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Emily is a social work trained professional who is excited to help nonprofits advance their work for social justice and community enrichment with strategic grant writing. She brings a diverse set of professional experiences in the nonprofit sector to bear on this work, in both advocacy and direct service. She has facilitated conflict resolution using restorative justice practices, helped individuals experiencing homelessness receive disability benefits, and promoted strategic communications on climate change and clean energy. Emily got her start as a grassroots organizer in the youth movement for action on climate change.
Emily holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where she specialized in Community Action & Social Policy and engaged in qualitative research on the emotions of activists for her master’s thesis. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, with minors in Environmental and Religious Studies, from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
When she isn’t working, Emily enjoys spending time outdoors, going to museums, perfecting her cooking techniques, and hanging out with her little rescue mutt, Pepper.
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.
Elena is excited to bring nearly eight years of experience in arts and humanities fundraising to her work at Elevate and her clients. Prior to joining Elevate, Elena most recently held grants management positions at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and at the Folger Shakespeare Library where she focused on writing grants for initiatives ranging from scholarly research projects to performances and exhibitions to arts and literacy-building education programs to rare materials acquisitions. She has a particular passion for serving the performing arts and arts education sectors, and for exploring new ways to optimize strategic planning, evaluation, and infrastructure development processes for arts nonprofits.
Elena supports arts work in the region by serving on the Board of Directors for Gourmet Symphony and volunteering as a judge for the Helen Hayes Awards. She is also an active member of the Grant Professionals Association. She holds a MA in Arts Management from George Mason University and a BM in Instrumental Music Education from The Catholic University of America.
When not at work, Elena maintains a profile as a freelance professional clarinetist and can be found museum-hopping, being a habitual patron of many local theaters, or enjoying the eclectic culinary scene of Washington, DC.
Rachel brings over 10 years of fundraising and consulting experience to the Elevate team along with passion for education, health, and social justice. Prior to joining Elevate, Rachel worked in development for several nonprofits in the Boston area. Rachel’s expertise in donor strategy and cultivation coupled with her creative spirit led to many successes in institutional and major donor fundraising. Rachel also worked in consulting for public sector clients such as the Federal Transportation Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Office of Personnel Management, among others. In her consulting role, Rachel contributed to several successful public sector proposal wins. Prior to starting graduate school in 2010, Rachel spent a year living and working in Paris, France.
Rachel earned her Master of Business Administration in Nonprofit Management and Master of Science in International Health Policy from Brandeis University. In 2011, Rachel was a member of the winning team of the Food for Health Business Plan Competition, resulting in $25,000 in start-up funding for the team’s idea. Rachel also completed her BA in Political Science at Brandeis University (Go Judges!).
In her free time, Rachel enjoys playing and watching soccer, crafting, drinking a good cup of tea while reading something interesting, watching and re-watching the Great British Baking show or Planet Earth, and exploring the DMV area with her husband, Pascal, and twin sons, Luca and Noah.
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At Elevate, Stephanie specializes in supporting clients on the frontline of social change to be the best they can be. Her expertise lies in institutional fundraising strategy and writing for policy, research, advocacy, organizing, and grassroots power building programs. Through all her work, she focuses on driving resources to organizations committed to challenging and changing systems for the better.
Stephanie has built a career helping nonprofits of all sizes achieve innovative and sustainable outcomes to complex problems. Prior to Elevate, she worked with Save the Children and Council for a Strong America to raise funding for local, state and national advocacy programs focused on early childhood education and children’s health. Previously, she worked in the progressive national security community on issue campaigns focused on the pentagon budget and nuclear weapons.
Before moving to Washington, DC, Stephanie was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine, where she spearheaded community development projects on maternal health, gender development, HIV/AIDS awareness, workforce development, leadership, and volunteerism. She continues this work raising humanitarian support for the people of Kherson, Ukraine who have been overwhelmingly impacted by Russian aggression and occupation.
Her career began in student organizing with the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network at the University of Michigan where she earned a Master of Public Policy in Nonprofit Management and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Mathematics. Stephanie is a fan of all things Michigan Wolverines, an avid risk-taker, and proud resident of Kingman Park, where she resides with her two kids, partner, and Doug the Dog.
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Sushmita, who goes by her nickname, Nanu, joined Elevate as a Grant Writer in 2018. During her time at Elevate, she has helped her clients build sustainable grant programs through her strong project management and technical writing skills. Nanu works with a wide range of both direct service and advocacy organizations, including nonprofits that focus on health, addiction recovery, housing, youth development, and investigative journalism.
Prior to joining Elevate, Nanu spent a year teaching literature and creative writing as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Calcutta, India. She also volunteered as a content writer at Tiljala SHED, a Calcutta-based nonprofit that provides educational services and financial aid to ragpickers (waste collectors).
Nanu graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BA in English. Outside of her coursework, she enjoyed working as a writing tutor on campus and volunteering as a science tutor at a local middle school.
On the weekends, you can find her exploring the city, trying new recipes, or relaxing with a cup of tea. When she’s not writing grants, she also enjoys writing prose and poetry on her blog, Aksharbet.
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Max came to Elevate after nearly a decade in the nonprofit field, with a focus on helping political and advocacy organizations build modern, responsive fundraising programs. Most recently Max worked as Development Manager at Common Cause, working to build and diversify their funding, and previously worked for People For the American Way, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and his alma mater George Mason University, where he received a BA in Government & International Politics, with minors in History and Religious Studies in 2011.
In his free time Max can be found performing comedy in DC venues large and small, taking elaborately staged pictures of his girlfriend’s cat, and curating an ever-growing list of podcast recommendations.
Gabie joined the Elevate team in 2018 as a Grant Writer with a passion for sustainable development and gender equality. During her time at Elevate, she has supported the expansion of her clients’ grant calendars through her strong prospect research skills as well as played a key strategic role in their program developments. Gabie specializes in working with direct service, nonprofit clients that focus on family services, youth development, and post-secondary education access and persistence.
Prior to joining Elevate, Gabie worked in the research department of the Advisory Board Company, which combines research, technology, and consulting to improve over 3,000 hospitals and healthcare networks across the globe. She also worked with Women Empowerment Link, a grassroots organization in Nairobi, Kenya, where she supported survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Kenyan communities.
Gabie graduated from American University with a BA in International Service and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Active in her campus community, Gabie was a recipient of the Eagle Involvement Award and the Founder’s Senior Excellence Award, one of the highest university campus awards granted to undergraduate students.
Outside the world of writing, you can most likely find Gabie at her spin studio where she teaches cycling.
Molly comes to Elevate from the National Council of Nonprofits, where, she worked in communications, network support, and policy research. At the Council she was immersed in work and conversations around policies affecting the sector, national and local advocacy, as well as capacity building and governance best practices. She loves that she gets to work with a broad array of nonprofits and causes at Elevate. She has a constitutive desire to write and write well, and she is deeply invested in conveying her client’s missions persuasively.
Molly holds an MA in Literature from American University in Washington, D.C., where she graduated with the Outstanding Academic Achievement award. In her graduate studies she focused on 20th and 21st century American literature, theories of social change, and cultural studies. She has a BA in Journalism, with a minor in history.
Outside of work, Molly can be found fretting over a To-Read list with a mind of its own, finding something to do outdoors, or getting offended by the “Are You Still Watching?” Netflix prompt. It is one of her lifelong goals to have a black lab named Pongo.
Tessa brings an avid and long-time interest in working with and supporting nonprofits to her role at Elevate. She is chiefly interested in the ways organizations and their funders can collaborate to most effectively achieve their goals. Over the last several years, Tessa has explored many aspects of the food world from working on a dairy farm in Australia, to running a CSA program for SNAP recipients in Boston. Prior to joining the Elevate team, Tessa worked as a Program Associate at the Center for Food Safety, a national nonprofit and environmental advocacy organization. There, she supported legal and policy work on a diverse range of environmental issues including climate change, soil health, and pollinator protection.
Tessa graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a BA in Sustainable Development and Sociology and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Association of New York. While at Columbia, she tailored her studies towards sustainable food systems, spending a semester in Dublin at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science.
As a newcomer to DC, Tessa can often be found exploring different areas of the city and trying out every dining establishment she comes across. When she isn’t sampling tacos from her favorite neighborhood spot, Tessa satisfies her love of museum wandering by taking full advantage of the Smithsonian’s free entry–the best deal in town! Now if she can only adopt a dog…
