How a Career in Grants Management Prepared Me for Leadership

As an Afro-Latina woman raised by immigrant parents, the pursuit of the American dream and becoming a professional was deeply ingrained in me from an early age. This drive led me to the career center at my community college, where I discovered an internship at the Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF).

At the time, I didn’t know what the foundation did or what philanthropy was, but the opportunity felt promising. After researching the foundation and preparing thoroughly for the interview, I was offered the position. That moment in 2007 marked the beginning of a transformative journey within NCF, where I’ve worked to redefine how grants management is seen, utilized, and valued.

For my internship, I was a receptionist and quickly started cultivating relationships both inside and outside of the organization. I prioritized consistently delivering high-quality work and excellent customer service, earning the trust of my supervisors and colleagues along the way. This led to increased responsibilities and opportunities to learn about different areas within the organization.

Just eight months into my yearlong internship, I was offered a full-time position as an accounting and grants management assistant, which I accepted and began while completing my associate’s degree. When I decided to go back to school to earn my bachelor’s degree in business administration and public accounting, NCF provided financial and moral support as well as flexible arrangements. While balancing school and work, I fully immersed myself in learning everything I could about NCF, grants management, and philanthropy as a whole.

Driven by curiosity, perseverance, and dedication, I seized every opportunity that came my way, which has led to over seven promotions at NCF. One of the biggest leaps in my career came when I transitioned from associate to acting grants manager. I felt grateful but frustrated because I believed I deserved to be grants manager. However, I realized that while leadership trusted my ability to do the work, I had to prove myself as a leader to earn their trust to lead the department. After eight months of hard work, the acting part of my title was dropped, and I fully stepped into the role of grants manager.

Later, when NCF transitioned to new leadership, I was ready—with talking points, research, and data—to advocate for a promotion to director of grants management. The president reassured me that he had a vision for my role and future within the organization and encouraged me to be patient. His vision incorporated grants management into a broader strategy for the foundation. And so, during the strategic planning process, I served on multiple cross-functional task forces, which allowed me to contribute to key decisions that determined the future direction of the foundation. These opportunities challenged me to trust both my abilities and my organization—and to embrace a more expansive leadership role. As a result, I became director of asset management.

In this role, I’m proud to play a key function in our infrastructure, overseeing data, monitoring and evaluating financial assets, and advising the grants and partnership team and NCF’s senior leadership. Now, in addition to leading the asset management team and overseeing grants operations, I enhance NCF’s impact by providing counsel to senior leadership on risks, interventions, opportunities, and trends within asset management related to program-related investments. I’m also part of the operators’ table, working alongside the directors of racial, economic, and environmental justice and our director of place-based initiatives. Together, we lead the grants and partnership team, ensuring alignment and collaboration across the foundation to advance NCF’s mission of promoting racial, economic, and environmental justice.

Gaining these invaluable experiences to take on new roles required proactively advocating for myself every step of the way. I documented new responsibilities and recommended updates to my job description to accurately reflect these expanded duties. Even before officially stepping into a strategic role, I was already demonstrating my abilities by identifying areas where I could help make the most impact across the organization. I researched roles at other foundations to align my position with industry standards and effectively present my case for a promotion. I also regularly engaged with leadership to ensure they were aware of the outcomes that resulted from my contributions.

Grants management professionals have a unique vantage point that allows them to offer insights others may not easily see, namely in identifying, analyzing, and presenting key data to stakeholders that can uncover fresh perspectives and enhance decision-making through more informed analysis. For NCF, having me as a representative of the asset management function means approaching strategy with a more holistic perspective so that we can get smarter about better supporting our community and stakeholders and operationalize big ideas. These experiences in turn have deepened my journey in grants management by allowing me to apply my knowledge to realize the foundation’s vision while also shaping the practices and policies that directly affect the communities we serve and the overall impact we hope to have in the world.

It’s important to lean into the discomfort of leading from your unique vantage point. Leading with solutions, rather than just identifying problems, builds confidence and sharpens your leadership skills over time. It’s also crucial to know that when others see you advocating for yourself, it inspires them to do the same, fostering a culture that is more open, curious, and collaborative.

In my leadership roles in and out of NCF, I want to continue to encourage people to be themselves, just as so many people did for me throughout my journey. You don’t have to sacrifice your values, identity, or knowledge from your lived experiences to succeed and thrive.

I’m grateful that NCF has recognized the importance and strategic value of grants management. Finding people who are willing to take a chance on you is invaluable, and I’m lucky to have found those people within the walls of NCF. My evolution in this space underscores the significance of having true partnership and support from your organization, and how advocating for oneself can positively impact organizational dynamics and the trajectory of your career.

Image: In addition to her leadership at Nathan Cummings Foundation, Janet Disla, pictured here at PEAK2024, has been a longtime, deeply engaged member of the PEAK community. Photo by Julie Harmsen.