Search Results for

Allyship is more than empathy. Allyship means seeing and leveraging the privilege you possess to be an active stakeholder in the interests of those with less privilege and a committed partner in changing the systems that diminish them. It means being self-aware, courageous, and committed to championing others. Conceptually, this might seem overwhelmingly complicated, but … Continued

Grants management professionals are strategically positioned to influence a funder’s racial equity and racial justice funding. But in three decades of working in and with foundations, I have consistently seen a pattern where people serving in these roles are excluded from these conversations as a matter of institutional habit. As a result, there is a … Continued

Increasingly, funders are professing commitments to equity and a desire to be more relevant and reflective of a changing world. For many, a commitment to these issues is implicit in the goals and nature of their programs and grantmaking. But assessments of the degree to which funders are in fact addressing disparities, reducing inequitable access … Continued

“We don’t have a diversity problem in this sector,” ABFE CEO Susan Taylor Batten told PEAK’s Satonya Fair in their CEO:CEO conversation last fall. “We have a retention problem.” For its 2014 study The Exit Interview, ABFE found that Black professionals were leaving philanthropy because of the inhospitable cultures at grantmaking organizations. Unfortunately, this is … Continued

There’s power in process, and grants professionals can handily leverage their positions and drive equity throughout all facets of the grantmaking process. But seeing where you can step up and step in to make change happen might not be readily apparent. To explore how grantmakers have re-envisioned themselves as change agents, PEAK Chief Operating Officer … Continued

The Annie E. Casey Foundation for decades has worked to embed racial equity and inclusion in its operations and share its journey as a road map to other funders ready to embark on a similar path. Currently leading the charge is President and CEO Lisa Hamilton, who ascended to the helm in 2019 after serving … Continued

I know what it feels like to be the “only” in a room. I’ve had a career in which I was, continuously, an “only”—female, Black, from Ohio—including, for a time, serving as the only Black person on PEAK’s board of directors. But by prioritizing diversity, our board has come to reflect the racial and ethnic … Continued