Maureen Bonnefin

About Maureen Bonnefin

Creative, competent, resourceful, and adaptable; these are the qualities that make me an excellent grant consultant leading to more than $276M in grant funding over the course of my career. Currently, I enjoy coaching visionaries through the process of submitting highly competitive grant proposals by helping them identify, refine, and clearly communicate their ideas. My background as an educator informs my methods when coaching and teaching proposal writing, grant development, and grant management skills. My diplomatic and flexible communication style allows me to either lead or become a valuable contributor to any team. Having a varied and diverse background allows me to understand, communicate, and most importantly coach a wide range of clients. Additionally, as a Certified Research Administrator I not only work with clients to develop a clear rationale for funding, I also know what it takes to manage and execute the project. This allows me to provide clients with guidance for developing a realistic and executable scope of work.Over the course of my career, I have worked on >856 grant proposals, winning everything from $500 grants from small non-profit funders to a $160M NSF ENGINE. I am what the grant profession calls a generalist; capable of working across disciplines and impact areas. However, I currently focus on projects that empower communities and build innovative technological solutions. My academic background is in mathematics, education, and business, and I grew up in a surprisingly diverse rural agricultural community that faced challenges including water resource issues, natural resource conservation, and health disparities to name a few. The projects that currently get me excited involve innovative technology where I can use my mathematics background to nerd out about the future, and rural community development initiatives focused on empowering historically marginalized populations where I can use my background as an educator and business woman to help create programs that will truly make a difference. I also have a soft spot for training, education, or after-school programs, and anything to do with agriculture, natural resource conservation, or technologies that will improve lives. I especially love working with those new to grant writing (early career academics and those new to community and economic development) on small projects, and I enjoy working with more established teams to create large projects with regional and global impacts.

Experience

1. Strategic Grant Consultant & CEO

   Affinity Grant Insights Llc

   Apr 2022 — Present

   As a strategic grant consultant, I work with grant seekers to plan, develop, draft, and submit grant proposals, bringing in >$30.5M to date. I provide grant writing training, one-on-one grant coaching, and tools and resources for success. Through these processes, I work with clients to identify, refine, and clearly communicate their ideas for projects of significant community and/ or intellectual impact. This process often starts with an extensive set of strategic planning meetings and idea mapping sessions. I then work with clients to develop proposal outlines, write grant proposals, review proposals for plot holes/ RFP alignment, and edit proposals to develop a clear logical argument. I also provided templates, guidance, and strategies for supplementary documents including, but not limited to: management plans, facilities, equipment & other resources, data management, diversity equity and inclusion plans, evaluation, and budget justifications. I also work with organizational leaders to build the capacity of their grant support teams. As CEO I work in tandem with my partner to develop the strategic vision, and service plans of the company. I lead the day-to-day operations, including being the point contact for inquiries and partnership building, which includes reviewing, negotiating and/ or developing service contracts. I also lead the financial aspects of the company including the bookkeeping and tax preparation.

Education

• Cal Poly Humboldt

  Post-Baccalaureate, Single Subject California Teaching Credential, Mathematics

  2004 — 2005

• Cal Poly Humboldt

  Bachelor’s Degree, Mathematics Education

  2000 — 2004

Skills

• Training & Development
• Proposal Management
• Dance Instruction
• Grant Administration
• Budgeting
• Proposal Support
• Budget Monitoring
• Social Media
• Computer Proficiency
• Tutoring
• Instructor-Led Training
• Microsoft Excel
• Leadership
• Contract Management
• Research
• Customer Service
• Event Planning
• Mathematical Analysis
• Enterprise Software
• Federal Grant Management
• Budget Forecasts
• Higher Education Administration
• Nonprofits
• Critical Thinking
• Workshop Facilitation
• Contract Negotiation
• Federal Agencies