When I was 17, I walked onto a nonprofit horse sanctuary called Tierra Madre Horse & Human Sanctuary and fell in love not just with the horses, but with the nonprofit world in general.
Over the next 14 years I volunteered and eventually became the organization’s executive director during which I got a taste of everything running a nonprofit entails. I wore all the hats from volunteer coordination to donor development to fundraising to event planning to marketing to program development to–you guessed it–grant writing. I learned the ins and outs of running a nonprofit and the importance of securing sustainable, ongoing funding in order to bring a mission to life.
During this time I also wrote two books about my experiences running Tierra Madre and got my master’s degree in nonprofit leadership and management from Arizona State University. For a few years I worked for a healthcare nonprofit as a development manager and in 2022, I branched out to start my own part-time grant writing business. In 2023, I finally made it my full-time gig.
Over my grant writing career, I have secured almost a million dollars in funding for my clients. I’m working toward my CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive) credential and love every opportunity to learn more about current trends in the nonprofit world.
When I’m not working I’m either playing with horses, advocating passionately to end the equine slaughter pipeline in the U.S., or running my circus of a home which includes my husband of almost seven years, our two children Aurora and Apollo, two cats, and my best friend, a German shepherd mutt named Lucy.
I’m Arizona born and raised, and iced espresso, long car drives, and songs by Kenny Loggins are my jam.
Now it’s your turn. What’s your story?
