Our Founder

About Shavonn Richardson MBA, GPC

 

Shavonn is a true expert in the grant writing field. With 20 years of experience as a grant writer, nonprofit leader, program manager, and federal grants reviewer, she started her career as Co-Founder of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Blue Flowers Org in 2014 after losing her grandfather to prostate cancer. Her work involved developing community solutions to address social determinants of health, patient advocacy, and advancing prostate cancer research. Shavonn also worked as a Corporate Social Responsibility Program Manager for a corporate foundation, where she helped distribute $1.3 million in grants and sponsorships to Atlanta nonprofits each year.

 

Now, as Founder and CEO at Think and Ink Grant Consulting, Shavonn and her team help organizations transform their grant-seeking strategies by providing customized, real-world solutions to help organizations "think" through grant-seeking strategies and "ink" competitive proposals.

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Shavonn holds a Grant Professional Certified (GPC) credential - an achievement earned by fewer than 450 grant professionals nationwide.  Administered by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI), the GPC certification is based on rigorous standards and ongoing research to meet the real-world demands of grant professionals. GPC-credentialed grant professionals demonstrate excellence in the grants profession. She is a Grant Professionals Association (GPA) Approved Trainer, demonstrating a grant professional skillset as well-prepared, credible, and skilled in helping people build their grants knowledge base. Shavonn is also a Forbes-published author, speaker,  and industry voice on LinkedIn through her bi-weekly newsletter, Get.Grants.Better.®

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Shavonn is committed to giving back to the grant professionals industry.  She currently serves as the national President of the Grant Professionals Association (GPA).  She has volunteered as the Corporate Giving/Sponsorships and Grants Chair for the Junior League of Atlanta. In 2017, she was recognized as an Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Diversity Fellow.  In 2023, she received the "Business Women to Watch" Award from the Atlanta Business League.

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Shavonn earned an MBA in Finance from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and a BBA from Howard University in Washington, DC.

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shavonnrichardson

Website: www.thinkandinkgrants.com

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