This year, three Global Impact Ventures (GIV) staff members attended PEAK2026 in St. Louis, joining peers from across the sector to reflect on what it’s like to do philanthropic work in a time of growing complexity and change. Throughout the conference, conversations surfaced about how philanthropy is responding to uncertainty, navigating risk, and staying connected to purpose as international funding drastically decreases and global needs rise.
GIV was represented by three team members: Gillian Wagner, Senior Manager of Grants & Governance Solutions; Juanita Nyce, Senior Philanthropy Advisor of Donor Advising; and Ross Heinemeyer, Senior Director of Finance & Business Services. In addition to attending sessions throughout the conference, Ross also served as a speaker on a panel focused on risk in fiscally sponsored grantmaking.
To reflect on the experience and capture takeaways, we sat down for a Q&A conversation following the conference.
Ross’ Session: Liability or Leverage? Assessing and Managing Risk in Fiscally Sponsored Grantmaking
We asked Ross a few questions about the session he spoke at and the conversation it generated.
Who did you notice attended this session?
This session drew more than 100 attendees and included a mix of grants managers, operations leaders, legal and compliance staff, and program officers. Most came from mid-to-large sized foundations and intermediary organizations. The conversation assumed a baseline understanding of fiscal sponsorship and focused on how to evaluate and manage risk.
How does your role at GIV relate to this topic?
This session closely aligned with GIV’s role in balancing strong financial controls and compliance standards with the need to enable partners to move efficiently and deploy charitable funds effectively. The balance between protecting the organization and empowering impact was central to the discussion.
Why is it important to discuss risk in fiscal sponsorship grantmaking?
Risk exists in any form of grantmaking. What matters is how well it’s understood and managed. Strong fiscal sponsorship models bring structure: financial controls, compliance processes, and governance to help ensure funds are used appropriately while still allowing flexibility. The conversation should shift from avoiding risk to managing it well in service of outcomes.
PEAK2026 Takeaways
We asked all three attendees a few questions about what stood out most during the conference and what they’re reflecting on coming out of PEAK.
What panels or sessions stood out, and why?
The opening keynote stood out immediately and set the tone for the rest of the conference. Rather than focusing on technical grantmaking, it centered on the question of how philanthropy shows up in this moment, emphasizing courage, urgency, and alignment with values. The main speaker, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, legendary six-time Olympic medalist from St. Louis, shared a personal story and framed her home city as a place shaped by both resistance and resilience.
The second keynote, Meeting the Moment, from Dr. Carmen Rojas, president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, also stood out. Her remarks challenged funders to reconsider how philanthropy responds in moments of urgency. She questioned the impulse to prioritize protecting foundations for the long term, asking what it means to focus on permanence when communities are facing immediate needs. Dr. Rojas invited attendees to imagine what it would look like if there were enough resources for everyone and pushed back on narratives of scarcity that may shape funding decisions. She also shared the importance of a “North Star” to guide decision-making in uncertain times. This prompted reflection on how decisions are made under pressure and whether urgency is driving action more than intention.
In the closing keynote, Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, emphasized that this is not a moment to retreat, but a moment to act boldly. Besser pushed philanthropy to increase giving now through general operating support, front-loaded funding, and long-term grants. And for greater impact, his advice was to actively listen to grantees, be bolder by giving more and taking calculated risks, and to push harder for outcomes and accountability.
Did you notice any trends new to the conference this year?
Many of the trends that emerged at PEAK were grounded in a deeper question of moral responsibility. As Pastor Bethany Johnson-Javois, President and CEO of the Deaconess Foundation, put it, philanthropy is being called to reflect on whether it is responding to this moment as a question mark (hesitancy) or an exclamation point (decisive and values-driven).
Across sessions and conversations, there was a notable interest in learning from peers and sharing practical expertise. Attendees mentioned how generous the community was with sharing experiences and resources and saw a desire for community learning beyond PEAK.
Fiscal sponsorship was broadly recognized as a helpful tool, though many shared a desire for industry‑wide benchmarks to further understanding among funders.
International grantmaking also emerged as an area of focus. It was described as increasingly complex due to changing global conditions, due diligence requirements, and the need to understand how approaches like trust-based philanthropy function across varying cultural contexts.
Another topic this year was how foundations are approaching AI adoption, with a strong emphasis on responsibility and intentionality. Conversations reflected a shared understanding that organizations are not behind if they are moving carefully, and that aligning AI use with mission and strategy matters more than speed. A common refrain was “go slow to go fast.”
Did you learn anything that will shape the work you do at GIV?
Learning more about international grantmaking and governance systems felt especially relevant to our work at GIV. Through these conversations, we came across resources and approaches that will help us strengthen our own processes and systems as this work continues to grow more complex.
The conversations at PEAK2026 surfaced shared questions about how philanthropy is responding in moments defined by uncertainty and pressure. Across roles and perspectives, there was a consistent call for clarity in decision-making and a reminder that urgency alone is not a strategy. The conference also underscored that meaningful impact is built through collaboration. Strengthening relationships, sharing knowledge, and staying aligned across the sector emerged as essential to meeting the challenges ahead. We are looking forward to using these takeaways as we continue our work.