23 November, 2015, – Alexandra Bowles, Founder of Atlas Grant Solutions, Roanoke, VA, has been appointed development consultant for Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP). A 21-member organization founded in 2012 and currently based in Lexington, Virginia, SHECP equips college students to address the problem of poverty, as future professionals and citizens by expanding opportunities to study the meanings, causes, and consequences of poverty in a wide range of disciplines.
Ms. Bowles bring great experience in grant proposal writing and program planning, I has secured nearly $24 million for nonprofits and agencies through proposals to government, private, corporate, and community foundations.
Throughout her career as a grant proposal writer and program planner, Ms. Bowles has secured nearly $24 million for nonprofits and agencies through proposals to federal, state, and local government, as well as private, corporate, and community foundations. “Alex combines technical expertise with the passion to promote poverty studies and innovate ideas about funding SHECP programming,” said SHECP executive director, Harlan Beckley. “She is a key addition to our staff.”
Ms. Bowles will establish timelines, create plans of action, and work closely with SHECP staff and partner agencies ensure that our program is competitive, sustainable, and effective. A graduate of the College of William and Mary, Ms. Bowles began her career in grantsmanship as a Planner with Total Action for Progress (TAP), a Community Action Agency located in Roanoke, Virginia. During her tenure at TAP, Alex funded a variety of multi-million dollar programs, including Fathers First (funded by the Department of Health and Human Services) and Young Adult Life Enhancement (Department of Labor). She also expanded funding for TAP-This Valley Works, the agency’s $5 million employment training and education component.
“SHECP’s mission aligns with my personal and professional values. In addition to having provided countless hours of service both domestically and internationally, I’ve dedicated my career to supporting nonprofits that seek to alleviate poverty and create a more equitable society,” said Ms. Bowles who has studied in Cairo, Capetown, in addition to Williamsburg, VA. She has also lived and worked in Kenya; Washington, DC; and Roanoke, Virginia. “The work of the SHECP resonates with me and I think that preparing young people to tackle poverty, both in their professional and personal lives, is a noble pursuit.”
SHECP governing body recently adopted a new strategic plan after two years of committee work. James Calvin Davis, Ph.D, Professor of Religion and Academic Director of the Privilege & Poverty Initiative at Middlebury College served a Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. The SHECP Council is currently chaired by Margaret Finucane, Ph.D., professor at John Carroll University and Director of the University’s Center for Service and Social Action.
The new plan calls a slow and steady increase in institutional membership and an increase in staff and funding to support more members and programming. It sets two major goals with benchmarks related to membership, governance, leadership, fundraising leading to 2017. Ms. Bowles work will be critical to the success of the plan.
“We seek to transform the study of poverty in the United States, by leading the development of undergraduate poverty studies programs and by supporting innovative work in poverty-related scholarship and pedagogy,” according to the SHECP mission statement.
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