PEAK Grantmaking
Close

Journal | Issue 22

The Superpowers of Grants Professionals

About this issue

We all know that grants professionals are strategic drivers for impact. In this edition of the Journal, we celebrate the unique superpowers you bring to the role and philanthropy!

The complete edition of the Journal is exclusively available to PEAK members as a PDF and as web-optimized articles. Select articles are open to the community.

Download This Issue Members Only

What's Inside

Letter from the Editors

“All the world is waiting for you and the powers you possess.”

Whether or not you’re a Wonder Woman fan, take that lyric as inspiration to wield your own unique abilities. We see the phenomenal gifts within each of our PEAK members, whose powers combine to create our community of change agents advocating for grantmaking practices that drive equity and opportunity. You can lead the way for the sector, and we want you to see how you can ply your superpowers to enrich yourself, your organization, and the communities you support.
This edition of the Journal explores how grants professionals are a strategic driver for impact. Here, we call on individuals to build relationships that foster growth and break down barriers within their organizations that have historically blocked inclusive decision-making. We also call on organizations to reenvision the role of grants management as the requisite skills of the profession continue to expand. In addition, this issue equips your utility belt with our newly refreshed Grants Professionals Competency Model, which is designed to help supercharge your own career journey.
In addition, we want to thank our fantastic foursome—guest editors Indya Hartley, Kelly Hayashi, and Bonnie Rivers, and board liaison Kelli Rojas—who partnered with the PEAK team to shape this edition. We also want to thank the 23 individuals who generously contributed their inspiring career journey stories, as well as our volunteers and deeply dedicated members who continuously help us in sustaining vibrant learning communities of grants professionals.
Read on—and know the world is ready for you and the wonders you can do.
Lita Ugarte Pardi and Betsy Reid
FROM OUR CEO

Unleashing Your Superpowers

Satonya Fair calls us to reimagine a sector where innovative grantmaking practices know no bounds and where the power of PEAK’s network activates us to accelerate philanthropy to more equitably fulfill the incredible promise that it holds.

Read More

ROUNDTABLE

Making a Seat at the Table for Grants Management

Guest editors Indya Hartley, Kelly Hayashi, Bonnie Rivers, and PEAK board member Kelli Rojas explore how grants management professionals can break down barriers to advocate for themselves and drive the future of their organization.

Read More

How We Pioneered the Profession of Grants Management (and Got Into Good Trouble Along the Way)

Two of PEAK’s cofounders—Margaret Egan and Ursula Stewart—give their recipe for driving equity strategically at your organization and how you can use your grants management superpowers to fully step into your role as a change activist.

Read more

How a Career in Grants Management Prepared Me for Leadership

For Janet Disla, gaining the experience needed to build her career has depended on the combination of self-advocacy, organizational support, and leaning into the discomfort of leading from her unique vantage point.

RESOURCE

Grants Professionals Competency Model

The new edition of PEAK’s Grants Professionals Competency Model reflects the dynamic changes within the field and is designed to help all grants professionals—regardless of role, title, or organization size—supercharge their career journeys.

Read More

COMMUNITY VOICES
How did the Grants Management 101 program help you find your voice and build a career in grants management? GM101 alums respond.
  • A headshot of and quote from Vivo Foundation Grants Management Associate Halle Leganza: “I had high expectations going into GM101, and the experience took me to the next level. I now have a shared language and a practiced ability to discuss our work. The course also sparked new curiosities and illuminated new topics for me to dig deeper into independently.”
  • A headshot of and quote from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Grants Operations and Knowledge Management Senior Manager Richelle Pittella: “I needed to get smart quickly on many different topics, and there was simply nothing else quite like GM101 to help me do that. I'm grateful for the foundation it provided me and the opportunities I've had since then to learn and evolve from the PEAK community.”
  • A headshot of and quote from MacArthur Foundation Grants Management Associate La Keisha Leek: “GM101 was the right opportunity for me to learn more about how the work of grants management professionals can positively impact the grantee experience. I have been able to build professional relationships with colleagues all over the country and gain more clarity about my own career goals.”
  • A headshot of and quote from Christopher Family Foundation Grants Manager Monica Thorns: “GM101 helped me to discern, use and communicate via a standardized framework. As someone new to traditional philanthropy, an objective lens is useful at looking inward and outward for transparency, consistency, and intentionality. For example, the Grants Professionals Competency Model has helped me to gauge present, ongoing, and future growth paths.”
  • A headshot of and quote from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grants Management Specialist Roshani Desai: “We learned to get out of our comfort zones to discuss how we can make a difference by speaking up where we might see inequities and improve our grantmaking policies and practices so that we could be a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization.”
CEO:CEO

Creating Communities of Care to Uplift People and Their Careers

Walter & Elise Haas Fund Executive Director Jamie Allison and Satonya Fair share their thoughts on the importance of finding communities of peers and sharing the power you have to both build your career and help others along their path.

 

Read More

Building Your Organization’s Super-Culture

The work cultures that exist within an organization play a vital role in empowering individuals to grow and show up as leaders. In the two essays that follow, we invited two leadership coaches to share their perspectives on creating environments that can be resilient as individuals, organizations, and the sector at large undergo change, and cultures where all people can thrive.

Four Foundational Building Blocks for Culture

Jackie Hanselmann Sergi shares how you can approach building an organization that not only values justice, inclusion, and equity but actively incorporates these principles at every level of its operation.

 

Read More

Creating New Beginnings Together

By honing our emotional intelligence and our transition intelligence, Daniel Weinzveg writes, we position ourselves to create resilient organizations capable of thriving in uncertain times.

 

Read More

STORIES FROM THE FIELD
A photograph of MACP’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Council outside The Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama
PERSPECTIVES

How Centering Equity Deepened Cross-Team Collaboration

For Anna Ostroushko and Sarah Small from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies tell how, through cross-functional collaborations, the program operations and grants management teams are building a culture of inclusion, equity, and trust.

Read More Members Only

A photograph of the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona staff members and the 2024 CORE Grantees outdoors in Tucson at the annual CORE Grantee celebration
PERSPECTIVES

How Shattering Siloes Led to More Trusting, Equitable Grantmaking

Jeaiza Quiñones Ivory and Laura Maher share how building collaborative relationships throughout the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona transformed their internal relationships, external partnerships, and the impact of their work.

Read More Members Only

The Power of Mentoring

PEAK’s Lita Ugarte Pardi shares tips on how to cultivate and sustain enriching mentoring relationships throughout your career. In addition, four participants in PEAK’s second pilot mentorship program—Lindsey Carver, Jing Cox-Orrell, Bridget Miskell, and Roland Kennedy, Jr.—share insights from their own experiences.

 

Read More Members Only

COMMUNITY VOICES
What are the sources of your superpowers as grants management professionals and how have they energized you, your career, or your organization?
  • A headshot of and three quotes by Streamlife Consulting founder Chindaly Chounlamountry Griffith: "The PEAK community gave me superpowers! I have learned from colleagues throughout my 25 years in grants management because our peers continue to share their lessons learned through their unique experiences." and "I have advocated for organizations to invest in their grants management team by elevating the importance of developing talent through the support of professional development opportunities." and "I have also advocated for senior foundation leaders to invest in their grants management teams by supporting professional development opportunities. I’ve emphasized that a well-structured team helps to align grantmaking with the foundation’s strategic goals, ensure processes are streamlined and comply with regulations, and leverage data more effectively to track the impact of the foundation’s outcomes."
  • A headshot of and quote by Endowment for Health Chief Financial Officer Sue Fulton: "Grants management is the core function of foundations. Efficient processes and well-planned systems enhance giving and provide board, staff, and nonprofits the knowledge they need to make decisions. Utilizing smart technology is a key strategy to make information easily available to everyone, help reduce inequities, and expand grant manager roles."
  • A headshot of and two quotes from Nicole Howe-Buggs, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary at the Carnegie Corporation of New York: “Through grants management, I learned to leverage the inherent communication, legal, financial, and project management skills that role requires to learn about gaps, communicate effectively, and manage projects, people, and change." and "I now coach others to treat the role of grants management as a partner and guide—not a service. I hire capable and diverse staff and ensure learning opportunities for them."
  • A headshot of and two quotes from West Harlem Development Corporation Director of Programs Joanna Castro: “I have built my career in grants management by intentionally fostering thoughtful working relationships. Thanks to organizations like PEAK, I have been able to connect with colleagues in the field. Whether introverts (like me) like it or not, we are all social creatures who welcome connection—and I have found that people are happy to talk about their career trajectory and that they all have fascinating stories to tell." and "Don’t discount how volunteer roles can support you and your work. One of my favorite growth opportunities was as a committee member for the New York City Museum Educator Roundtable’s annual conference. I learned transferable skills that have come in handy in other professional roles.”

PEAK Community

A five-photo montage of various groups of PEAK volunteers in indoor and outdoor settings

Community News

This roundup of highlights from across our membership network features volunteer learning initiatives, community news and welcomes, peer network gatherings, new learning opportunities and resources.

Read more

A four-photo montage of various groups of PEAK staff members

Team News

Get an inside look at how our board and team are working to support PEAK’s mission, vision, and values.

Read more

PEAK

Reimagining Philanthropy at PEAK2024

Revisit the big ideas and social highlights from our convening in Seattle, which called our community to reimagine philanthropy.

Read more

A graphic design image of a trumpet overlaid with yellow, red and white text that reads: PEAK NOLA 2025; March 24-26; #PEAK2025nola; Onward; Leading with Courage

Make Your Plans for PEAK2025

Join us in New Orleans March 24–26, 2025, and be inspired to lead with courage and boldly move toward a future where justice and equity prevail.

Join us

Past Journal Issues

See All Issues

Ready to join?

A community of 7,000 philanthropy professionals awaits. Start with a complimentary Individual Membership and gain access to insights, tools, and resources, plus our online community forum.

Join Now