PEAK Grantmaking

Satonya Fair joined PEAK Grantmaking as the organization’s first President and CEO in August 2020.

As President and CEO, Satonya works closely with the Board and staff to articulate and implement a vision for the future of PEAK, ensuring a values-driven approach in which equity, diversity, inclusion, awareness of power dynamics in the craft of philanthropy, and a commitment to learning, sharing, and evolving, are integrated and operationalized in the organizational strategy. She is dedicated to engaging PEAK membership and building the organizational value proposition, while also cultivating strong partnerships with philanthropy-serving organizations and the broader philanthropic sector as an ambassador, thought leader, and collaborator. During her tenure, she hopes to strengthen internal infrastructure, grow and diversity PEAK’s funding base, and support an inspired and dynamic staff team while fostering inclusivity, shared values, and high performance.

Satonya brings 25+ years of experience working in nonprofit and philanthropic roles. Prior to joining PEAK, she served as Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer at The Executive Leadership Council where she developed and launched a philanthropic engagement strategy and funding pillars for the organization. Previously, she was Director of Grants Management at The Annie E. Casey Foundation where she oversaw grant operations, and served in management roles at Citi, supporting community relations and foundation giving.

Satonya earned her JD from the University of Cincinnati and her bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science from Miami University (Ohio). She is a graduate of the Career Pathways executive leadership program at the Council on Foundations (Cohort 3) and is a certified Prosci Change Management practitioner.

She is an active volunteer, including former board service with PEAK Grantmaking, the Technology Association of Grantmakers and Maryland Philanthropy Network. She enjoys family and friend time, traveling abroad, tennis, a great British detective show, baking, and her love language is organization.

PEAK Grantmaking

As PEAK Grantmaking’s membership director, Sara leads the organization’s efforts to build and grow our network of over 350 Organizations Members and our community of more than 4,000 grants management professionals, all with the goal of improving how grants get made throughout the philanthropic sector.

Sara brings 10+ years of association experience in volunteer management, membership recruitment and retention,  stakeholder engagement, and relationship building.  For more than 2 of those years, she worked as PEAK Grantmaking’s regional chapter manager, during which time she collaborated with volunteer regional chapter officers to dramatically increase engagement and build volunteers as leaders.

Sara started her career at the Department of Defense, training military voting assistance officers to help service members vote and ensuring ballots were sent on time to oversees citizens. She has also worked at the League of Women Voters and the School Nutrition Association.

Sara earned a bachelor’s degree in history and criminal justice from The George Washington University. She loves spending time with her family, is an avid sports fan and museum enthusiast, enjoys hobbies like ice skating and knitting, and can’t wait for her next travel adventure.