Fundraising, Program Development

Whether raising nearly $4 million for the Nuyorican Poets Café or designing creative wellness programs like the Bronx Memoir Project for the Bronx Council on the Arts, my approach is guided by compassion in action. My spiritual path extends to my professional work, benefiting those I work directly with–such as clients and students–and those whose lives are impacted by the organizations I serve, whom I may never meet in person.

As a nonprofit arts consultant, I listen deeply to a client's needs before identifying and mobilizing the resources to transform their ideas into results. My cultural strategy work is rooted in over five decades of artistic study, practice, and immersion and nearly 20 years as an administrator for New York City-based organizations—spanning fundraising, communications, festival curation, program design/facilitation, and more.

Currently, I serve as the development manager for the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café and for Composers Now, a nonprofit founded by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León. Driving revenue for these distinct organizations requires vision, precision, and collaboration. It has taught me to master the art of bridging grassroots authenticity and institutional sustainability for the benefit of the countless artists and community members they serve.

Whether I’m writing grants, designing creative wellness programs, or drafting revenue plans, my philosophy is simple: find the soul of the mission and inspire funders and partners to care about it. This requires strategic storytelling—a craft I’ve honed for decades as a reader, author, and editor. Combined with a robust network spanning tech, law, healthcare, media, real estate, and other sectors, my goal is to transform visions and ideas into reality. 

• Services: Grant Writing, Funder Relations and Revenue Plans; Partnerships and Engagement Strategy; Creative Wellness Program Design (writing, visual art, meditation) 

• Clients: Nuyorican Poets Café, Composers Now, Bronx Council on the Arts, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Carter-Burden Network, Acacia Network, and others.

• Creative Wellness Program Highlights: Nuyorican Poets Cafe (Know Thyself: meditation and poetry), Carter-Burden Network (meditation and watercolor painting for seniors), Acacia Network (meditation and drawing for opioid recovery), Bronx Council on the Arts (Bronx Memoir Project, community storytelling), the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (#OurStoriesNYC - storytelling for LGBTQI youth).    

• Impact: Over $4M raised from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew F. Mellon Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Poetry Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and others.