Meet the Team

Growing up in a rural community and living in San Francisco for five plus years has cultivated a deep passion for working alongside children, adults and nonprofits of all types.  Being a visionary leader and bridge builder for success brings great joy to my life. Coupled with my Master’s in Educational Leadership and the last 20 years’ experience, I am a force of guidance around; building collaboration, personality and cultural awareness with co-workers, clients and stakeholders, grant writing, program development and inspiring systemic change! 

I have to laugh because moving to the “City” of San Francisco was an eye opening experience for this small town girl!!  The different communication style with friends, acquaintances, colleagues and strangers was overwhelming at first, yet exhilarating to learn.  As a Senior Community Development Specialist, I found myself being thrown into planning citywide Summer Youth Programs (some larger than my hometown population), facilitating Racial Equity conversations for departmental changes and managing grants.  My scope of impact on individuals and nonprofits grew beyond what I could have imagined. We funded and designed the strategies, grant questions and evaluation criteria, for over 800 application and $80 Million dollars granted to about 300 programs. Let’s just say my sphere of grant comprehension and managing systems grew exponentially.  During this time I realized my love deepened for understanding societal problems, providing solutions and guiding the many small and medium sized nonprofits and companies in the U.S. that need support.

These Rural and Urban experiences bring together the possibilities of how non-profits, city governments, K-12 administration, as well as private and public funding sources can systematically work together to provide a positive impact on children and their families. In 2017 I started a nonprofit that supports the economic sustainability of rural communities' workforce in collaboration with Urban companies.  And In 2019 My husband and I started Safken Consulting to support small and medium sized business and nonprofits to increase their bottom line!

With my focus of the business on grant writing I have successfully written over $18 Million in grants in 2023 and 2022 for clients across the nation. From this experience and my past 20 years of having a business, nonprofit and working with many I find value in making sure the budding entrepreneurs and nonprofits that are working feverishly to get a leg up in the world are supported!

I look forward to helping solve your nonprofit or business challenges through resources, courses and personal coaching to increase your bottom line!