One of our key missions at GPLH is to provide educational information, for grant writers interested in enhancing their skills, and for aspiring grant writers looking to learn more about the profession. Towards that goal, we offer numerous educational programs, resources on our website, one-on-one mentoring, and plenty of opportunities to network with and learn from experienced, successful grant writers.
John Scuderi, a member of the GPLH Board since 2021, made use of all of these resources when he decided to enter the grant writing field. In this article, he shares how beneficial all of these tools were to him as he launched his new career:
Since May 2, I have been the grant writer at Cristo Rey New York High School in East Harlem. My school, which opened in 2004, is one of 38 Catholic, college-prep schools in a coast-to-coast network that shares the same social-justice mission: to provide opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds to go to college, build careers, and climb out of poverty. Our school has been tremendously successful at getting our students to college, and our students have been tremendously successful at earning their bachelors’ degrees once they get there.
In my six months on the job, the school has secured $695,000 in grants. Most of these are renewals with funders who have been supporting the school for several years, but one is an $80,000, two-year grant that our school won in a competition against other Cristo Rey Network schools. The Director of Admissions and I collaborated on our school’s proposal, which was one of six chosen in a network-wide effort to boost enrollment. I also have submitted proposals for another $429,500 in renewals – all of which my boss expects will be approved. If my boss is correct, then my work will have yielded $1.1 million for the school in just half a year!
Grant Professionals of Lower Hudson is a major reason why I have been able to reach this point. The guidance, support, and professional development I received from the people at GPLH prepared me for success as a grant writer at Cristo Rey. Alison Paul, Joanne Stewart, and Lisa Keogh all deserve special thanks, but many others in the organization were patient with me and generous with their time, and their expertise contributed to my growth as a grant writer.
When I joined GPLH in 2020, my career was in transition. After more than 25 years as a sports reporter and copy editor at the Gannett-owned daily newspapers in Westchester, I was looking for a new role that would put my journalism skill set to good use. I was able to land a variety of freelance assignments, so my work was getting published in books, in newspapers, in a local magazine, and online. But it was always in the “gig economy.” I wanted something more sustainable, a second career that hopefully would carry me to a happy retirement.
Several unsuccessful job interviews went by as I continued searching for a full-time staff position. The passing years and repeated rejections took a bite out of my confidence. But after many, many discussions – with my career coach, a cousin who worked as a grant writer in New Jersey, and numerous professional contacts – I decided that grant writing might be the right fit. Unlike the journalism field, grant writing offered several professional organizations that presented numerous opportunities for networking. Still, I wasn’t fully convinced that I really belonged in the grant-writing world. We work in a fast-paced, tech-driven economy, and as a middle-aged person, I worried that a career change might not be a realistic goal for me.
In GPLH, I found a collaborative group of like-minded professionals who welcomed me as their peer. My age and lack of grant-writing experience didn’t seem to matter. Almost immediately after becoming a GPLH member, I was encouraged to join the Board as a way to gain contacts and increase my level of involvement. Alison Paul’s online grant-writing course (offered through Westchester Community College) strengthened the foundation I had started to build through seminars and webinars. Some GPLH contacts shared the stories of the paths their careers had taken. Others served as mentors and connected me to opportunities to apply for grants as a consultant.
With the help of GPLH, I grew to the point where last spring, Cristo Rey New York High School could see that I was the right candidate to fill its vacated position of grant writer. To all my good friends at GPLH, I send my sincerest thanks!
