A leader grounded in collaboration, equity, and optimism, Megan guides Catalyst towards its vision of a social change ecosystem that improves the lives of all residents in San Diego & Imperial Counties. She guides a $10 million organization with 100 philanthropic and impact investing members through a framework of learn, plan, and act and oversees a dozen collaborative funding groups and fiscal sponsorships that harness the power of public and private funding and bridge funders to community based organizations, all working to build a region in which Black, Brown and Indigenous people are returned the rights and opportunities that have been stripped by centuries of exploitation. Overseeing 100 learning opportunities each year; more than $8 million in State and philanthropic collaborative grantmaking annually; an incubator for proactive social change initiatives; and a deep respect for the role that every person and organization plays in creating a better future, Megan leads Catalyst towards a singular North Star: the well-being of the people, land, and water throughout the CaliBaja region.

As Vice President of Collaboration and Special Initiatives at San Diego Grantmakers, I lead collaborative philanthropy and community problem-solving, as well as two key focus areas to champion equity and opportunity and catalyze impact investment through cross-sector initiatives. Facilitate seven funder groups and cross-sector initiatives to advance collaborative solutions to urgent community needs – grounded in SDG’s Learn, Plan, Act framework for collaborative philanthropy. Advance collaborative grantmaking through pooled funds and giving circles, resulting in $4.5M raised and invested over four years and participation by 52% of member organizations.Champion Equity and Opportunity: Lead SDG’s development and implementation of strategy, goals, and action plans to influence philanthropy and other social investors to address systemic. Results include updated internal HR policies, new grantmaking practices that incorporate community voice in funding design, and integration of diverse views, data and frameworks in member programming and new Census 2020 initiative.Catalyze Impact Investment: Lead SDG effort to develop and implement strategy, goals and action plans to ensure that measurable impact investing strategies are deployed for social good by philanthropists and other investors. Results include incorporation of impact investing into core work areas for SDG, new full-time staff position.External Relations/Community Involvement: Represent San Diego Grantmakers and collaborative funding work in the community through one-on-one meetings with members and partners, event attendance, speaking engagements, and participation in regional problem-solving efforts. Operations: Lead, manage, and mentor 3 staff and 5 consultants in a team that catalyzes learning and action. Develop revenue-generating activities to ensure sustainability, resulting in new $120,000/year.

Oversaw San Diego Grantmakers’ facilitation of collaborative efforts among funders and cross-sector stakeholder groups. Provides strategic and logistical support to strengthen San Diego communities through shared learning and pooled and aligned funding strategies. Focus areas included early education, STEAM education, homelessness, military/veterans issues, leadership development, transition age youth, foster youth, racial justice, and impact investing, as well as oversight of the distribution pooled grant funds.Accomplishments include:- Approximately $2M of grantmaking through funder and cross-sector collaborative groups- Launch of four new groups and initiatives: Early Education Funders; STEAM Funders; Funders Together to End Homelessness; San Diego Impact Investors Network- Planning and execution of cross-sector summits involving philanthropic, nonprofit, and government leaders on youth homelessness and transition age foster youth

San Diego Coastkeeper protects and restores fishable, swimmable, drinkable waters in San Diego County. As executive director, I lead Coastkeeper to achieve its mission with exemplary management and visionary leadership. This included developing, retaining and leading an enthusiastic, professional team of employees and volunteers; raising up to $1M per year from individual, foundation, corporate and government funders; ensuring prudent financial management; and sustaining positive relationships with stakeholders.

Leads strategic funding of a $1M annual budget to support stability and flexibility of operations. Foundation, corporate and government grants; individual major gifts; corporate sponsorships and events are matched to programs to meet organizational and donor needs. Close collaboration with executive director and finance and marketing departments optimizes internal/external information flow to support fundraising and budget/cash flow management. Strong leadership and management; written and verbal communication skills; attention to detail and relationship building combined with promoting a fun, collaborative working environment form the core skill set to succeed in this position.

Responsible for raising more than $1.5M per year through corporate partnerships, foundation relations, events, individual donations and grants. Close collaboration with organizational management team to ensure programmatic and strategic goals are met and successful budget/cash flow management. Strong communication skills, attention to detail and relationship building form the core skill set to achieve this goal.

Megan generates funding through corporate and foundation relations, grant proposal and report writing, individual and major gifts, and event planning and management Coastkeeper’s annual black-tie Ocean Gala dinner and auction.San Diego Coastkeeper is the region's largest community-based nonprofit organization working to protect the region’s bays, beaches, watersheds and ocean for the people and wildlife that depend on them. We balance community outreach, education, and advocacy to promote stewardship of clean water and a healthy coastal ecosystem.

After grad school, while transitioning home to San Diego, enthusiastically wrote grant proposals and reports to generate funding for Teach For America Connecticut's programs. Megan crafted individualized approaches that highlighted aspects of the program that were most relevant to each funder. She designed metrics that accurately measured and portrayed progress against organizational goals and objectives. One of her proposals became a model utilized by the national organization to exemplify good grant-writing.The Teach For America mission is to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. We recruit outstanding recent college graduates from all backgrounds and career interests to commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools. We provide the training and ongoing support necessary to ensure their success as teachers in low-income communities.

Megan's responsibilities included monthly and year-end audits of $750 million of investments; managing relationships with and documentation for more than 25 domestic and international retail banks; leading a multi-department task force to convert an international payment system for book sales; writing the department's emergency response and recovery plan; and producing an annual 600-person black tie gala.The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge, the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 360 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; live events; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.