Episode notes:

• Learn more about PEAK Grantmaking

• View this year’s conference agenda

Transcript:

This transcript was automatically generated.

Welcome to Impact Audio. I'm Sam Kaplan, vice president of social impact at Submittable. Few weeks ago, I was at the PEAK Grantmaking Conference in New Orleans. And this is an event that brings together grantmakers, and it gives everyone an opportunity to really dig in together on how we can collectively transform philanthropy to be more effective and more equitable. The conference is a time of real connection and collaboration, and I always leave feeling super inspired by the people who are out there doing all of this incredible work. Today, I sit down with my colleague, Laura Steele, to chat about what I saw and what I heard at the event and what it may mean for the future of philanthropy.

So with that, welcome aboard, Laura. Super excited to have you join me today.

Yeah. Thanks so much. I know you are super busy during conferences, and I always feel like I need a a Where's Sam tracker, when the spring comes around.

You know, I could probably use that exact same tracker. I I lose track of where I am also.

So you were in New Orleans for, for PEAK. Tell me a little bit just about what PEAK is, what makes it special. I know you've been to these conferences in the past.

So, Laura, PEAK Grantmaking is a member organization, and they host an annual conference. I've been for maybe the last ten years in a row. This is a organization that serves grants managers and grants administrators.

And once a year, everybody comes together, and we have these great conversations around the state of grant making, how the practice of grants management is evolving. And this year was no different. We had a really amazing time. There were so many really amazing themes, that were discussed so that, the topic or the key theme of the conference was called leading with courage.

And then there were so many other, like, sub themes beneath that. So there were tons of sessions that were focused on shifting power and equity centered grant making.

There was a lot of conversation around self care and healing and sustainability, among grants management professionals who are feeling pretty burned out during this time.

A lot of sessions around processes and best practices. So I would guess at least a third of the breakout sessions focused on the the art of grants management. Like, how do we actually do the work better, more effectively?

And then, you know, overall, I think there was sort of this, you know, overarching, conversation around, like, the role that the government is playing in philanthropy and grants management these days.

Yeah. I know you mentioned equity a bit, and I know equity has been at the forefront of the conversation for for Peak, for Grantmakers, for you.

Is that conversation shifting at all, or is it is it sort of the same drumbeat it's it's been for the past few years?

Sort of sort of both. So I think that, you know, this has been, like, the dominant theme of PEAK for probably the last four or five years.

The e in PEAK stands for equity. So this is always a really important, discussion throughout the entire conference. I think the way that it's shifting, Laura, is that we're beginning to see, equity move from being, like, a theory or a high level discussion and into actually, like, how do we operationalize equity.

That was the big shift for me this year. There were a lot of sessions out there that focused on that operationalization, of equity, and I thought that was super interesting, especially from a submittable perspective. This is what we're all about as a grants management platform is, you know, how do we provide technology that helps, grantmakers develop this, you know, equitable and inclusive grant making process?

Yes. Is technology still a big part of the conversation right now?

Kind of. Like, there were fewer sessions on tech and data this year than there typically are. Although I will say I was super excited. I got, selected along with two of my friends in the in the sector, John Moore from the MacArthur Foundation and Angela Randall from the Coca Cola Foundation. And we presented a, session, a breakout session, on using technology to help support equitable and inclusive grant making.

And we have, like, a whopping three hundred and fifty people sign up to come to this session. So it was about twenty five percent of the overall, conference. So, you know, it kind of indicated to me that there is this real thirst for knowledge around how do we do this better, how do we move it from being, like, a high level theoretical conversation into something that we can actually put into practice in our foundations.

Yeah. And so were there any other sessions there that you'd wanna call out? I know it's always packed with great content.

It is always packed with great content. And the answer would be yes. Let me see if I can quickly pull up my list here. So, a few of the sessions that really stood out to me were actually ones that weren't necessarily focused on technology.

There was a great keynote titled shifting power by leading grantees lead strategic development for impact.

That was a really interesting one. There was, let's see here.

Our friend from Candida, CEO, Anne Mei Chang, led a really interesting panel, about, like, using data for equitable grant making. One of the things that came out in that particular conversation was this idea that, like, for maybe the first time ever, nonprofit organizations are, considering how to share less data out of fear of being targeted for the work that they're doing. So it was kind of mind blowing that, like, you know, we're we're at a place where organizations, nonprofits are actually thinking about, like, how to protect themselves, from possible retaliation, you know, in terms of politics. So, yeah, that was really interesting.

Yeah. Pivot a pivot away from transparency is, is a big shift because I know that's been that's been a big call out for the past few years is how do we get more transparent.

Yeah. Definitely.

So you mentioned, you know, the self care for grant managers, and it seems like, kind of a tricky environment, honestly, to be doing this work right now. So what are they focused on, you know, beyond self care sort of for their organizations or for themselves in terms of their own professional development?

Yeah. There were a bunch of sessions on, like, you know, wellness and and health and well-being, as well as career development. So one of the things that I think that our sector is beginning to grapple with a little bit, Laura, is that, like, the role of grants management is super important within a foundation. Like, you know, this is a a job role that touches contracts, and they work very closely with legal. They're responsible for payments and payment schedules.

Like so if they make a small mistake, it can really kind of balloon into a really complex issue, that the whole organization has to deal with. And I think that, like, the culmination of that over the last several years has led to this environment where lots of grants managers are beginning to feel the pressure of the role out there. On top of that, like, they're also being asked to be these champions of equity and to be the voice within their organization to represent those nonprofit organizations who apply for the grants and are awarded, you know, funding from from the foundation. So it's a lot of pressure out there. And I think it was really interesting that, you know, everybody's beginning to acknowledge this and that they're starting to develop tactics and strategies to help, the grants managers, like, find ways to kind of deal with the work a little bit better, you know, and to do their their jobs even more effectively.

That's great. I know, you know, grant managers can they can use all the help, that anybody can give, it seems like, at this point. And I'm I'm hopeful that this means that, you know, people are really recognizing how important this role is, and and maybe they're kind of getting their due and and getting the spotlighted a little more than they have in the past.

Right.

So anything as we look ahead for the year and sort of takeaways from this conference and maybe from the whole conference season, Anything that you're really excited about or you feel like there's some big opportunities for people to step up or for organizations to step up?

You know, I've been thinking about, like, the role of equity and how it, dovetails into, like, the work that we do at Submittable.

One of the things that I'm really interested in pursuing is, like, how technology in particular, like, a grants management platform like Submittable can be viewed as, like, not just equity friendly, but actually equity enabling infrastructure and how we can tie together features like automation and field validation and workflows, you know, to help directly, like, provide more equity to nonprofit organizations and to lead to justice outcomes.

I'm starting to think about this in terms of, like, equity isn't just a value, it's a workflow. And platforms like Submittable can help you build that into every step. So, again, going back to that theme of, like, how do you operationalize all of this? Like, I think that's where the big onus is right now on organizations like Submittable is, you know, we're hearing loud and clear what the grants management community is most interested in. Now how can we take technology to really translate those ideas into something practical nonprofit partners.

Yeah. That makes sense. It's it's cool to see this these sort of big ideas start to really be grounded in the day to day work.

Yeah. Definitely.

Yeah. Thanks so much for giving me the recap.

Yeah. Definitely. Thank you for asking me all the insightful questions, and, I still look forward to the day, Laura, that I can, drag you along to a conference like PEAK with me.

Yeah. Do we know where next year is gonna be?

Oh my gosh. They they told us where it was, and I can't remember. But it was some place, you know, incredibly exciting that you'll wanna go to.

Okay. Count me in.

Alright. It's a day. We're going to peak together next year.

So a big thank you to everyone who made the PEAK conference possible. There's nothing that replaces the authenticity of an in person event, and I really appreciate the way that PEAK brings together the whole grant making community.

So that's all for me today. Thanks for tuning in to Impact Audio, produced by your friends at Submittable. Until next time.