To kick off PEAK Grantmaking’s 25th anniversary celebration, three leaders reflected on the evolution of grants management, our focus on community and equity, how far PEAK has come, and their vision for PEAK’s future.

• Margaret Egan
  Grants Management Network Weaver
  Egan Consulting
  PEAK Grantmaking Cofounder
• Satonya Fair
  President and CEO
  PEAK Grantmaking
• Jonathan Goldberg
  Director of Learning and Grant Operations
  Surdna Foundation

Egan: I’ve been part of PEAK since its founding. We wanted to create something that felt like a network where we could all rely on each other.

Fair: When I think about PEAK Grantmaking and the experience I’ve had, all I can say is there’s nothing like finding your people.

Goldberg: “Grants manager” is often an undefined role. My experience is that you have a large collection of really intelligent, thoughtful, talented people who often go unrecognized. And what PEAK offers this community is professionalization, a development of skills, and a confidence that allows people to lead in their organizations.

Egan: Everything we do is [about] relationships. And what I love about PEAK is it’s always nurtured that. We’ve had such a blessing of community building in a way that I think has given us a really deep sense of what it is to fund community building.

Fair: And then I think about community. I think about that mom-and-pop—that small nonprofit that’s in the corner of West Baltimore that really needs a ton of funding, and the community loves them. There are all these power dynamics that show up behind the scenes.

Goldberg: And when we talk about equity, we’re talking about power sharing. This is an issue that shouldn’t exist going forward, and it should all be about grantee impact.

Fair: [The] Black Voices [in Grants Management issue of the Journal]. For me, that was the defining moment of when we were putting equity into action in front of our members. It was staking a claim that we were not going anywhere as it related to this message for philanthropy—at all.

Egan: It was the gift of my life to to be a cofounder—on many different levels—and I can’t be more proud. This is probably the most productive, the most collegial [community], and the greatest learning experience that I think I’ve ever had in my whole career. Where grants management is today is miles [ahead from] when I was starting.

Goldberg: The quality of the staff has been pretty staggering. Its recent iteration under Satonya really gives the organization such a bright future.

Fair: PEAK’s next 25 for me is about a more global reach for the organization. It is about deeper advocacy and influence. PEAK Grantmaking for me right now is the beacon on the hill.