Member Profile: Armanda Famiglietti

By: Adam Liebling

It may be an exaggeration to say that there would be no Grants Managers Network (GMN) without Armanda Famiglietti. After all, I’m sure after thousands of years, the world could have produced another person with the will, knowledge, expertise, leadership, and passion to perform all that she has done for GMN and for the grants management field. Luckily for us, we didn’t have to wait that long…

Give us the CliffsNotes version of your professional career. What is your current position?

I’m currently Director of Grants Management at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. I joined the foundation world 22 years ago as secretary to a program officer at the Carnegie Corporation. Taking advantage of tuition reimbursement, I got an M.S. in nonprofit management from the New School. I then began teaching a grantsmanship course in the New School’s nonprofit program, which I did for six years.

In 1992, I got involved with the (New York) Grant Administrators Group, and soon after found myself co-chairing the group. That led to co-chairing the steering committee for what would become the national Grants Managers Network, which developed the organization’s first bylaws, dues structure, and budget. I also recruited steering committee members nationally (including Michelle Greanias, GMN’s new Executive Director!).

I connected GMN with the Council on Foundations (CoF) as an affinity group; helped to plan GMN’s first national meeting in Hawaii; and contributed to the first edition of Best Practices in Grants Management, a few CoF Foundation News and Commentary magazine issues, and the Society of Research Administrators Journal. In addition, I served on the board of the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers for six years.

I’ve presented at several meetings for GMN, NYRAG, and CoF’s New Grantmaker Institutes, as well as at the CoF’s Family Foundations Conference, the Support Center for New York, a Society of Research Administrators annual meeting, and National Council of University Research annual meetings. When I left Carnegie in 2002, I was the Associate Corporate Secretary and Director of Grants Management.

What is it about grants management that keeps you in the field?

I love working at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Our small staff is dedicated, strategic, and effective. The board members, mostly Cummings family members, are visionary leaders. I see concrete, positive results from almost every grant the foundation makes. It sounds corny, but the work is very fulfilling.

You are one of the original founding members of GMN. Tell us about those early days.

I was really lucky – it’s been, and continues to be, a phenomenal opportunity for professional and personal development. In the true spirit of GMN, I learned so much from my fellow GMN members – colleagues who’ve became mentors and friends.

What current project of GMN do you find most interesting?

I’m excited about Project Streamline – the foundation community is finally seeing the benefits of standardization, and technology is capable of making that happen.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

I’m an avid skydiver. I’ve made more than 500 jumps and my specialty is jumping from hot air balloons. That’s not true, but I think people would be surprised.

Where would you like to see the grants management field five years from now?

I’d like to see foundations take full advantage of web-based technology and grants managers leading the way to streamlining the grant application, reporting, and coding processes.

What has been your proudest moment in GMN?

When Michelle Greanias became our first Executive Director – Michelle was GMN’s first board co-chair and she skillfully moved GMN to the next step in its development. When she became GMN’s first ED, it seemed that the organization completed one cycle and began a new one.

What are your top three tips you’d give to someone entering the field?

Network, Network, Network! Network to learn from your peers – and what better place to start than as a member of GMN?

If you were a grants management database, which one would you be and why?

I’d be a fully web-based system – just like the one the Nathan Cummings Foundation will implement in 2009. We’re working with NPOWER-NY to customize the Salesforce platform for grants management, on-line application, reports, coding… the whole shebang. The Salesforce Foundation (SF) is donating the first ten licenses for our users and offering the rest at a huge discount, so it’s a cost-effective way for us to use cutting-edge technology. We’re not special – SF offers the same deal to all 501(c)(3) organizations.

If you weren’t doing grants management, what would you be doing?

Funny you should ask – I’m in my second year as a part-time student at New York’s Swedish Institute College of Health Sciences and studying to be a massage therapist. Only 22 months to go before I can take the New York State licensing exam! I’m learning so much – when I started I didn’t know my ischial tuberosity from my olecranon process! (Google it.) I hope to transition to my new career over a few years, once I get my license.