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 Dolores Estrada led a roundtable with our two guest editors, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Director of Grants Management Adam Liebling and Kenneth Rainin Foundation Director of Grants Management Miyesha Perry, and three additional members of the grantmaking community: Meyer Foundation Grants Manager Andrew Brown; Streamlife Consulting Philanthropic Advisor Chindaly Chounlamountry Griffith; and PEAK Cofounder and Salesforce.org Grantmaking and Program Management Industry Advisor Ursula Stewart.

Estrada: Our deep dive today will focus on how grants management professionals can leverage their positions to drive racial equity in their institutions—to become changemakers. Can you all take a moment and think about how you see yourselves as change agents?

Stewart: To be a change agent, you must feel comfortable in your own skin. As an African American born in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, I have always been called to be a change agent. In my career, I had to find ways to bring my voice to the conversation. That came from demonstrating to my colleagues that I had a holistic interest in the work of the foundation.

I didn’t just do my work, I stayed informed around every aspect of the work that we did and had as much to add to the decision-making process as any of my colleagues or the board.

When it comes to racial equity, my goal is always to encourage staff and the board to take time for conversations with the communities we fund to ensure we are always perceiving our constituents accurately.

Read the full article about grantmakers focused on social change by Dolores Estrada, Adam Liebling, Miyesha Perry, Andrew Brown, Chindaly Chounlamountry Griffith, and Ursula Stewart at PEAK Grantmaking.