Kumari Sherreitt

Result orientated and fast adapting NPO-focused Grant-Manager/Coordinator, Project Manager, and Communications Director. Proven track record for bringing departments to success, having project managed more than $3.5 million in awarded grant funds. As part of executive leadership team, helped navigate and direct organizations towards their annual targets and long-term goals. Skilled in communications, event-coordinating, and marketing functions as well. A trained journalist, with an MSc. in NGO Management, and currently Ph.D. candidate in a Global Organizational Leadership. Passionate about keeping up with the latest third-sector industry trends and experienced leading intergenerational teams and building online literacy and organizational culture.

Work Experience

Grant Manager/Consultant      Oct 17 – Jan 22′
The Arc of Alachua County (NPO) – Gainesville, Florida

● Responsible for obtaining grants for the purpose of building homes for people with intellectual disabilities
● Part of executive management team and reported directly to Executive Director
● Manage a construction team, source all needs of a home, and address issues for two homes from start to finish
● Liaise with the Florida state department on project funding, deadlines, and progress
● Project manage and lead a team on a Federally funded pilot project, Arc-2-Work, while providing extensive reporting and monitoring of the project
● Building and developing relationships with the community to enrich projects and help integrate families into their new homes
● Restructured the Grants Department, brought it up to use the latest technology, and re-orientated it to be mission focused while obtaining 50% more funding
● Key grants obtained include:
○ Three home building grants from Florida Housing Finance Corporation worth $1.5 million
○ Department of Education project worth $250,000, annually

Grant Management Executive    Nov 15 – Aug 17’
Alzheimer’s Society (NPO) – London, UK

● Supported the Fundraising Directorate in the appeal of their single-largest donation that year for £1 million
● Lead the team in a strategic approach to managing and writing fundraising appeals using already existing resources to streamline the process and produce 20% more high-level custom reports a month resulting in a significant increase in fundraising income
● Created new marketing material, presentations, and documented accurate research findings on key themes of the organisation’s objectives
● Worked on case studies and conducted personal interviews for corporations such as HSBC and Kier Group, while also accessing information from Regional Managers and Service Staff, to determine funding priorities

Grants Manager   April 13 – Nov 16’
ISKCON – London Ltd. (NPO) – London, UK

● Created the grants department from scratch to spearhead the running and securing of grant projects worth £150,000 in two years
● Delivered five youth and food-relief projects for the UK nationally, culminating in recognition by the London Mayor
● Understood complex and diverse organizational needs to create business cases for funding of various projects, for adult-education, youth-work, and food-relief programs
● Managed funder/stakeholder relationships and communications strategy (targeted and general campaigns) of the grant project, and evaluated project performance to create monthly progress reports

Communications Administrator (Part-Time)    Sep 09 – April 12’
Hindu Forum of Europe (NGO) – Brussels, BE

● Lead the team that organised the first Pan-European Conference on Hinduism, hosted in the EU Parliament in Brussels, and formulated the 1st appeal to the Belgian Government for recognition of Hinduism as an official religion
● Systematically collected, organised, and analyzed information about Hindu communities and organisations to assess their needs to better serve and represent them at national and EU levels
● Liaised and served the EU Parliament as Hindu representative body for Europe highlighting important issues facing the international Hindu community
● Communications and secretarial management: minutes, conference organizing, press releases, news articles, and campaigns for various media

Education

PhD. Global Organizational Leadership   2019 – Present
Indiana Institute of Technology – Online

MSc. Non-Profit Organization Management and Leadership 2014
Walden University – Online

B.A. (Hons) Philosophy of Religion   2012
University of Chester Affiliated with Bhaktivedanta College – Durbuy, Belgium, EU

B.A. Journalism with minors in Political Science and Religion    2008
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa – Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA

Volunteer Experience

Final Exam Facilitator at Fordham University, Online   2020-2022

● Facilitator of Fordham undergraduate course’s live (online) final exam for Leadership Communication Course in 2020, 2021, and 2022
● Graded and gave live feedback to entire cohort of students (50 in total) during exam

ISKCON Communications North America (NA) Director   2019 – Present

● National communications director role includes managing reps across the US and Canada in PR and communications
● Media contact point for NA and spokesperson for organization, manager of a team of interns for social media and special projects as part of a global team

Primary & Secondary School Teacher, Korn Pitack Suksa School in Bangkok, Thailand   Sep-May 2013

● Planned curriculum and executed daily classroom lessons for homeroom, English, Math, and Social Studies classes for kindergarten to third grade students in a dual-language (English and Thai) school
● Facilitated the mid-term and final exams as well as helped support and manage the annual school festivities and events
● Member of school board as English language curriculum adviser as well as for developing age-appropriate Western cultural activities and support to students in and outside of the classroom