Dan Williams, Senior Team Leader

Dan joined RA in 2003 and currently leads a team of 14 professionals providing program design and grants development consulting and grants management capacity building, technical assistance, and professional development services in the southeastern United States. Dan has built Research Associates™ business in southeastern states by delivering strategic, comprehensive, and high-quality grant development and grant management services aimed at helping school districts and large nonprofits find, acquire, and use foundation, corporate, and government funds effectively. Dan consults with clients on best practice strategies and effective program design, development, and implementation using research and evidenced-based practice; writes and edits grant materials and progress reports for clients to use in communicating progress and results with funders and key stakeholders; builds client knowledge and capacity to address laws, regulations, and other grant requirements; conducts training on effective budget management and accountability standards; facilitates sustainability planning activities; and monitors federal, state, and foundation grant programs, policies, and trends to help guide clients in developing effective strategies for securing foundation and grant funds.

Stephanie Marshall, MSW, MBA, Senior Team Leader

Stephanie has over seven years of experience in the grants development and grants management field. She is responsible for developing and leading the grants management process for all of our grantees and is working directly on four grant programs representing over $14 million in grant funds including 2 Smaller Learning Community Grants, an Early Reading First Grant, and an Investing in Innovation Grant. Stephanie is currently providing technical assistance and budget oversight for grant customers to ensure compliance with federal rules, regulations and requirements. Technical assistance services provided include ongoing consultation, sustainability planning, federal monitoring visit preparation, meeting facilitation, problem-solving, and research assistance. In addition to providing Grants Management services, Stephanie oversees the internal staff teams to design, develop, and produce grant proposals. She has written a Smaller Learning Communities Grant and a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant totaling over $3 million in funded grants and has served as the Team Leader on numerous successful grant proposals including Smaller Learning Communities, Early Reading First, Improving Literacy through School Libraries, Advanced Placement Incentive, and Investing in Innovation.

Leigh Anna Lang, MS, Team Leader, Grants Development

With four years of experience in the grants development and grants management field, Leigh Anna is responsible for developing and modifying a framework to support the research, model development, grant writing, and application processes for all RA grant proposals. Leigh Anna has served as a Grant Strategist and Team Leader on numerous successful grant proposals representing over $20 million in grant funds including Advanced Placement Incentives, Early Reading First, Improving Literacy through School Libraries, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, and Investing in Innovation. In addition to leading Research Associates’ grants development process, Leigh Anna provides technical assistance and budget oversight for grant customers to ensure compliance with federal regulations and reporting requirements. At this time, she provides grants management for two grant programs including 2 Early Reading First grants and 3 Smaller Learning Communities grants. Services provided include ongoing consultation, sustainability planning, budget guidance, meeting facilitation, problem-solving, and research assistance.

Ginny Byrd Porter, MSW, State Director GA/TN

With over three years of experience at RA and previous experience as an educator, Ginny has developed and managed the following US Department of Education grant programs: Advanced Placement Incentive, Smaller Learning Communities, Early Reading First, Federal Mentoring, Teaching American History, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, High School Graduation Initiative, and Investing In Innovation. Ginny is currently working directly on seven grant programs representing over 21 million in grant funds including 3 Smaller Learning Communities Grants, 2 Advanced Placement Incentive Grants, 1 High School Graduation Initiative Grant, and 1 Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Grant. Ginny provides technical assistance and budget oversight for grant customers to ensure compliance with federal rules, regulations and requirements. Technical assistance services provided include ongoing consultation, sustainability planning, federal monitoring visit preparation, meeting facilitation, problem-solving, and research assistance. In addition to providing Grants Development and Grants Management services, Ginny serves as State Director and is responsible for business development in Georgia and Tennessee.

Julie Neeley, MSW, MPA, Senior Grant Writer

Dee Geddings, Senior Grant Strategist

Dee Geddings has served as Senior Grant Strategist for Research Associates since 2002 and has over 10 years experience in successful grant winning, with nearly $68 million dollars in funded grants to her credit. She has developed 40 award-winning state, federal, and foundation educational grants for RA clients including nine 21st Century Community Learning Center Grants, 6 Smaller Learning Communities grants, 5 Early Reading First grants, 3 Educational Technology grants, 2 School-Based Mentoring grants, 1 Advanced Placement Incentive grant, 1 Teaching American History Grant, and 1 Reading First grant. In 2010, she wrote one of the forty-nine winning Investing in Innovation (I3) grants awarded by the US Department of Education. In addition to writing grants, Dee develops winning grant models for RA clients particularly those focused on secondary reform initiatives, which to date have included a successful High School Graduation Initiative grant and two successful Advanced Placement Incentive grants. Among Dee’s other duties for RA are conducting grant-related research, developing program models, and writing monthly blogs on Secondary Success Strategies, Early Literacy, and Effective Teachers and Leaders.

Michelle Troyer, Grant Strategist

The newest member to join RA, Michelle brings to the table seven years experience in grants management and four years in the grant writing field. She is responsible for providing comprehensive grants development and grants management services within the areas of school reform, early childhood education, school-based mentoring, college readiness programs, teacher quality, and other educational grant programs. Michelle has written numerous successful grant proposals representing over $15 million in grant funds including Katrina Recovery and Streetscape Beautification Programs, Department of Public Safety grants, Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Recovery Grants, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Tidelands Grants, Federal Emergency Management Agency Grants, and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Grants. In addition to the grants development process, Michelle provides technical assistance and budget oversight for grant customers to ensure compliance with federal regulations and reporting requirements, ongoing consultation, sustainability planning, meeting facilitation, problem-solving, and research assistance.

Jenny Clark, MSW, Grant Strategist

Jenny comes to the RA team with more than six years of professional experience in field of nonprofit development. She has authored successful proposals funded by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development; Georgia Department of Human Services; Georgia Department of Family and Children Services; The United Way; The Ryan White Foundation; City of Atlanta; Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton Counties; and numerous other foundation and corporate sources. Her past work in grants and program management primarily focused on improving the lives of high-need youth. In her role as Grant Strategist at RA, Jenny supports our partners by providing grants development and technical assistance services, including: budget oversight; new grantee orientation; sustainability planning; grants management training; and consultation to promote best practices and compliance with federal regulations. She currently assists Georgia based school districts funded by the High School Graduation Initiative, Elementary and Secondary School Counseling, Investing in Innovation, and Department of Defense Education Activity grant programs.

Lori Hammond, Assistant

Brian Charles, Director of Technology