About
DeaRonda Harrison is the founder and President of June First Firm, a grant writing firm specializing in assisting nonprofits under new leadership transform their organization. She works to onboard and train their current grant writing team reducing burnout, turnover, and lack of support. DeaRonda knows and understands too well why quality grant professionals are leaving nonprofits in droves and wants to be a support system to properly train and onboard those new to the industry as well as more seasoned professionals. She works as a partner with the nonprofit to lay the foundation for reasonable expectations among the entire team.
DeaRonda has worked at and consulted with numerous leading nonprofits as a grant professional and has nearly 10 years of experience as a grant writer winning awards totaling $35M over the course of her career. Her nonprofit specialty are those that focus on human services, K-12 education, workforce development, housing, and healthcare services.
DeaRonda is a member of the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) where she served as Georgia Chapter President for two years. She obtained her Master of Business Administration from Ashford University and Bachelor of Science degree from the prestigious Tuskegee University.
Clients
TESTIMONIALS
Teri B., Interfaith Works
DeaRonda is supporting Interfaith Works as we search for a full-time Corporate and Foundation Relations Officer and it is like having in-house staff. She quickly learned about IW's many programs and has created general operating and program proposals that are well-written, creative and responsive to the donors' requirements. She works easily and flexibly with our busy program and financial staff. She is extremely organized and completes proposals and reports well ahead of the deadlines. We are so pleased with her project management and writing skills that we have already contracted with her to help with a complicated government proposal that will be released months from now. I spent much of my career working on grants and I have tremendous respect for DeaRonda's talents. I wholeheartedly recommend her services.
Alison C.M., Jeremiah Program
DeaRonda is lovely! Jeremiah Program subcontracted with DeaRonda for 5 months. Given Jeremiah's residential and non-residential models, it was so important to have a grant writer who could capture and articulate what was unique about Boston and all of its' nuanced service delivery methods.
In an incredibly short amount of time DeaRonda leaned in and was able to succinctly yet powerfully describe our mission and our impact for various funders with different priorities. She adapted to my working style and followed up within strict timelines using various methods so that we were able to get a lot proposals submitted with fast turnarounds. Having reached a place where she could anticipate my preferences and asks for certain funders with particular priorities I was sad to see DeaRonda's contract end.
She is extremely professional, an excellent listener, adaptive and flexible and still extremely methodical when structuring tasks to complete. What is more, I trust and value her opinion and perspective and could not have asked for a better thought partner for the first half of the year. I highly recommend her!
Erica B., School Leader Lab
DeaRonda is a no brainer decision. I brought DeaRonda on in my first two months as an Executive Director. She completely overhauled all of our grant language, made a grants calendar, applied to grants independently and we were able to bring in more money in our fourth quarter than we had all year. DeaRonda is warm, professional, and talented. She left us in such a strong place that I can now transition her work to an internal staff member. Don't walk, run, to DeaRonda! She paid for herself in one month!
TESTIMONIALS
Ashley W., Community of Hope
DeaRonda led the grant management and reporting for our federal grants submission which funded a myriad of our programs. She helped us receive awards and manage $6M in funds for our agency in the District. I recommend her for any business needs as she definitely gets the job done in a swift and concise manner. She is a consummate professional and I am confident she will be an excellent contribution to any team.
Toni D., Atlanta Mission
DeaRonda came to Atlanta Mission in just the knick of time. She jumped right in and helped us manage our $1M grant program with a number of corporate and foundation deadlines that she helped to assist in a rapid manner. She did what it took to make sure we didn’t miss deadlines and continue to engage and develop relationships with current and new funders. I would recommend her to any organization that needs a grant professional with promising results that can hit the ground running to secure and manage funds.
Elna P., Family Support Circle
DeaRonda immediately helped us complete grant applications to support our youth programs. She researched additional grants and new sponsor opportunities. Through her efforts, we were able to secure grant funding from Fulton County government. Her support was invaluable and allowed our small staff the ability to focus on their specific job duties.
- $100,000 - WorkSource Montgomery (job training education)
- $100,000 – CareFirst (health care access)
- $100,000 - W.K. Kellogg Foundation (summer school sessions)
- $100,000 – Department of Employment Services (workforce education)
- $90,000 – The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation (general operating)
- $90,000 – Helping Children Grow (parenting classes)
- $50,000 - Entergy (internet access for virtual learning)
- $50,000 – The Greater Washington Community Foundation (housing and employment)
- $50,000 – The Richard E. and Nancy P. Marriott Family Foundation (workforce education)
- $40,000 – Prince Charitable Trust (professional development for health care staff)
- $30,000 - Edward N. & Della Thome Memorial Foundation, BofA Trustee (senior housing)
- $30,000 – Eugene & Agnes Meyer Foundation (capacity building)
- $30,000 – Delta Dental (dental equipment and charity care)
- $25,000 – Bank of America (workforce development)
- $25,000 – TD Bank (disaster recovery)
- $25,000 – Arcana (housing support)
- $25,000 – AmeriHealth (housing support)
- $25,000 – Wells Fargo Foundation (sponsorships, mentoring, and workshops)
- $15,000 – The Greater Washington Community Foundation (Housing Prevention services)
- $15,000 – Capital One Foundation (housing)
- $15,000 - Bank of America (support for single moms and children)
- $15,000 – Sharing DC (housing services)
- $5,000 – Bess Spiva Timmons (educational enrichment)
- $5,000 – Herb Block (youth afterschool program)
- $5,000 – Maximus (technology upgrade)
- $1,000 – Junior League of Washington (culturally diverse books for children)
- $350,000 – A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation (leadership professional development)
- $345,000 – Capital One (workforce development and housing)
- $276,000 – Department of Education (21st Century Community Learning Centers)
- $200,000 - W.K. Kellogg Foundation (professional development for teachers)
- $200,000 - Bank of America Neighborhood Builders (capacity building)
- $150,000 – Department of Human Services (health services)
- $125,000 – TD Charitable Foundation (affordable housing)
- $14,200,000 - Department of Education (Teacher and School Leadership Training)
- $12,000,000 - Department of Education (SEED)
- $5,000,000 - Bezos Day One Fund (housing services)
- $2,000,000 – The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness (rapid rehousing)
- $1,809,274 – Health Resources and Services Administration/HRSA (health care access)
- $1,700,000 – Department of Health and Human Services (health access)
- $1,000,000 - Department of Health and Human Services (health access)
- $800,000 - The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness (housing)
- $500,000 - Charles & Helen Schwab Foundation (K-12 education)
- $500,000 - Charles & Lynn Schusterman Foundation (K-12 education)
- $500,000 - Walton Family Foundation (K-12 education)
- $500,000 - America Achieves Accelerate (K-12 education)
Memberships
