Resume

Experience

Dedicated and motivated business development professional with over 11 years’ experience in fundraising, grant writing, proposal management, and project reporting. Holds APMP Foundation-level and Humentum MEAL DPro certifications. Skilled proposal writer with experience writing and submitting compliant, winning narrative and cost proposals for BPRM, USAID, SEC, US Mint, UNOCHA, UNHCR, UNRWA, and the WHO. Has managed seven- and eight-figure project proposals with an average 42.5% win rate using the Shipley’s method. Extensive experience in project design, including MEAL plans, risk assessment and mitigation plans, logical frameworks, work plans, communications plans, and reporting. Experienced researcher and professional writer with multiple, peer-reviewed publications using qualitative research methods.

Director of Business Development, American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) – 04/2022 – Present

As the Director of Business Development (BD) for Anera, I direct a five-person team of DC, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan-based employees in researching new business opportunities, identifying partners, recruiting staff, retaining institutional donors, and maintaining a pipeline of grant opportunities and proposal responses. I have led efforts securing $27m in grants to fund sustainable programing in women’s economic empowerment; water, sanitation and hygiene; grant in-kind assistance; early childhood development; monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEAL), and food security, for Palestinian, Syrian, and Iraqi Refugees, and vulnerable host communities. I work closely with my team; field officers and staff; and the finance, fundraising, and communications departments to submit proposals ranging in value from $50k to $60m with an average win rate of 45% (including a 65% win rate in 2022). Responsibilities include:

Supervising the life cycle of concept notes, proposals, and interim/final reports from capture through final award to the U.S. federal government (USAID and BPRM), UN agencies, and other private grant makers across Anera’s DC, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan offices. Led team to win a two-year, $5 million BPRM grant to provide chronic medications for Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese patients across all Lebanese governorates; won a recompete for a third year at $2.1m.
Serving as the main point of contact for external partners, including funders and subawardees.
Working with the finance team, in conjunction with country directors and program managers, to develop cost volumes for proposal submission, project budgets, and financial reports for ongoing projects.
Conducting annual performance evaluations and providing feedback regularly throughout the year to ensure positive team morale, ongoing improvement in staff skills, and mentoring for future professional development opportunities.
Working with project teams, country directors, SMEs, and the Chief Development Officer to assess the viability of upcoming opportunities and to make go-/no-go decisions.
Drafting qualifications statements and leading discussions with potential new project partners and funders.
Leading training for BD and affiliated staff, including concept note and proposal writing, vetting, public presentations.
Mentoring early career staff, both in BD and related departments, providing them with professional development opportunities and advice for future career opportunities.
Traveling to Anera’s regional offices to meet with project teams to learn about beneficiary needs and to present new project ideas to current and potential funding partners.
Modifying ongoing programs for new proposals based on lessons learned and MEAL; and designing new programs for expansion of programming in the region.
Working with Anera’s MEAL team to design programs that effectively measure project impacts and lessons learned.
Serving on the Senior Management Team, working closely with Anera’s executive leadership and contributing to Anera’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan to shape Anera’s future aspirations.
Streamlining internal Business Development processes, including standardized methods of creating budget projections, setting of annual key performance indicators (KPIs) on both the departmental and staff level, and tracking of expenditures in EveryAction CRM.
Presenting Anera’s work in Palestine at the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women conference.
Attending networking events and facilitating conversations with new implementing partners for future projects.

Business Development Manager, Anera – 01/2019 – 04/2021

As the BD Manager for Anera, I managed proposal development and led proposal and report writing, working with a four-person team of DC, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan-based BD employees. In this role, I led the proposal process from capture to award, bringing in $11.5m in revenue (average win rate 40%) for Anera. Responsibilities included:

Serving as lead writer for proposals, concept notes, and project reports from content provided by Anera’s subject matter experts (SMEs) in its country offices.
Keeping proposal teams on trackfor draft reviews and on-time proposal submission.
Performing final proofing and formatting of all departmental publications, including designing graphics, using styles in MS Word for uniformity, and checking documents for compliance with funder requirements.
Researched funders, drafted capabilities statements, and led conversations with new funders in partnership with the BD Senior Director.
Traveling to Anera’s regional offices to meet with project teams to observe project progress and to work with the teams to write new concept notes and proposals.
Coordinating proposals and networking to expand Anera’s operations into Jordan. To date, Anera has executed four projects in Jordan since applying for funding in 2020, including the Catalyst Foundation and Alumbra Innovations Fund.
Streamlining internal Business Development processes, including designing templates for capture and go/no-go decisions, creation of proposal calendars, tracking of proposal status, leading design sessions, tracking of expenditures, implementation of kickoff and closeout processes, and post-submission debriefs and after-action reviews.
Representing Anera at networking events and professional development conferences.

Proposal Manager, VariQ Corporation – 06/2017 – 01/2019

As a proposal manager for VariQ, a 330+ person IT and IT Security Services company, I designed the schedule for and managed teams of 10-20 individuals to organize, write, and submit technical and cost volumes (valued between $500k and $75m) to USG agencies including the SEC, US Mint, US Air Force, State Department, and Department of Homeland Security. Responsibilities included:

Managing and editing winning proposal responses and IDIQ applications to the Federal Government, securing over $6.5 million in government funding contracts from proposals I led in 2017-2018.
Using a modified Shipley’s method to manage proposal production activities and leading teams of 10-20 writers, editors, and artists spanning finance, contracts, recruiting, senior partners, and SMEs, in addition to assigning writing, editing, and technical review roles to teammates and performing copyedits on final solicitation drafts.
Writing all past performance sections and formatting all resumes and key personal summaries for proposal submissions.
Researching and compiling capture data for new business development opportunities from Government Acquisition Contracts (GWAC) and communicating those opportunities to senior management and partner companies.
Redesigning the business development team SharePoint site; designing, providing technical writing for, editing, and publishing business development operations manuals. Researching and creating a past performance knowledge base for previous/ongoing contracts in conjunction with project managers and sector leads.
Achievement: Received three internal recognition awards and bonuses for service to VariQ beyond daily job responsibilities.

Assistant Professor, Religion, Roanoke College – 08/2014 – 08/2017

As an assistant professor at Roanoke College, I utilized my quantitative research and proposal writing skills to lead efforts in securing academic funding and grants ($1-5k annually) for a variety of academic courses, student clubs, and off-campus activities. I also taught courses in general studies (Writing/Rhetoric, Public Speaking) and in qualitative research methods. Responsibilities included:

Advising and mentoring student groups and programs including the Annual Israel-Palestine Peace Week, the Academic Integrity Council, and the Model United Nations (MUN)/Model Arab League (MAL) Club. Leading fundraising for MUN/MAL Club, securing 100% of funds required. Received the 2017 Advisor of the Year Award from the Student Life Council of Roanoke College for excellence in advising and leading teams.
Researching academic funding and grant opportunities for student groups and programs.
Working with student and senior department leadership to evaluate, develop, and capture each opportunity as lead proposal developer and manager.
Developing proposals based upon each opportunity’s scope, cost, and scale.
Editing proposals for content, submission guidelines, and grammar.
Securing funding and executing each proposal/grant in close coordination with academic and student leadership.
Designing and executed qualitative research methods course for all religion majors.
Reporting to senior leadership the progress of MUN/MAL competitive events and writing program summaries for Roanoke College external publications
Publications:
- The Model Arab League Manual: A Guide to Preparation and Performance. Philip A. D’Agati and Holly A. Jordan. Manchester University Press. March 2016.
- “Black, Poor, and Jewish: The Ostracism of Ethiopian Jews in Modern Israel.” In Migration Policy and Practice: Interventions and Solutions, Harald Bauder and Christian Matheis, ed. Palgrave Macmillan. September 2015.
- “Hannah Arendt: Why Now?” SPECTRA: The Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Archive, Volume 3, Issue 2, September 2014. ISSN 2162-8793.

Instructor, Virginia Tech – 2011 – 2017

As an instructor at Virginia Tech, I served as grant writer and manager, securing academic funding and grants ($1-5k annually) for a variety of academic courses, student clubs, and off-campus activities. I also taught courses across multiple disciplines, including Religion, Political Science, International Studies, and History. Responsibilities included:

Leading, recruiting for, fundraising, and reporting for the Regional and International Organizations student group. Fundraised 100% of team budget from both Virginia Tech and the U.S. Army ROTC to lead a team of 12 students to three competitive conferences. Team earned individual and group awards at every regional and national conference attended.
Serving as elected President of the ASPECT Student Association (2011-2012). Organized two-day national graduate conference attended by 100+ faculty and students. Recruited the keynote speaker for the conference and successfully fundraised 100% of their honorarium and travel costs.
Serving as Editor-In-Chief (2012-2013) and Editor Emeritus (2013-2014) of SPECTRA: Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Archives (2012-2013). Managed a seven-person team of graphic artists, copyeditors, and editors-in-training. Performed “white-glove” edits, layout, and production responsibilities. Designed journal’s website in WordPress and coordinated with the Virginia Tech University Libraries for hosting of the new site. Oversaw formation of journal’s editorial board and chaired quarterly meetings with journal board members and stakeholders.
Achievement: Nominated and named one of 10 Virginia Tech Diversity Scholars (2012-2013) from amongst graduate population of 6700+ students in recognition of service promoting diversity both within and outside of Virginia Tech.

Competencies

Education and Certifications

Humentum Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning DPro certification, August 2019
Candid Proposal Writing Bootcamp, June 2019
APMP Foundation Certification, October 2018
PhD, Political AND CULTURAL Theory, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, May 2016
Future Professoriate Graduate Certificate, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, May 2016
MA, Religion, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, August 2009
BA, Politics, Converse University (formerly Converse College), Spartanburg, SC, May 2006