Hi I am Byron Bay’s Grant Writing Genie. But I wasn’t always this person. Fifteen years ago I was an entry level community worker with a passion to help young people & their families to live the best life they could. I spent the next 14 years at the coal face of community work, supporting youth & their families to navigate through the bolder strewn landscape of trauma, loss, life challenges &  financial uncertainties.

The most uncertain part of the work was funding. It was heartbreaking to know we just couldn’t afford the programs & services that the community needed. I was working for an amazing organisation that was doing important work with the community but the problem was that we were not raising enough funds to build the organisation’s capacity or reinforce our sustainability.

I hit the wall. I just could’t keep doing everything with nothing. It was then that I shifted my role away from the coal face to grant writing. Turns out I am actually really good at it!! Since July 2018 I have co-raised more than $650,000 to grow the sustainability of community work in my area.

My aim now is to help other people and Not For Profits do the same things through story coaching. What does that mean? Well the truth is, nobody knows better than you what your community needs. I just want to help others develop the skills to tell their unique story so they can pitch themselves for funding. It is a win win situation really.