Kim Joyce, GPC
Kim Joyce, GPC (Grant Professional Certified), a native of Phoenix, began her career in education and has been involved with the nonprofit sector as a grant professional, fundraising professional, and volunteer for over 20 years. In 2010, Kim founded her grant writing firm, Kim Joyce & Associates, that provides services in the areas of grant writing, prospect research, grant writing training, grant office assessments, donor cultivation coaching, and nonprofit capacity building.
Kim’s clients have included nonprofits providing services in the areas of health and human services, education, at-risk youth, homelessness, healthcare, the arts, charter schools, and faith-based organizations, as well as institutes of higher education, school districts, tribes, and units of local government. Her firm, one of the largest in Arizona, is comprised of highly skilled employees and subcontractors from across the nation and has assisted clients in receiving grant awards of more than $164 million.
Two distinctions set Kim apart from her peers in the industry: she is one of only 21 GPCs in the state of Arizona, and she is one of only 32 GPA Grant Professionals Association (GPA) Approved Trainers in the world. Kim earned her GPC certification through the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI) and is also a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) Continuing Education Approved Provider.
Kim is a proud member of GPA – Arizona Founding Chapter, the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the National Grants Management Association (NGMA), and also serves as a Board Member of the GPCI. She enjoys giving back to the community, both personally, and professionally. Kim previously served as the Board Secretary of the GPA – Arizona Founding Chapter and on various local foundation and government review panels, such as Valley of the Sun United Way, the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission, and the City of Phoenix CDBG grant review panel.
Kimberly Rogers, GPC
Kimberly Rogers, GPC, has a diverse background and over 20 years of grant writing experience at the local, county, state, and federal level. With a passion for public health, she has held numerous positions in the public health, behavioral health, and social service fields, giving her the opportunity to improve her programmatic and grants management skills in the governmental and nonprofit sectors. She received her GPC grant credential in 2017, was a presenter at the 2018 Grant Professional Association Annual Conference, and currently serves on the Grant Professional Certification Institute Board of Directors. As a former Vice President of Grants for a national behavioral health organization, Kimberly is well rounded in her understanding of grant management and fiscal accountability at the federal, state, and local levels. Her grant portfolio includes primary and behavioral health care proposals, as well as innovative grants focusing on special populations or issues, including veterans' services, youth development, LGBTQ+ programs, as well as social justice, corrections, and the southern border crisis. Kimberly graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from American Military University.
Kimberly Rogers, GPC
Allison Boyd, GPC, brings to Kim Joyce & Associates 15 years of experience in grant writing and project management. She is an active member of the Grant Professionals Association, and one of 23 Grants Professionals Certified in Texas. Allison has experience on all sides of development, from co-chairing a fundraising campaign to proposal development and implementation. Over the last 15 years, she has successfully procured over $58 million in federal, state, local, and foundation funds. Allison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Allison Boyd, GPC
Cindy DeWitt, GPC brings over 20 years of experience in community assessment, diverse partnership development, capacity building, strategic planning, grant management, evaluation, and sustainability. She has successfully written, administered, and reported on grant funding in the federal, state, and private foundation sectors. Her work focuses on health equity, food insecurity, substance abuse prevention and treatment, mental health, parent education, foster care, city infrastructure, outdoor recreation, and more. Cindy received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Arkansas Tech University and her Master of Science Degree in Community and Economic Development from the University of Central Arkansas. A Grant Professional Certified (GPC) and a member of the Grant Professionals Association, Arkansas Chapter, she is committed to ethical practices and staying current on trends in the world of nonprofit funding.
Cindy Dewitt, GPC
Audra Davis, GPC
Audra Davis provides grant writing, strategy, and research expertise, successfully securing funding from diverse federal sources (Departments of Labor, Education, Health & Human Services, CDFI, and others) and from corporate and foundation sources. Since 2011, she has helped clients raise more than $31 million for programs, operations, and capital projects such as affordable housing, foster care, healthcare, higher education, mental health, and research. Audra earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Texas Tech University. Her community involvement includes serving as an expert consultant for the Center for Nonprofit Management, past president of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of Grant Professionals Association, and board member for the Nashville Adult Literacy Council.
Audra Davis, GPC
Amanda Ripstra, GPC
Amanda Ripstra, CRA, GPC brings over 11 years of experience in grant proposal development. She has worked on all types of grant proposals from large National Science Foundation and Department of Energy proposals to small animal welfare foundation proposals. Amanda’s full-time job is Research Advancement Administrator, Senior at Arizona State University. She joins Kim Joyce & Associates as a Senior Consultant. Her previous work experience includes the Arizona Humane Society, Maricopa Community Colleges, Catholic Charities Community Services, and the City of Apache Junction through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Amanda recently earned her Certified Research Administrator (CRA) credential and has held the Grant Professional Certified (GPC) credential since 2016. Throughout her grant professional career, Amanda has been involved in the Grant Professionals Association and served as Marketing Chair for the Arizona Founding Chapter. She also served as a proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation. Amanda earned her Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Kansas and Bachelor of Science in Geography and Sociology from Florida State University.
Amanda Ripstra, GPC
Keri McDonald, GPC
Keri McDonald brings over 20 years of experience in health and human services and education policy to Kim Joyce and Associates. Since 2008, Keri has raised over $98 million in private and public sector grants. She attributes this success to her Jane-of-All-Trades work experience on both the administrative and programmatic sides of non-profits as a caseworker, communications manager, project manager, grants manager, and board member. Keri has a Master of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Round Rock, TX, and is a proud Board Member of the Lone Star Justice Alliance.
Keri McDonald, GPC
Dale Braden, GPC
Dale Braden, GPC, is a Colorado native and moved to Portland, Oregon after graduating from Colorado State University. Dale worked as a post-award grant administrator at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) for 8.5 years before leaving to work with an international nonprofit organization, Youth With A Mission. He returned to OHSU in March 2006 as research grant administrator, ensuring grant applications were complete, as well as assisting with budget preparation and application assembly. Dale worked with investigators on internal compliance, provided monthly spending projections, approved expenditure documents to ensure compliance with funding agency and internal spending policies, and managed grant effort certification. He brings grant writing and post-award grants management expertise to Kim Joyce & Associates. Dale has a passion for helping humanitarian causes such as food insecurity, housing, medical care, education, and disaster relief. He lives in Amarillo, Texas with his wife of 33 years, Pepper the dog, and Felix and Fritz the cats!
Dale Braden, GPC
Dr. Meredith Burke Hammons has a varied career in education. She taught at the high school, college, and graduate levels, worked as a librarian in public and academic libraries, and served as the assistant director of the local office of a national, education-based nonprofit. Through her library work and love for research, she began grant writing, primarily focusing on youth development, education, human services, and faith-based organizations. She is active in the Georgia Grant Professionals Association, currently serving as treasurer, and is a long-time volunteer in a local mentoring program for elementary school children. Meredith holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University, a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion from Davidson College.
Meredith Burke Hammons, Ph.D.
Smyrna, GA
Harmony Nelson
Harmony is an experienced nonprofit executive, having worked with the Boys and Girls Clubs, United Way, and multiple government and collegiate organizations in Arizona, California, and Missouri. She brings expertise in program development and management, grant writing, and management information systems. Harmony has bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and English Literature. Her non-profit experience has focused on foster care, workforce development, veterans, children’s literacy, and homelessness.
Harmony Nelson
Mesa, Arizona
Kristen Krey
Kristen serves as our Director of Government and Community Engagement. She has over thirty years of public service with direct experience in Public Safety, Community Services/Engagement, and Grants Management. She has a proven track record of executive leadership, delivering results-driven approaches, providing strategic advisory services, and successfully leading complex projects. She has also created and delivered training in numerous disciplines, including Grants Management, Project Management, Leadership Development, and Public Safety. Kristen has a BA in Criminal Justice and Political Science, an MA in Organizational Management and is a CPM, Certified Public Manager. She has served as Adjunct Professor for Webster University MBA program at Luke Airforce Base. She lives in the metro-Phoenix area.
Kristen Krey
Avondale, AZ
Becca is originally from Morrison Colorado and after graduating high school went out to Phoenix to attend Grand Canyon University. While there she gained experience in leadership, volunteer work, time management, and organizational skills. After graduation, she worked for a small company where she utilized her skills to help rapidly grow the team from 1 employee to 45. She specializes in hiring and onboarding new employees, training and implementation, and organizational management. Becca is excited to bring her experience to the Administration Division at Kim Joyce and Associates as the Human Resource Specialist.
Becca Buster
Phoenix, Arizona
Liz Gould
Liz brings 17 years of experience in the non-profit and education fields. She has worked with several non-profit organizations in various management, fundraising, and event planning roles. Liz also has a background in higher education having served as a financial aid counselor for many years. Liz is a 2005 graduate of Baldwin Wallace College with a BA in Communications.
Liz Gould
Erie, Pennsylvania
Angie Bardsley
An Illinois native, Angie Bardsley has 14 years’ experience in the nonprofit sector, working in higher education, the arts, and healthcare. Her roles have involved writing grants, conducting research, raising annual funds, leading fundraising events, and creating donor relations strategies. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Organizational Leadership from St. Ambrose University, as well as a copyediting certificate from UC San Diego Extension. She has served on the board of a local animal shelter, been the Chapter Administrator for her area’s Association of Fundraising Professionals chapter, and volunteers for a nonprofit that offers art opportunities to people impacted by cancer.
Angie Bardsley
Moline, IL
Jenna Joyce is a senior at Grand Canyon University where she is majoring in Psychology with a minor in Behavioral Health Sciences. She has varied skillsets including data entry, writing, customer relations management, and more. She has volunteered with nonprofits and youth serving organizations both nationally and internationally. She is excited to bring her love of serving others, strong academic background and attention to detail to Kim Joyce & Associates.
Jenna Joyce
Scottsdale, AZ
Laurie Pierce
After working in the for-profit world of hospitality, banking, and architecture, Laurie Pierce began her nonprofit career at Valle del Sol in Arizona. Now she has 20 years of experience developing proposals for integrated health care, behavioral health, IT health care, health and wellness-related family/youth programs, and housing for a variety of federal, state, corporate, and foundation funders. She is passionate about innovative community-based integrated health approaches that show promise. Laurie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. She has been involved with the Grant Professionals Association for more than a decade and served locally as Vice President of the Arizona Founding Chapter.
Laurie Pierce
Scottsdale, AZ
Terry Driscoll, MPA
Terry Driscoll, MPA has experience securing funding from a wide spectrum of sources, including corporate and private foundations, state and local governments, and federal grant programs. Successful federal grants he has secured include HOME and CDBG grant programs, SAMHSA, the Economic Development Association, and the Department of Labor. Throughout his career, he has obtained support for a diverse array of programs, such as workforce development, youth education, low-income housing construction, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, immigration, substance abuse treatment, parenting education, homelessness prevention/transitional housing, financial literacy, and small business technical assistance and funding. Terry is highly motivated by, and indeed thrives on, diving into new subject matter and fields.
Terry's past work history also includes nearly a decade of compliance and quality work in the private sector, as well as nonprofit program evaluation and strategic planning experience. Terry's work history has provided him a rich knowledge of the Arizona nonprofit, business, and funding landscape, as well as a skillset that enables him to envision social service programs holistically: from securing funding, through implementation, evaluation, compliance, and reporting.
Terry is a two-time Arizona State Sun Devil, earning a Bachelor of Science in Political Science with an International Relations certificate, and a Master's in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Administration.
Terry Driscoll, MPA
Phoenix, Arizona
Gena has been writing and receiving grants for programs she is passionate about since the early 2000's when she was a high school English teacher. In 2016, her enthusiasm for grant writing led her to work in Higher Education as a full-time grant writer. In this capacity, she worked with faculty and staff to develop grant proposals ranging from one thousand to multi-million dollar applications. Gena’s calling is helping people; and although she is not on the front lines, her mission is to assist those who are out in the world doing good things get the funding they need.
Gena received a BA in English at the University of Oklahoma and an MEd in Adult and Higher Education with an Emphasis in English at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Gena Ford
Norman, Oklahoma
Barbara Polston
Barbara Polston brings 24 years of proposal writing experience and joins Kim Joyce & Associates as a Senior Grants Specialist. Despite achieving success with her first grant proposal, Barbara Polston never set out to be a grant professional. A talent for writing and a passion to improve the world led her to a successful career in proposal and contract writing. She has won millions of dollars through foundation, corporation, and government grants and contracts for human services agencies. Now, semi-retired, Barbara is happy to be part of the Kim Joyce & Associates team and contribute to client success. She earned a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from San Francisco Theological Seminary and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management through the Nonprofit Management Institute of Arizona State University. When not writing proposals, Barbara can be found in her quilt studio or working on a series of children's books.
Barbara Polston
Tucson, Arizona
Tomi Simmons
Tomi Simmons was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. After graduating high school, she went to McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, and earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science. There Tomi was involved in sports, journalism, creative writing, and theatre on campus. She did a full year of AmeriCorps VISTA with a nonprofit that helps families overcome poverty in McPherson County. Tomi became passionate about community and the development of nonprofits through her experience of serving as a VISTA.
Tomi Simmons
Phoenix, AZ
Andrea brings expertise in the education field, programs that benefit children and adolescents, and making the heart connection between organizations and funders. After several years of volunteering, teaching, and grant writing for a local school system, she made a career change from retail bank management to following her passion. Andrea is experienced in persuasive and effective writing across the grant proposal process, assessing educational impacts and metrics, and prospect research. Andrea is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell (BA, English, Writing Concentration) and earned two fundraising certificates at Arizona State University Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation, Grant Development: State and Foundation Proposals and Advanced Grant Development: Federal Proposals. She is also a member of the Grant Professionals Association.
Andrea Forsmo
Groton, Massachusetts
Noreen Skelton
Noreen is a Montana native but now resides in Salmon, ID and is a proud military veteran. Noreen served in the Air Force for 24 years and specialized in the Human Resource realm of leadership and organizational development. After retirement, she spent five years working as a government consultant where her expertise in organizational development and change management helped many of the Department of Defense intelligence agencies located in Washington D.C. implement vital processes and procedures needed to accomplish organizational mission objectives.
In the spirit of serving her country, Noreen decided on a career change into grant writing where her desire is to help organizations obtain vital funding that allows them to serve and strengthen the fabric of their communities. To prepare for this new career, Noreen achieved a Masters’ Degree in Grants Management & Evaluation through Concordia University Chicago. She is also a member of the Grant Professionals Association Idaho Founding Chapter.
Noreen also holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Organizational Management. She is very active in her community and volunteers at numerous nonprofits and serves on the financial board of the local hospital.
Noreen Skelton
Salmon, ID