Grant writing and management engages me with its continual call for collaboration, research, puzzle solving, and clear goal-focused writing.

For a part of the pandemic I turned my passion for equity into writing for Social Justice. As Grants and Contracts Lead at AACI I wrote and managed grants for municipal, state, and federal funding. In 2021 the team had an 80% funding rate and worked with individual allocations ranging up to $2,500,000. The grants support programs that include behavioral and primary health services, substance misuse prevention and treatment, a center for survivors of torture, shelter and services for domestic violence and human trafficking survivors, a senior center, youth programs, and community advocacy. AACI addresses the health and well-being of the individual, advances the belief in providing care that goes beyond just health, and provides people a sense of hope and new possibilities. I also represented Resource Development at AACI’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council. In these times of local and global hardship, my writing is part of the solution.

Before grant writing at AACI, I had won more than 35 highly competitive grants and awards in Arts and Education. This grant work was interwoven with a teaching career focused on supporting underserved communities (predominantly Pell-qualified and first-generation college students).

The Loyola Marymount University certificate course in Grant Writing and Nonprofit Management Training (510 hour) has sharpened my knowledge of best practices, as did the Freelance Writers Den.