Career Shame is the biggest barrier to a grant professional’s success. Researcher Brene Brown states that shame causes people to feel “trapped, powerless, and isolated” and if left unresolved can have serious consequences on one’s professional performance as well as personal health and wellness. Professional identity and work are cited as common shame triggers. The work of a grant professional, while fulfilling, can bring various career challenges. Whether it’s set-backs in job transitions, painful grant losses, working with difficult teams and cultures, obtaining the grant professional certification (GPC), or fear of taking on new leadership roles, it’s easy to shrink if you feel that you are not living up to expectations.

In today’s constantly changing world, career resilience is essential to navigating all the ups and downs and twists and turns of the grant profession. Building career resilience is a key practice for meeting the GPC competency of raising the level of professionalism of grant developers. In this session, attendees will learn how to effectively face difficult career circumstances to build career resilience.

Presenter:

Jo Miller, GPC has over 20 years of experience in grant consulting for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Jo is the Senior Development and Communications Officer for the National Center for Healthy Housing. Jo is the Managing Director of Smartegrants, a Grant Professional Certification Institute Approved Provider, and provides training, resources, and community spaces for grant professionals to connect and grow. Jo is a GPA Approved Trainer.

Lesa-Kaye Holtham, MPH, GPC, has over a decade of experience working with community-based health nonprofits, national public health organizations, and higher education institutions. She currently serves as the Senior Associate Director for Institutional Partners at The Catholic University of America. Lesa-Kaye also offers grant training workshops to community-based groups and nonprofits. She currently serves as the Vice President of the GPA DC Metro chapter.

Shavonn Richardson, MBA, GPC is Founder and CEO of Think and Ink Grant Consultingâ„¢. She has previously served as a nonprofit leader and a program manager deploying $1.3 million in funding. Shavonn is a Forbes thought leader, a 2017 Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Diversity Fellow, and serves on the Grant Professionals Association Board of Directors. Shavonn earned an MBA from Emory University and BBA from Howard University. Shavonn earned the GPC credential in 2020.

Cecilia Peredo, GPC, is a Grant Specialist at the University of Louisville where she assists faculty in building collaborative relationships, presents grant workshops, and developing grant proposals. She has been a grant professional for over 15 years and has authored hundreds of grant proposals to private, corporate, and community foundations, as well as state and federal sources. She is the Past President of the Kentucky Chapter GPA. She also teaches grant workshops at Bellarmine University.

 
Skill Level:
Mid-Career
Advanced-Career

Learning Path: 
Personal Growth

GPC Competencies:
Practices and services that raise the level of professionalism of grant developers