With 16 years of grant experience, I have honed a deep understanding of the complexities in grant writing, editing, compliance and management. My expertise spans private and government grants, and successful creation of compelling grant proposals that resonate with Funders. However, as I look toward the next chapter of my career, I am shifting my focus from grant writing to grant/peer reviewing, where I can leverage my comprehensive knowledge, contribute to the success of sustainable programs and help Grantors make well-informed, judicious decisions and investments. While working in nationally acclaimed Cincinnati Public Schools’ Community Learning Centers, I’ve demonstrated success in appraising and addressing critical human service needs and supporting academic achievement via resource acquisition and coordination. Establishing school, family, business, faith-based, and mental health partnerships enabled me to further the wisest use of community resources to maximize impact, build capacity, and promote long-term solutions. Design, development and implementation of K-12 out of school time, 21st Century academic and enrichment programming are additional skills I have applied in CPS schools. I possess a long history of serving at-risk youth in various capacities: Juvenile Court Hearing Officer, Behavior Residential Treatment, Children of Incarcerated Parents, Youth Violence Prevention/Intervention, and mentoring adjudicated youth. The non-profit sector has afforded me experience managing daily operations of community outreach and offender re-entry programs, and linking various marginalized populations with services, opportunities, and support.Extensive practice with ground level programming, the ability to interpret needs, garner and distribute resources, build a coalition of multi-disciplinary stakeholders, blended with grant stewardship, certifying proposals with Grantmaker missions and scoring rubrics, gives me a unique perspective to bring to the Funder decision making table and render insightful reviews.