Valerie Mann has been a grant writer for 34 years. From July of 1977 through December of 1985, she was employed as a Grants Writer at the Salisbury, Maryland Mayor's office. Since that time, she has operated her own successful grant consulting business.
Ms. Mann has written approximately 700 grant applications over the course of her career. Over 80% of these applications have been successful in winning grant funds. She estimates that she has obtained approximately $100,000,000 in grant funds over the course of her career.
She has worked to implement the following types of grant funded projects: water and sewer, street rehabilitation and construction, housing rehabilitation, parks and recreation, economic development, heritage tourism, historic preservation, law enforcement, homeland security, and fire protection.
Her grant consulting client base is primarily cities, counties, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, and nonprofit agencies. The client base has been extremely loyal, with approximately 50% of her clients having retained her services for the past 10 years or more. At the present time, she has the following client mix: 6 municipalities, 2 counties, 4 law enforcement agencies, 6 fire departments, 4 non-profits, 2 for-profit businesses, and 1 university.
She was President of the Fruitland City Council from October of 1992 to October
of 1998. From October of 1990 to October of 1992, she was a member of that body. As the Chief Elected Official for this City of 3511 with an annual budget of approximately $2,000,000 and 30 employees, duties included the following: policy and budgetary decision making, supervision of staff and formulation of new initiatives. A significant achievement was direction given for the City's entry into the economic development field. This included the organization of the City's first Economic Development Commission. Other duties included serving as the President of the Lower Eastern Shore Mayors' Association, as the Treasurer of the Maryland Mayors' Association and as an alternate on the Legislative Committee of The Maryland Municipal League.
Ms. Mann is a graduate of the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC. Prior to entering the field of grant writing, she worked for the Public Information Office of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington. She lives in Fruitland, Maryland, with her son and several rescued pets.