Back to the Winning Grant Proposal Competition - 2025 Entry Page
Gayle Carpentier - Carpentier Consulting
Gayle Samuelson Carpentier is the Founder of Carpentier Consulting, working with nonprofits and for profits to maximize their impact on a wide range of socially impactful endeavors. Previously she served as Chief Business Development officer at TechSoup beginning in 2001. In addition, she is also active on different boards and provides input based upon her extensive experience.
In her current role, she continues to broaden the market’s understanding of how technology supports the overall health of the nonprofit sector. This includes scoping business criteria for new international partners, negotiating multi-national donation programs, developing strategies and structures for new initiatives, and advocating for the essential role of corporate support in nonprofit efforts.
Mike Chamberlain - CEO, Grant Professionals Association
Mike Chamberlain, MBA, CAE is the Chief Executive Officer of the Grant Professionals Association. He is responsible for the strategic operation of the association and works with the GPA Board of Directors and staff to ensure GPA is recognized as The Authority in the grants profession.
He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Kansas City Society of Association Executives. He serves on several nonprofit organization boards in the Kansas City area. Mike is a Certified Association Executive with over 25 years of experience in association management in a variety of roles. Mike and his wife live in Lee’s Summit, Missouri with their adorable dog Rifkin.
Alice Ruhnke - GrantStation
Alice Ruhnke is the President of GrantStation. Having raised over $45 million from federal, state, and private grantmakers, she knows what it takes to get funded. As a former nonprofit program coordinator and director, and Founder of The Grant Advantage, Alice has a deep understanding of the challenges that nonprofits face. Over the last 20 years she's worked in the trenches with hundreds of nonprofit organizations to improve their capacity to raise funds.
Alice is an author and educator with a passion to share her expertise. Her insightful trainings on grant proposal writing and development, community change models, service projects, and measuring outcomes have helped over 4,000 individuals positively impact their communities. Alice earned the Grant Professional Certified (GPC) credential in 2025, a distinguished certification that recognizes expertise in grantsmanship through a rigorous, experience-based examination.
Susan Schaefer - Resource Partners
Susan Schaefer helps nonprofit leaders fund their priorities through major private grants. She is an author, speaker, and consultant whose firm, Resource Partners, builds clients’ in-house capacity to secure their largest, most impactful foundation and corporate grants.
She has written and contributed to multiple books for the sector and has taught fund development at Johns Hopkins University. Susan writes a monthly series of articles called Major Grants.
Claire Snyder - Pallottine Foundation of Huntington
Claire Snyder has served as a health program officer at the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington since 2021. In this role, Claire collaborates with nonprofit organizations across the Foundation’s 20-county tri-state region to develop and implement a wide range of health-related initiatives aimed at addressing some Appalachia’s most pressing challenges, including food insecurity, mental health barriers, and substance use disorder. Claire’s previous experience centers on advocacy and supportive services in higher education, family home visitation, and youth residential treatment settings. She holds degrees from Marshall University and has been privileged to call West Virginia her adopted home.
She has written and contributed to multiple books for the sector and has taught fund development at Johns Hopkins University. Susan writes a monthly series of articles called Major Grants.