas; and to pose creative solutions for the challenges that arise when leading diverse communities. The retreat left both PEAK staff and volunteer leaders primed with innovative tactics to try in the new year.

The 2023 Volunteer Leadership Summit

The Volunteer Leadership Summit is PEAK’s signature annual gathering of staff and volunteer leaders, including peer group and chapter leaders, our board of directors, board alumni, and committee and council members. The summit offers time, space, and learnings to enhance leadership and professional skills, deepen connections, practice self-care, network, and enrich our professional community. 

Over 170 volunteer leaders registered for this virtual four-day convening, packed with phenomenal speakers. Marissa Lifshen Steinberger, One Eleven Leadership, and Rachel Kimber, Smile Train, led exercises for aligning personal values with career goals; Alex Berry of Chocolate Milk Diplomacy demonstrated skills mapping; and CarolLaine García, PhD, encouraged radical self-adoration. 

With a flexible, accessible, attend-as-you-can schedule, participants were able to spend time reflecting on the complexity of their identities, learning to practice self-adoration as a gateway to authentic leadership, and building deeply connected communities of support. 

Several participants shared insights on LinkedIn. Among them was Abigail Osei from The Starr Foundation, sharing “Day 4 had me in tears and cheers. Thank you, CarolLaine M García for such a transformative presentation. You took concepts that many of us have heard repeatedly but presented them in a practical, relevant, and tangible way.”

PEAK extends appreciation to our amazing volunteer planning committee members: Audra Aucoin, Institute for New Economic Thinking; Kim Canfield, The James Irvine Foundation; Melodie Griffin, CareQuest Institute for Oral Health; Bryttnee Parris, Ford Foundation; Danette Peters, Philanthropy.io; Jody Marshall, Seeding Justice; and Stephanie Richards, Morgan Family Foundation. Their ideas and thoughtfulness contributed to an engaging and balanced summit.  We also send an extra special thank you to longtime PEAK volunteer Dan Gaff and the May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust for sponsoring the 2023 summit! 

Announcing PEAK’s Learning to LEAD Cohort 

Facilitated by Marissa Lifshen Steinberger, this cohort-based virtual program combines the benefits of one-on-one coaching, professional development workshops, and team-building experiences to support participants with the powerful pairing of transformative tools and frameworks with a nurturing community.

PEAK recognizes the potential of our volunteer leaders to be change agents for equitable, effective grantmaking practices, and we are excited to offer this program as a unique, complimentary benefit for a small cohort of volunteer leaders who aim to reimagine what is possible for themselves, their careers, and philanthropy. 

Congratulations to our inaugural LEAD participants: Kelsey Andersen, Arcus Foundation; Eliana Bono, Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Cecilia Rivas-Gonzales, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation; Jeaiza Quinones Ivory, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona; Tram Kieu, Cooper Foundation; Kim Lehman, Bohemian Foundation; Sarina Raby, Jewish Community Foundation Los Angeles; Stephanie Richards, Morgan Family Foundation; Grace Asenjo Tenenzaph, Claims Conference; and Mary Thurston, Philanthropy Alliance.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Sha-Kim Wilson is now senior director, strategic partnerships, at Tides.

Chris Cardona has started at MacArthur Foundation as managing director, exploration, discovery, and programs.

PEAK board alum Stacey Smida celebrated her 25th anniversary with Cargill. 

Beth Harris has started as grants manager at Meyer Foundation.

PEAK2023 Planning Committee Cochair and PEAK Northern California Vice Chair Daniel Oviedo has been promoted to grantmaking practice manager at Stupski Foundation.

PEAK Midwest Cochair Jenna Beltrano is now program officer at Evanston Community Foundation.

PEAK2022 Planning Committee member Alexandria Featherston-Gomez has been promoted to grants officer at Kenneth Rainin Foundation.

Russell Johnson has retired from HealthSpark Foundation.

Bonnie Look, Rogers Family Foundation, earned her Salesforce Business Analyst certification.

Erik Torch is now executive director at Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation.

Past PEAK Florida volunteer Brittany Timmons is now director, grants management, at Comic Relief US.

Angel Rogalski has started at American Diabetes Association as manager, research programs.

Megan Morrison has started at BDO as senior manager.

Board alum Jonathan Goldberg has been promoted to vice president, learning and impact at Surdna Foundation.

PEAK Rocky Mountain Chair Kelly Costello has been promoted to director of grants management at Rose Community Foundation.

Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez has started as division director of culture and operations for Latin America and the Caribbean at Open Society Foundations.

PEAK2023 Planning Committee member Nikki Wachter has been promoted to director of grants management at Ascendium Education Group.

PEAK board member Jane Ward has started at National Park Foundation as senior director of grants administration.

Diane Grossman, PEAK Small Foundations Affinity Group cochair, has been promoted to executive director at Sheltering Arms Foundation.

Aida Cheng has been promoted to grants management associate at Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Shana Sabbath is now grants manager at Montgomery County Public Schools Educational Foundation.

Wendi Gephart has started a new role as grants administrator at Pierce Transit.

Bo Dorsey has been promoted to membership manager at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

Board alum Chris Percopo has been promoted to senior director of grants management and operations at the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

Sarah Berluche is now grants manager at Perspective Fund.

Michelle Cooper is now the chief financial officer at Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy.

Antoinette Harris is now director of grants management at Disability Rights Fund.

Erin Dirksen has started a new role at Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies as program associate, animal welfare.

Past PEAK Florida volunteer Jaime Dixon is now senior technical implementation specialist at Fluxx.

Blanch Vance, former PEAK Black Caucus cochair, has been promoted to senior manager, grants, and strategic operations at The Grove Foundation.

Latinx Caucus Cochair Cecilia Rivas-Gonzalez has been promoted to program officer at The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation.

Adriana Jiménez, past PEAK board cochair, started a new job as director of grants management at Resources Legacy Fund.

Annie Nelson has started a new role as program officer at Mathile Family Foundation

PEAK New England Leadership Committee member Molly Lattanzi is now grants and contracts management consultant at Barr Foundation

Past PEAK Delaware Valley volunteer Azuredee Webb is now senior specialist, grants and contract services at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Carly Hare is now portfolio director at The Colorado Health Foundation.

Katherine Robiadek, PhD, PEAK Greater Washington DC Leadership Committee member, has started as assistant professor at Xavier University.

Susan Hairston has been selected to join the inaugural cohort of the Leadership and Society Initiative at University of Chicago.

Yeshi TekleMichael has started a new role as grants manager at Sobrato Family Foundation.

Past PEAK Southeast volunteer Michael Castens has started as grants associate at Democracy Fund.

Past PEAK Pacific Northwest volunteer Jody Marshall has started a new role as deputy programs director at Seeding Justice. 

AANHPI Caucus Cochair Elaine Mui has been promoted to director of grants and operations at General Service Foundation.

Shantelice White, previously a PEAK Grantmaking Journal guest editor and former PEAK Black Caucus cochair, is associate director, grant operations at MacArthur Foundation.

Wanda Mirosalva Peguero has started a new role as grants administrator at F.M. Kirby Foundation.

PEAK2022 Planning Committee member Leena Jones is now grants manager at Energy Foundation.

Samiaya Bradford-Lathan is now grants and grantmaking operations manager at Arcus Foundation

PEAK Northern California Cochair and board alum Patrick Taylor is now director of grants management at Sobrato Family Foundation.

Past PEAK Executive Director Michelle Greanias is now a philanthropy consultant. 

Eric Patton has started a new role as director of grants management at St. David’s Foundation.

Roberto Cremonini has been named GivingData’s first chief innovation officer.

Vu Le was announced as the inaugural winner of National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy’s Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize for Philanthropy Criticism.

PEAK Midwest Membership Cochair Wendy Vendel has been promoted to director of operations at Paul M. Angell Foundation.

Jessa Thomas has been promoted to senior manager, social impact advisor at Capital One.

Hannah Kahn has been promoted to chief information officer at Arnold Ventures.

Past PEAK Mideast Cochair Kristen Summers has started a new role as senior advisor, grants manager at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Alexis Martinez, PEAK Greater Washington DC Leadership Committee member, has been promoted to senior partnerships associate at Meyer Foundation.

Kristopher LeCorgne has started at Bezos Earth Fund as grants manager.

Maria-Veronica Banks is now grants manager at Bezos Earth Fund.

PEAK2022 and PEAK2023 Planning Committee member Stephanie Richards has been promoted to grants and operations coordinator at Morgan Family Foundation.

PEAK board alum Suzanne Shea has retired from the Ford Foundation.

Sabrina Greig, The NBA Foundation, has been selected for ABFE’s Connecting Leadership Fellowship Program.

Irene Chansawang, PEAK AANHPI Caucus cochair, has been promoted to senior grants specialist at Maddie’s Fund.

New York Women’s Foundation was among those awarded a 2023 NCRP IMPACT award.

Kurt Miller has been promoted to director, grants management at Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Sushma Raman is now president and CEO at Heising-Simons Foundation.

PEAK Greater Washington DC Leadership Committee member Erin Matthews Thomas has been promoted to interim executive director at Potomac Health Foundation.

Welcome, New Organization Members

Ability Central
American Association of University Women (AAUW)
American Red Cross Community Adaptation Program
Amethyst Interactive*
Anschutz Family Foundation
Baltimore Children & Youth Fund
Bearman Consulting*
Bezos Earth Fund
bi3
Breakthrough Energy
Cambia Health Foundation
CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
Caring for Colorado Foundation
Cherry Strategies*
The Chicago Community Trust
Christopher Family Foundation
Civic Allies Consulting*
Cogan Associates*
Co-Impact Philanthropic Funds
Common Counsel Foundation
Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
Community Foundation of Greater Memphis
Con Edison
Delta Dental Community Care Foundation
Denver Arts & Venues
Desert Healthcare District & Foundation
ECMC Foundation
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County
First 5 Sonoma County
Florida Philanthropic Network
FocuseD Consulting*
Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg
Foundation for Community Health
The George Gund Foundation
Grantmakers in the Arts
The Greater Clark Foundation
Headwaters Foundation
Howard Gilman Foundation
Humana Foundation
IEHP Foundation
Imaginable Futures Foundation
The John E. Fetzer Institute
Kataly Foundation
Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
The Leon Levine Foundation
The Lighthouse Black Girl Projects
Listen4Good*
The Lutheran Foundation
Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation
Marine Tenure Initiative
MLSE Foundation
Movement Strategy Center
Ms. Foundation for Women
National Board of Medical Examiners
National Park Foundation
NextFifty Initiative
Omidyar Network
Opportunity Fund
Partnership for Better Health
Philanthropy Southeast
Schultz Family Foundation
Seeding Justice
Segal Family Foundation
Sensible Philanthropy Support Systems*
Society of Exploration Geophysicists
St. Louis City Senior Fund
Stichting SED Fund
Think Twice*
Vanguard
Vitalyst Health Foundation
Vivo Foundation
Waco Foundation
Wagner Foundation
Wayfarer Foundation
We Mean Business Coalition
Williamsburg Health Foundation

*Consultant Members

Around the Chapters

PEAK Delaware Valley hosted an online discussion on ways to increase access to philanthropy, led by Allison Acevedo from the National Board of Medical Examiners and Jen Danifo from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. They interviewed De’Amon Harges from The Learning Tree, who discussed how communities and  philanthropic organizations are bringing communities and grantmakers together to fund important projects.

During a PEAK Florida workshop Jennifer Pedroni, director of BDO and a PEAK board alum, presented valuable techniques for assessing financial records and insights into executing financial due diligence that’s focused on effectiveness, impartiality, and consideration for grantees’ financial health and capabilities.

PEAK Greater Washington, DC hosted an engaging event on change management facilitated by organizational development advisor Christina Buggappa. Attendees were treated to a comprehensive discourse covering change in terms of people, processes, and systems, including how to evaluate readiness for change and how to implement change through a variety of approaches.

During a PEAK Mideast gathering, attendees delved into an all-too-common challenge: tackling antiquated policies, procedures, and manuals. Led by Kristen Summers of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the group worked together to devise a novel approach for enhancing an outdated manual to promote greater efficiency and ease of use. Participants discussed their current processes openly and provided each other with solutions to help streamline this often-overwhelming task. 

PEAK Midwest hosted a dynamic hybrid gathering on grassroots grantmaking and advocacy. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about data visualization from PEAK Knowledge and Learning Director Lita Ugarte Pardi. Fellow speakers Genise Singleton, Kresge Foundation; Shamyle Dobbs, Michigan Community Resources; and Heidi Alcock, McGregor Fund participated in a panel, facilitated by Lauren Janus, Phila Engaged Giving and PEAK Midwest program cochair: “What is Philanthropy Doing to Support an Agenda Based on Justice and Equity.” We extend our gratitude to The Kresge Foundation for their generosity in hosting the event.

PEAK Minnesota hosted its first in-person coffee chat since 2019. Held at the McKnight Foundation, it provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect, network, and catch up on the latest news. It also served as a warm welcome for new members, allowing them to begin building meaningful relationships within the community.

PEAK New England hosted guest speakers Naomi Orensten from the Dorot Foundation and Lauren Janus of Phila Engaged Giving. During this online event, they talked about the advantages of general operating grants and the principles of participatory grantmaking, including ways to elevate community voices, involve community partners, and support participants with stipends and other resources. 

Members participated in a facilitated session on inspiring ownership and leadership among staff without formal leadership titles, led by PEAK Northeast in collaboration with PEAK Southeast, PEAK Midwest, PEAK Southern California, and Philanthropy New York. On-hand to share valuable insights were guest speakers Donita Volkwijn, Philanthropy New York; Jason McGill, PhD, Justice Associates; and Marissa Lifshen Steinberger, One Eleven Leadership. Breakout sessions featured robust conversations on leadership and empowerment in the workplace.

PEAK Northern California collaborated with PEAK Rocky Mountain to discuss the practical aspects of introducing new reporting techniques, including methods for cooperating internally, determining when to involve nonprofit partners, and handling legal concerns as may arise. The event also provided attendees with an overview of PEAK’s Learn, Share, Evolve Principle and a chance to exchange ideas.

PEAK Pacific Northwest hosted a hybrid meeting that marked the chapter’s first time gathering in-person since 2019. The primary objective was to reconnect, network, and share best practices and tools for using technology to promote equity and effectiveness. The session featured several engaging speakers and was steered by PEAK Partnerships Director C. Davis Fischer and consultant Kyle Renninger.

At a PEAK Rocky Mountain session, PEAK board members Justine Palacios from Arnold Ventures and Josh Abel of Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust shared their experiences managing their organizations’ legal risks. They covered a range of topics, including grant agreements, funding advocacy and lobbying, and pursuing more ambitious goals via restructured grantmaking practices. 

A group of funders, including Leah Jones-Marcus from Dogwood Health Trust, Aerial Ozuzu from Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, Ashley Whitt from Spartanburg County Foundation, and Chloe Wiley from The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation, joined PEAK Southeast for a panel discussion of grantmaking practices in the region, based in interviews with and surveys of the Southeast’s grantees and funders. Speakers shared specific solutions for more equitable grantmaking, including ways to shift power dynamics and build partnerships.

In early 2023, PEAK Southern California offered a sneak peek into the highly anticipated PEAK2023 convening. Members engaged in a lively discussion, sharing memories of past convenings and tips for those planning to attend—a truly heartening experience, especially to hear from members who have attended for over 15 years.  The session also drove excitement among first-timers, built camaraderie among members, and set the tone for the upcoming convening.

PEAK Southwest was joined by two notable guest speakers, Philanthropy Advocates Executive Director Becky Calahan and Still Water Foundation CEO Ellen Ray, for a presentation centered on the common misconceptions that surround foundation investment in advocacy work, and practical methods that grant professionals can use to dispel them.

Peer Groups

In 2023, PEAK’s peer groups reached multiple milestones. Most notably, we completed our two-year pilot phase and met in-person for the first time at PEAK2023 after two years of virtual meetings. PEAK deeply appreciates our amazing volunteer cochairs, whose work planning and executing group sessions provided space for networking, discussion of best practices and emerging grantmaking ideas, professional development, cultural belonging, and personal wellness, as well as special guest speakers sharing their exceptional professional expertise. Peer groups are thriving spaces that continue to grow. As we look to the future, we are creating policies and procedures to review the development of suggested new peer groups, assess and realign the focus of current groups, and ensure consistent, excellent support for everyone involved. Exciting times are ahead for these inclusive learning spaces!

The Accountability and Action for Allies Caucus, a group for learning to be a better ally for marginalized populations, hosted a book club meeting on Edgar Villanueva’s Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance, discussing actions to take within their organizations. They also hosted a conversation with Showing Up for Racial Justice Development Director Ava Bynum, covering the ways philanthropy can show up in this moment and the ways that foundations’ dominant cultural norms can shape nonprofits’ access to resources.  

The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Caucus hosted virtual happy hours to connect, network, and support one another. In honor of ANNHPI Heritage Month, they held an in-person boba tea party at PEAK2023, prompting one member to share that it was the first time they had felt “seen” at a conference. 

The Black Caucus meets every two months for informal opportunities to connect, converse, and network among those who identify as Black, African American, or African. Most recently, they hosted a two-part series featuring PEAK President and CEO Satonya Fair and speaker and writer Shauna Knox, PhD, titled “What Would it Look Like if Philanthropy Loved Black People?” These sessions took place in-person at PEAK2023 and virtually on Zoom, and provoked rich conversations among participants. 

The DEI Learning and Support Community hosted meetings where members shared successes, challenges, and ways to continue navigating organizational resistance to advancing DEI. At PEAK2023, they held an in-person session titled “Leaning on Each Other: Collaborative learning to advance our DEI practices,” which focused on informal peer-sharing and peer support, insight-sharing and successes, and challenges around pressing topics related to implementing and advancing DEI in member organizations.

The Equitable Grantmaking Practices Community, composed of grantmakers with a working knowledge of equity issues who are dedicated to leading as the philanthropic sector operationalizes equity, met quarterly to hold space for peer support, progress check-ins, and goal setting. A recent session reflected on their past two years together, where the community set goals to continue moving equitable practices forward in their respective organizations.

The Grants Management Directors’ Circle (GMDC), a community of senior-level grants management leaders at high-asset foundations, meets twice each year in partnership with meeting consultant Daniel Weinzveg, seen here, at PEAK2023. In fall 2023, the GMDC met in Montgomery, Alabama, to participate in an “immersive civil rights journey to truth and reconciliation through the lens of cultural humility” with TruthRetreats. The grants management teams of these member organizations have also established the Grants Management Peer Experience group, which meets biannually to discuss topics chosen by its members. Meeting in-person at PEAK2023, this group held breakout discussions on topics, including equity in grantmaking, people operations, data, and trust-based philanthropy.

The Intermediaries Affinity Group hosted a session to discuss their role in the sector through the lens of a movement-focused philanthropic support organization. Guest speaker Marissa Tirona, president of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR), shared the story of GCIR’s evolution from a philanthropic supporting organization to a philanthropic mobilizing organization, and how GCIR’s practices and stance have shifted as a result.

The Latinx Caucus hosts quarterly cafecitos for those identifying as Hispanic, Latino, Latina, or Latinx to engage in professional development and networking, and met for the first time in-person during PEAK2023. They also hosted a session where psychologist, coach, and writer CarolLaine García, PhD, facilitated a conversation that explored the power of embracing all your identities to enhance your feelings of joy and peace.  

This year, the Small Foundations Affinity Group held multiple lunch-and-learn check-ins where group members offered guidance and tips to their small-foundation colleagues—including issue-specific troubleshooting—as well as planning for future events and networking.  At PEAK2023, they held an in-person session that offered speed networking and on-the-fly troubleshooting. Members discussed successes, challenges, requests for support, and ideas for the new year. 

PARTNERSHIPS

Collaborating for Impact

PEAK aims to be truly transformative in our efforts to improve equity for our field—a vision that demands strategic engagements with member organizations, partners, nonprofits, and allies  through speaking engagements, innovative partnerships, and being active collaborators with equity conspirators. Here are just a few recent examples of work on this front.

President and CEO Satonya Fair was in conversation with Vu Le on democratizing philanthropy at Stanford Social Innovation Review’s 2023 Frontiers of Social Innovation conference and joined an Independent Sector panel to discuss the findings of their report Trust in Civil Society. 

Building on our Drive Equity Principle, we are working in close partnership with Candid, which is making strides to support a more standardized approach to demographic data collection with their Demographics Via Candid campaign. This campaign seeks to empower nonprofits to share their demographic data a single time on their Candid profile, where it can be accessed and reused by all. Through this initiative, Candid freely provides nonprofit demographic data to render the grantmaking process quicker, easier, and more efficient. 

Knowledge and Learning Director Lita Ugarte Pardi and Senior Programs and Knowledge Manager Vanessa Elkan are serving as faculty for Philanthropy Northwest’s Philanthropy 101 program. They recently copresented a webinar providing a deep dive into ways for funders to embed equity throughout the grantmaking cycle, the variety of grant types and grantmaking approaches, and ways to manage relationships with nonprofits.  

We also developed partnerships to support early-career professionals with in-depth experiences on the PEAK team. We launched our first two fellowship programs in 2023. Last spring, Leah Craig came on board as communications fellow through RespectAbility’s National Leadership Program, an apprenticeship for disability advocates. In July, we welcomed Makayla Peterson to the team through Bowie State University’s Philanthropy Fellowship program, a new partnership between ABFE, Bowie State, and PEAK dedicated to preparing graduate students of color for leadership roles in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Peterson is one of eight fellows in the inaugural class of Bowie State University’s Master of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management degree program.

We collaborated with Catchafire on several webinars, featuring Satonya on how grantmakers can better support nonprofit partners to create capacity-building strategies and Chief Strategy Officer Betsy Reid as a participant on a panel discussion about bridging the communications gap between funders and nonprofits.

We partnered with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy to share their expertise through a series of articles and amplified their online learning opportunities.

We have also begun to explore formal partnerships with regional associations of grantmakers and other philanthropy-supporting organizations with whom we share a common purpose to improve the practice of grantmaking. With organizations like Florida Philanthropic Network and National Center for Family Philanthropy, we hope to standardize offerings of membership swaps and clarify communication channels so that we are able to amplify our good work in both directions.

PROGRAMS

Grants Management 101—Class of 2023

Last August, PEAK launched the 2023 Grants Management 101 (GM101) program, an interactive, virtual, deep-dive learning course on the fundamentals of grants management, the philanthropic sector, and equitable, effective grantmaking practices. Through GM101, a new generation of professionals will become better equipped, connected, and inspired to operationalize equity-centered, values-driven grantmaking practices. 

Across four months, the GM101 program featured content sessions presented by a diverse faculty of PEAK staff and guest presenters, coupled with cohort convenings facilitated by senior-level professionals. Each convening provided opportunities for last year’s 122 participants to explore content more deeply, receive coaching, and consider strategies for increasing their impact. These small-group sessions were facilitated by six cohort advisors, PEAK board alums offering their leadership, time, expertise, and experience: Sue Fulton, Endowment for Health; Chindaly Chounlamountry Griffith, Streamlife Consulting; Adin Miller, Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation; Ursula Stewart, Salesforce.org; Rikard Treiber, Hillspire; and Jennifer Burran, Fidelity Foundation. PEAK staff are developing an in-person GM101 experience to be offered at PEAK2024 and will also offer the virtual program again starting in August 2024.

ONLINE RESOURCES

Discover PEAK’s Growing Resource and Insight Collections

Behind the Resources and Insights menus, you’ll find growing libraries and discoverability tools to help you find what you need. Under Resources, try out customizable search features, including filters for topic, resource type, and Principle. Recent additions include PEAK2023 keynotes which are openly accessible and recorded PEAK2023 sessions—exclusively for PEAK Organization Members—along with select chapter events and sponsored webinars. Under Insights, explore reporting featured in our PEAK Weekly and PEAK Monthly newsletters, past editions of the Journal, and an archive of Weekly Reads posts.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Service-Learning Pilot Program Launched

In 2023, PEAK and BDO piloted a service-learning program to benefit community-based organizations in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, region as an extension of PEAK2023. Over a three-month period, 20 PEAK members received coaching to learn how to review and analyze nonprofits’ IRS filings and hold open, respectful conversations with nonprofit organizations about the financial health story their filings tell. The 20 volunteer members were matched with Baltimore and DC-area nonprofits hoping to better understand how their financial documents are assessed. The program was designed to create a collaborative and safe learning space for both funders and nonprofit leaders to share critical feedback and help to narrow power gaps between grantmakers and nonprofits.

Thank you to our cohort of member volunteers working with nonprofit partners through this pilot, featured at peakgrantmaking.org/volunteers.

RESOURCE PREVIEW

Salary Survey Report Coming Soon

The data collected from PEAK members through a fall 2023 salary survey will be released in early 2024. Survey questions covered compensation, the grants management profession and function, individual and organizational data, and more. With this unique resource, we’re excited to document the breadth of experience within the grants management field while encouraging salary transparency as an equitable practice.