David-Kellam-CoverLetter-IFA-2312

David Kellam

dkellam44@gmail.com

443-851-8512

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linkedin.com/in/dkellam

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Greetings Intersection for the Arts Team!

I am writing to express my enthusiastic interest in the Grants Manager position with Intersection for the Arts. In a previous interview, Jae Tioseco provided a fantastic introduction to the organization’s mission, history, and culture and I am very much aligned with everything the Intersection stands for.

Elevating those who offer direct service and creativity to the community has been a prime motivator in my 10+ years of work experience across artistic, business, and nonprofit contexts. I would fully embrace a chance to contribute my proven talents for process design, project management, grant development, and financial reporting to your very capable and deeply caring team. Below I detail some areas where I see a great fit.

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Business Operations and Project Management

Developing operations based on design-thinking principles has become a passion of mine and the key to delivering repeatable, reliable results for stakeholders and clients throughout my career.

This is how, during my time with O2 Corporation, I was able to accurately orchestrate a multi-million dollar supply chain of parts and products in the highly regulated aerospace industry.

In my four years of various digital marketing work, I have built dozens of multi-stage execution plans to steward projects from ideation to on-deadline delivery. I have administered workflows for both my solo projects and for teams of up to 16 contributors utilizing project management software like Asana, ClickUp, Notion, and Basecamp.

I brought these concepts with me as a marketing coordinator at Bay Area housing nonprofits BOSS and St Vincent de Paul. In both cases, I was able to increase overall content output, reduce publishing turnaround times, and improve internal clarity by introducing work tools such as: master content calendars, fundraising campaign trackers, and automated email sequences to help onboard volunteers.

As it turns out, bringing creative dreams to life usually depends on a well-designed spreadsheet and a great checklist! ... A surprising discovery for me as a former performing artist!

Financial Competency

My financial abilities have evolved from experience in a variety of fields, including nonprofit, manufacturing, and restaurant management.

The bulk of my experience with Quickbooks comes from my time at O2 Corporation. While wearing my office manager hat, I was responsible for tracking sales pipelines, quotes, invoicing, and reconciling data between Quickbooks and Fishbowl inventory management software.

My foundations in financial planning and budgeting come from owning profit-and-loss performance during my tenure as restaurant manager for Panera Bread as well as developing financial models for my ongoing personal entrepreneurship projects.

For me, focusing on performance and the accomplishment of financial goals keeps bookkeeping tasks from feeling like a burden but more like a zen practice.

Grant Cycle Education

Most recently at St Vincent de Paul, I contributed reporting for a $250k workforce training grant by leveraging program data from the Salesforce NonProfit Success Pack and funding history from Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge. In the process, I also gained exposure to prospecting with the Candid/Guidestar foundation database.

At Wichita State University, I completed my BA in Performing Arts with an eye on arts management graduate programs, so I was sure to incorporate elective studies in economics, business calculus, entrepreneurship, and business systems management. However, my most valuable learning came from cultivating one-on-one mentorships with local arts funding experts.

I learned the Americans for the Arts framework for grant writing during an ad-hoc internship with Justin Rorabaugh, WSU Director of Grants and Scholarship Administration for the WSU School of Fine Arts. I also spent considerable time learning the mechanisms and politics of how funding is distributed from John D’Angelo, former Director of Arts and Cultural Services for the City of Wichita.

With Intersection, I would welcome the opportunity to grow my grant writing abilities while reconnecting with my arts management roots!

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Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the possibility of contributing to Intersection for the Art’s legacy in San Francisco. Please feel free to contact me at 443-851-8512 or dkellam44@gmail.com to schedule an interview.

Sincerely,

David Kellam

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