General Summary/Overview

Partnerships in Education and Resilience (PEAR) connects educational innovation, youth development, and child and adolescent mental health, bridging research and practice so that young people learn, dream, and thrive. As recognized thought leaders in social and emotional development, we work with schools and school districts throughout the United States, national youth-serving organizations, funders, and innovators in informal learning and STEM fields.

Now is a moment of both great need and opportunity for young people: mental health issues and disengagement in learning have grown during the COVID-19 pandemic and with ongoing racism, race-based violence, inequality, and social division. At the same time, there is unprecedented awareness of the implications of social and emotional wellbeing on learning and engagement.

At PEAR we understand that true engagement includes a focus on relevance toward students’ lives and methods that increase voice, curiosity, leadership, and skill acquisition. Building on our decades of research and translational work, PEAR creates and fosters evidence-based innovations in social-emotional development (SED) and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in educational settings. We provide trainings and assessment tools that inform educators about program quality, youth social-emotional development, and academic engagement.

Everyone at PEAR shares a passion for improving the lives of children by increasing their opportunities for success, both in and out of school.

PEAR is seeking an enthusiastic, professional consultant Grant Writer to identify, prepare, and submit grant proposals to government agencies, corporations, and philanthropic foundations to secure funding for the organization. The Grant Writer will identify new funding opportunities, develop, and organize the yearly calendar and generate grant progress reports. The grant writer will work directly with PEAR senior staff and the Board Chair to achieve these goals.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Responsible for the management of grants and proposals within the organization, including budgeting, preparing an application package, and coordinating key personnel to meet grant deadlines.
• Write high-quality grant proposal narratives, applications, and supporting documents for federal and state government grants, public/private foundation funders and other sources when applicable.
• Work closely with leadership team to develop an annual grants strategy.
• Develops and maintains a proposal calendar.
• Assists the leadership team externally with significant foundation funders and foundation prospects on phone calls and meetings. Participates in these meetings, and other cultivation and solicitation activity.
• Value diversity of thought, backgrounds, and youth leadership.

• Determines proposal concept by identifying and clarifying opportunities and needs, studying requests for proposal (RFPs), and leading strategy meetings.

• Actively researches new funding opportunities (federal, private foundation, etc.).

Qualifications and Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in English, journalism, media, or related field
• Minimum of 1-year experience in grant writing, prospect research, general fundraising or a minimum of 2 years comparable and transferable skills acquired in a professional setting with a track record of successful grant awards
• Demonstrated ability in NSF grant administration, including budgeting, preparing an application package, and coordinating key personnel to meet grant deadlines

Skills

• Excellent verbal/written communication, proofreading, presentation skills, interpersonal and organizational skills.
• The ability to execute program objectives and persuasively impart PEAR’s mission and needed resources to potential donors and funders is essential.
• Attention to detail, ability to show initiative and flexibility, work independently, manage multiple priorities, and make grant deadlines.

• Strong working knowledge using Microsoft Word, Excel, Google Sheets, and Google Docs required.
• Must possess basic computer skills to use a variety of electronic or online systems for communication and administrative purposes.
• Document layout and graphic design skills are a plus.

Working Conditions

• Setting: Remote
• Travel required: None
• Physical requirements: None
• Hazards or weather exposure: None

Supervisory Responsibility

• None

Fiscal Responsibility

• None

The above is intended to describe the general conditions and requirements of work being performed by people assigned to this position. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive statement of all duties, responsibilities, or skills required.

It is the policy at PEAR to affirmatively provide equal opportunity to all qualified applicants for employment and existing employees without regard to their race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, ancestry, protected veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other basis that would be in violation of any applicable law or regulation.

Estimated engagement: Work will be project-based. Rate is negotiable.