by Alexandra Conforti, ASU Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation

February 23, 2022

The vice president of community development and engagement for Valley of the Sun United Way, Jayson Matthews brings nearly two decades of grant writing experience to ASU as a knowledge specialist for the Nonprofit Management Institute (NMI).

He completed the American Express Leadership Academy at the ASU Lodestar Center in 2016, the same year he began teaching courses at NMI. This spring, he is teaching grant writing, specifically NMI’s Advanced Grant Development: Federal Proposals Certificate. It’s a fast-paced, hands-on program that takes participants through their own federal grant proposal, piece by piece, culminating in a personalized review by Jayson before submission.

In this Q&A, Jayson shares with us how he first got involved with the ASU Lodestar Center and why NMI programs are so valuable to future nonprofit professionals.

Tell me about your current career and how ASU helped you get there.

I currently work at the Valley of the Sun United Way as a vice president of community development and engagement overseeing our work around healthcare access, food access, housing insecurity and services that reduce the experience of homelessness. I am fortunate to have worked in the public sector (local government and nonprofit) since 2002. ASU was instrumental in the start of my career, as it was a management internship with the City of Tempe during my Masters in Public Administration program that inspired me to start a career in public service.

Have you gone through any of the programs at the ASU Lodestar Center?

I have! I am a proud graduate of the American Express Leadership Academy! It is a program that I continue to recommend to my colleagues.

How did you get into grant writing? And what led you to become interested in teaching it?

One of my first jobs in 2004 was serving as a grant administrator for the City of Tempe for human service programs. That job required me to read a lot of grant proposals from nonprofits. Many of those grant proposals were not only successful, in that they were awarded funding, but they also told stories that helped individuals better understand the challenges of people in crisis and the opportunities to make a difference. That inspired me to gain formal training in grant writing and to practice writing grants that could secure resources for our nonprofit. Fast forward to today, and I am now at United Way, still reading a lot of grant proposals and helping our team write grants to secure needed resources to advance our mission. The opportunity to help new grant writers learn basic tools and experienced grant writers to work through "hard" questions is an opportunity to help the entire nonprofit sector by securing needed resources and telling their important stories.

When do those courses begin? When do they run until? What material is taught?

The Advanced Grant Development: Federal Proposals Certificate starts on March 14, 2022. It’s about seven weeks long and provides foundational tools around federal grant writing and opportunities to learn from peers. The next introductory Grant Development: State and Foundation Proposals program will start on July 11 for those just starting with grant writing. I am hopeful that all of these graduates will have one of their best grant writing years yet!

What other courses do you teach at NMI?

I also teach NMI 104: Engaging and Developing Volunteers, starting on April 4. I love teaching the volunteer course! Volunteers are critical to the success of nonprofit missions and engaging those generous individuals is key to long-term impact.

What do you feel the participants in these NMI courses gain from the experience? How will taking these courses help advance their nonprofit careers?

I think the key benefit about these courses is that we create environments where participants can have a safe space to learn with others that are on the same journey. Not only are participants exposed to amazing tools and resources, but they are also guided by experienced practitioners who think about and work on this every day.

The Nonprofit Management Institute at the ASU Lodestar Center is a leader in teaching nonprofit professionals the most up-to-date trends and skills to thrive in the sector today and into the future. Certificate programs delve into executive leadership, nonprofit management, fundraising, financial management, human resources, nonprofit marketing and more.