About

GroundRoot Grants was founded by Lisa Martin with the goal of helping small and mid-size non-profits better serve their communities by providing grant writing and management services, organizational planning tools, and data and evaluation support.

Non-profit employees wear many hats -- and GroundRoot Grants is here to help take some of those hats off! Grant applications require a specific technical style of writing, and often have tedious submission and reporting guidelines that can be hard to keep up with for organizations without a professional grant writer on staff.

At GroundRoot Grants, Lisa will successfully craft winning proposals for you with clear and concise articulation, as well as provide you with the tools, frameworks, and support you need to achieve your program or organizational mission. Attention to detail, clarity and focus, thorough research, and meaningful storytelling guide Lisa's grant-writing, which adapts easily to an expansive range of topic areas and grant types.

GroundRoot Grants is here to help you, help your community.

Mission

To provide small and mid-size nonprofits with simple and straightforward solutions to effectively strategize, increase funding, and drive impact.

Vision

Nonprofits have the foundation and resources they need to achieve deep rooted and long lasting community impact.

Nice to Meet You!

Hey there! My name is Lisa Martin, and I started GroundRoot Grants to help non-profits achieve their missions and make meaningful impact in their communities. Since realizing my passion for creating change, I've dedicated my career to local communities. While earning my undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at Gettysburg College, I became deeply entwined with local agriculture and food systems in Adams County, PA, and with community service efforts to make local food more affordable and accessible. Wanting to help create food access programs and systems that would be more efficient and impactful, I went on to earn my Masters in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Science from Boston University in 2015. There, I learned the ins and outs of program planning, implementation, and evaluation, and gained on-the-ground experience working and volunteering with a breadth of community agencies.

In my day job, I currently serve as the Food Access Director and Grant Writer at City Green, Inc., where I have successfully led, supported, and implemented federal and foundation grants ranging from $5,000 to $500,000. To deepen my knowledge of the grant writing process, I have completed the Foundation Directory's Online Grant Proposal Writing Course, and continue my self-education through trainings and teachings offered by seasoned grant writing professionals, and am a member of the international Grant Professional's Association.

Now with years of experience working with a variety of different non-profit organizations, I hope to share my knowledge and experience of grant writing and management, organizational planning, and evaluation with others who share my vision for a more equitable and community-driven world.

Approach

I approach projects with warm professionalism and a collaborative mindset to provide thoroughly researched, well-communicated, and effective grant and data services. With an academic background in Public Health program planning, implementation and evaluation, and years of working directly with community members and agencies, I have the experience and perspective of a grantee, a funder, a program implementer, and a program evaluator. This unique combination informs my work at GroundRoot Grants to ensure that your organization will hit your funding and programmatic targets from every angle.

Credentials

M.P.H. (Master of Public Health), concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences (Boston University, 2015)
B.A. in Health Sciences (Gettysburg College, 2012)
Completion of Grant Writing Master Course (Grant Writing and Funding, 2020)
Completion of Foundation Center's Online Proposal Writing Course (2018)
Grant Writer's Professional Association Member (2020)
10+ years of experience working directly with non-profits in a variety of capacities!

View my LinkedIn page for more details on my experience!