Pronouns : she / her / hers
As an experienced project coordinator, Claire brings a passion for increasing educational equity to the Elevate team and its clients. In her former role with Americorps, she managed a maker-focused education program and associated grants for an Oakland, California school.
She has also contributed her skills to various education nonprofits in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, most recently, serving as a teaching artist at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, where she designed and implemented a middle school-making course.
A Bay Area native, Claire holds a BA in Applied Mathematics from UC Berkeley, where she graduated with honors. Outside of work, Claire enjoys hanging by one of Pittsburgh’s many rivers, cooking meals with friends and taking her dog Rollo out on the town.
Pronouns: they/them
Mel believes in facing the multi-faceted challenges of our time by connecting resources with the people who need them. They previously interned at two policy think tanks in DC and learned a lot from fast-paced, hard-working Development Directors. At the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, they helped write resources for partner fundraising staff and make donor reports easily understood.
Mel earned their BA in Psychology at George Mason University with a minor in Philosophy and Law. At university, where they presented an undergraduate thesis to a committee of experts as part of an Honors Psychology program and were awarded as an Outstanding Senior. They previously volunteered writing newsletters for EcoRing, a green travel nonprofit based in California. At Elevate, they have worked with a number of clients across the nonprofit sector, from homelessness to refugee services to education.
Outside of work, Mel enjoys playing board games (anything besides Monopoly) with their partner, and cuddling with their two cats, Raini and Zuzu. They also spend time making lots of art!
Ren leads Elevate’s capacity planning and staffing function within the Client Services department to ensure each client receives high-quality services. Ren also specializes in writing grants for clients on a range of issues, primarily focusing on health services, policy and advocacy, youth development, and services for individuals experiencing homelessness. Ren’s clients report that they have a knack for learning deeply about their programs and funding landscape to develop strategic grants that are highly competitive for funding. Ren draws from their own experiences as a Grant Writer to support the career development of Elevate staff.
Ren has followed a passion for promoting access to health services in the United States and abroad throughout their career. While pursuing their Master of Social Work, Ren saw how access to high-quality physical and mental health care plays a vital role in enabling individuals to achieve their fullest potential.
Before joining Elevate, they worked as a Graduate Assistant for the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program, where Ren assisted with writing grants for their programs in Liberia and Haiti. Ren was also an intern with Georgia State Representative Shelly Hutchinson, where they conducted research and wrote policy briefs related to improving access to health services, immigrant rights, and criminal justice reform.
Ren graduated from the University of Georgia with a Master of Social Work and a certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. They also have a BS in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University.
In their free time, Ren loves doing anything outdoors! In particular, they enjoy hiking and playing ultimate frisbee.
Pronouns: she/her
Janelle has a passion for social justice and fairness in the global community. Her commitment to this ideal manifested in her work as a paralegal in Hawaii working for fair credit reporting laws. After relocating to Fredericksburg, Virginia, Janelle joined the staff at the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center where she sought to inspire justice through her support of art and story at the Museum. While at the museum, Janelle worked as the volunteer coordinator, development assistant, and, most recently, as the education coordinator where she developed programs that used art education to confront historic and current injustices in her community. In an effort to expand the program’s reach to marginalized communities, Janelle began writing grants to fund scholarships for low income students.
In 2015, Janelle took a leap of faith at an opportunity to reduce her carbon footprint and bought a vintage sailboat to live aboard while undertaking its restoration. She apprenticed with a marine engineering company and learned the basics of sailing, marine electrical and mechanical maintenance, solar and wind power technologies, woodworking and varnishing, and crewed several coastal and offshore deliveries. In the summertime, Janelle teaches sailing in down east Maine and is working toward her Mate’s license through the US Coast Guard. Janelle also writes and edits articles for maritime publications.
Janelle holds BAs in Philosophy and American Studies from the University of Mary Washington, formerly Mary Washington College. She graduated cum laude and was the honors graduate in the American Studies department where she focused her studies on the political and cultural causes of the Civil War and the War’s lingering legacy. For her academic contributions in the civil rights field and her stated career goals, Janelle was awarded the James Farmer scholarship and was elected president of the college’s Phi Alpha Theta chapter.
When not at work, Janelle can be found at Fred’s Theatre where she acts, sells tickets, cultivates donors, cleans floors, or performs one of the other multitudes of jobs needed to ensure the show goes on! If Janelle had one piece of advice to give the world, it would be to find your creative self and nurture it.
Rashida brings to Elevate more than 19 years of experience in grant writing, program planning, research, evaluation, and nonprofit management. She has a passion for working on issues related to health disparities, reproductive justice, and gender equity.
Before joining the Elevate team, Rashida served as the Director of Fundraising and Development at AIDS United. Prior to that, she was on the grants team at the United Way of Central Maryland.
Over the past ten years, Rashida has worked domestically and internationally to develop and implement various education, social service, and public health intervention activities.
In her free time, Rashida can be found reading, seeking out good coffee, and spending time with friends and family.
Stacy brings to Elevate a desire to help nonprofit organizations achieve success through strong and stable funding. As a senior director at Elevate, Stacy supports a variety of nonprofit clients, including those working in early childhood education, higher education, human services, and veteran support. She has experience working with both direct service and advocacy clients to obtain national and regional/local funding. Stacy has a background in public policy and grant writing and worked for over 10 years at the U.S. Department of Education. She also worked as a grant writing consultant, helping public schools develop and write successful grant applications for government and foundation funding in order for them to fulfill their mission of providing all students with a high-quality education.
Stacy holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland where she won a fellowship for her work in the School of Public Policy, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and other honor societies.
Outside of her role at Elevate, Stacy enjoys watching her children’s extracurricular activities, reading, and spending time with family and friends.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Erin is Elevate’s Associate Director of Technology & Data, managing our data and technology teams. She brings several years of experience in building out Elevate’s internal infrastructure to this role, as she has held several positions in the operations department since first joining the company in 2019. Prior to joining Elevate, Erin worked for a trade association in Washington, DC where she focused on providing excellent administrative support.
Erin graduated from The University of Vermont, where she received a double BA in Political Science and Economics. During her time at UVM, she spent three semesters performing research on the relationship between politics and the entertainment media. She also spent her last semester working as a Student Researcher for the Vermont Legislative Research Service, examining complex policy issues and providing research reports for State Legislators.
Outside of Elevate, you can find Erin volunteering as an election judge, taking her rescue dog, Carmela Soprano, for walks, and watching a lot of reality tv.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Sarah has been with Elevate since 2019 and is currently a Supervising Director, working with Grant Writers and Senior Grantwriters, and serving on Elevate’s Continuous Improvement team. Her passion lies in the performing arts, with a focus on theatre, puppetry, and the aerial arts. Over the past four years, Sarah has worked with many of Elevate’s arts and arts education clients, in addition to community organizing and policy advocacy nonprofits.
A founding company member of DC-based Pointless Theatre, Sarah spent the decade prior to joining Elevate creating adventurous art in the nation’s capital. She also enjoys volunteering with the Miss District of Columbia Scholarship organization, serving as Co-Producer for the annual competition and helping to prepare local titleholders for the national Miss America scholarship competition. She received a BA in Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Pronouns: she / her/ hers
Hallie is Elevate’s Supervising Director of Finance and Operations, leading our finance, data, and technology teams. She brings several years of experience in building out Elevate’s internal infrastructure to this leadership role, as she has held several positions in the department since first joining the company in 2018. Hallie was introduced to Elevate during her time as a fund development intern at the TGR Foundation – a previous client. She also brings experience as the Operations Manager at the American Immigration Council, supporting their Immigration Justice Campaign that works to provide legal representation to immigrants and end immigration detention. She has also worked with Olympic athletes as a Communications Intern at USA Water Polo and as a Corporate Partnerships intern with the Los Angeles Football Club.
Hallie earned her BS in Business Administration from Chapman University in Southern California with a minor in Philosophy, and has a financial leadership certification from Harvard Online Business School. In college, Hallie played NCAA softball for one year, and has a long history of volunteering with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Epilepsy Foundation, two causes near and dear to her. While she enjoys walking around DC with a coffee in hand, her heart is on the West Coast as she hails from the Pacific Northwest. In her free time, Hallie is enjoying live music and taking care of her many plants.
Rachel is driven by the desire to be part of positive social change. She came to Elevate after honing her passion for nonprofit work at various organizations in Rochester, NY as a volunteer, an intern, and a fellow. In these roles, she gained firsthand experience with advocacy and community engagement as well as nonprofit development. Having always loved the written word and how powerful it can be in bringing people together, she is excited to use her writing to further the work of nonprofits whose work is invaluable to communities and the individuals they serve.
Rachel earned her BA in Public Health with a concentration in Health, Behavior, and Society and a minor in Philosophy from the University of Rochester. As her studies largely focused on maternal and child health and global health, she also designed and conducted her own anthropological research in Malawi and was a research assistant on multiple public health research projects at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
When Rachel isn’t writing grants, she likes to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends and listen to music. As a newcomer to the DC area, she can be found exploring the city looking for good food and visiting the botanic gardens.
