Emily is passionate about supporting her clients’ forward-thinking and effective work in the DC area and beyond. Prior to joining Elevate, she served as the Senior Communications & Development Associate at the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) in Arlington, VA, where she supported the organization’s fundraising, event planning, and communications activities. Before working at APAH, Emily served as the year-long Programs Assistant at Catholic Volunteer Network. She also completed a year of service with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps while working as the Development Assistant at an interfaith organization in Omaha, NE.
Emily graduated from Villanova University with majors in Political Science and Theology & Religious Studies. She is a Fall 2015 graduate of the Leadership Arlington Leadership Center for Excellence’s Young Professionals Program.
When she is not working with clients at Elevate, you can find Emily watching a beloved sports team (Nats, Caps, and Villanova Wildcats), trying a new happy hour spot, or giving endless attention to her dog, Oreo.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
As Elevate’s first Vice President of Client Services, Kelsey leads work to continuously improve all client services and develop systems and processes to support the career development of all 50+ client-facing staff. She is a member of Elevate’s 4-person executive team and leads the Client Services Management Team.
Kelsey first joined Elevate as a Grant Writer in August 2014, at a time when the company could still fit all staff around a single conference table. From that position, she grew along with Elevate, taking leadership roles on client teams and, eventually, as a member of the management team. In her current role, Kelsey strives to support staff members’ professional growth within the company, navigate the growth and evolution of the Client Services department, and build relationships with other consultants and nonprofit leaders working to strengthen the sector. “Getting Better at Everything, All the Time” remains her favorite Elevate value.
While Kelsey no longer serves Elevate clients directly, she continues to leverage her experience fundraising in the arts, education, and social services fields to support staff and consult with clients exploring changes to their contract to meet evolving needs and develop new tools to strengthen our services to clients.
Kelsey serves on the board of Jubilee JumpStart, an award-winning early childhood education center in Adams Morgan. She is a graduate of Grinnell College in Iowa.
Pronouns: she/her
Ava has a passion for the arts and a background in nonprofit development. She worked for eight years as a performer, teaching artist, and fundraiser with nonprofit organizations in both California and the DC area, including: California Shakespeare Theater, Round House Theatre, and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. Most recently, Ava served as the Development Manager for Blue Star Families, a nonprofit organization that provides free resources to more than 1.5 million military family members. In this role she was the project manager and principal writer for a variety of print and electronic fundraising materials.
Ava is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Emerging Arts Leaders DC. She earned a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and graduated cum laude with a BFA in Acting from Brooklyn College.
Ava is a native Californian, who has happily adjusted to the DC arts scene. She can often be found going to plays, concerts, and museums, or dancing at 18th Street Lounge.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Mary brings a lifelong passion for service and youth development to Elevate. In her role, she is committed to making DC nonprofits better by leveraging the unique vantage points and perspectives that local nonprofits bring. Before joining Elevate in 2014, she spent seven years working with Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma. While working for the Girl Scouts, she facilitated programs for youth and volunteers, including mentoring for children and their incarcerated mothers, bully prevention, financial literacy, outdoor recreation skills, and youth leadership development.
Mary graduated from the University of Tulsa, earning her BA in Women’s and Gender Studies with a minor in English Literature. While at the University of Tulsa, her studies focused on the intersections of history, film, literature, and feminist theory, and enabled her to critically review power structures around gender, race, sexuality, and class throughout American history.
Outside of Elevate, Mary is a self-declared history nerd and enjoys watching her dog play at the dog park and reading fantasy/sci-fi novels.
Christine brings her educational and professional background in conflict resolution to Elevate. A certified mediator, Christine was the Development Assistant at Mines Advisory Group (MAG) America, helping raise funds for a $17 million humanitarian demining organization. Prior to that she was a Policy Analyst for Voices For Sudan, focusing on the organization’s social media platforms and external communication reports. In her role as Director of Project Coordination, she provides ongoing support to Elevate’s Project Coordinators, ensuring that they are equipped to meet clients’ diverse needs. She brings a deep understanding of database management and administrative tasks to her position, and is committed to ensuring quality systems implementation at Elevate.
Before joining the Elevate team in 2014, Christine earned her MA in Conflict Resolution at Georgetown University and her BA in English Literature at the University of Sussex.
Although she was born in Rochester, NY, she has lived in the greater DC area for the past 18 years. She is a recent adoptive parent to a rambunctious Aussie Shepherd mutt puppy, appropriately named Ruckus.
Patricia has a strong desire to help her teams and clients achieve their full potential and make a positive impact in the lives of the people they serve. Prior to joining Elevate, she interned at Monumental Sports & Entertainment in their Executive Suites Department and was also an Operations Intern at Most Valuable Kids. At Most Valuable Kids, Patricia supported underserved youth in DC in making social and academic progress through various cultural and sporting events. She then gained significant development experience as a Relay for Life Committee Member at the American Cancer Society, where she helped raise over $250,000 by recruiting teams and volunteers, assisting in acquiring in-kind donations, managing a database of all registered teams, and tracking all team financial donations.
Patricia continues to dedicate herself to nonprofit work by regularly volunteering for various organizations, including the American Cancer Society and Special Olympics. She holds a Master’s Degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University and has a BS in Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, exploring museums, traveling, going to Trivia Nights, and watching Netflix.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Elevate’s Vice President of New Client Partnerships, Jessica is responsible for all marketing and new business development at Elevate. She also supports the company’s Specialized Grant Services department. Leaning into her own experience as a grant writer and her background in nonprofit strategy, program design, and management, Jessica brings a deep understanding of the “pain points” nonprofits face and a strategic approach to addressing these through smart grant programs.
Jessica joined Elevate in 2016 as a team Director, and held roles within Elevate’s management and business development teams before joining the executive team in 2022. She is an experienced nonprofit professional with a background in corporate and foundation fundraising, program design, strategy, and partnerships. Prior to Elevate, Jessica worked in development and program management roles at the National Recreation and Park Association and the National Environmental Education Foundation, both based in the DC region. She also spent two years in her early career teaching high school biology in Northern Virginia.
A native of Atlanta, Jessica earned an MEd in Secondary Science Education at Georgia State University and a BS in Applied Biology at Georgia Tech.
When not at work, you may find Jessica on the tennis court, in her kitchen, buried in an e-book, or traveling to Brooklyn to play “auntie.” Jessica works from her home in Falls Church, Virginia, where she lives with her husband, their middle schooler, and Georgie, a special needs pup that regularly features on Elevate social media.
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Alayna has been a grant writer and nonprofit consultant for her entire career. She founded Elevate in 2013 to work with a team of grant writers and to make the highest-level development expertise accessible to nonprofit organizations around the country. Since then, she has overseen Elevate’s growth to one of the country’s leading grant writing firms, serving hundreds of nonprofits since its founding, and employing over 80 staff around the country. Today, Alayna sets the organization’s vision and purpose; leads Elevate’s Executive Team; and oversees its core departments. She also works closely with her staff to develop new products and services that will improve the lives of nonprofit leaders.
Alayna graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Philosophy and Public Policy and Honors in Ethics in Society in 2006. In 2015, she became a licensed consultant by the Standards of Excellence in 2015, was named ‘40 under 40’ by Leadership Arlington, and became a member of EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization), the global thought leader on entrepreneurship. Alayna is proud that as a women-owned business, Elevate has been named one of the country’s fastest growing businesses by Inc. 5000 every year it has applied. Alayna is also a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and American Grant Writers Association.
Alayna has two adorable dogs, both pittie rescues: Tucker Q. Buckner and Greyson Rex Buckner, who like to make a vocal appearance during Zoom calls. She is an avid baker, reader, and podcast aficionado. She can most often be found at Wydown Cafe or one of DC’s other local coffee shops.
Michelle comes to Elevate with a passion for education, youth development, and the performing arts. Most recently, she served as the Manager of Digital Communications at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, where she helped the Individual and Institutional Fundraising teams raise millions of dollars annually to support the Foundation’s arts and education programs. Michelle also brings experience in grant writing, web development and design, and content marketing from her years in the nonprofit sector prior to joining the Elevate team.
Michelle holds a BA in Linguistics with a concentration in Language and Society and a minor in Dance from the University of California, San Diego.
When she’s not sitting at her laptop, she can be found re-watching her favorite episodes of 30 Rock, pirouetting in her kitchen when she thinks no one’s looking, or indulging her inner Californian by exploring Northern Virginia’s wineries.
