Marlena Osei-Bonsu

Profile

Senior grant writer with 9 years securing competitive funding for nonprofit and higher-education clients across public health, workforce development, and environmental justice sectors. Specializes in federal grant portfolios (NIH, HHS, NSF, SAMHSA) and multi-year foundation campaigns, with a 74% proposal win rate over the past four years. Adept at translating program staff knowledge into compelling narratives that satisfy both technical reviewers and mission-driven funders.

Work Experience

Senior Grant WriterMar 2020 - Present

Northstar Community Solutions, Minneapolis, MN

Secured $6.2M in new federal awards over three fiscal years by leading end-to-end proposal development for SAMHSA, HHS, and AmeriCorps competitions, achieving a 74% win rate across 27 submissions.
Built and managed a 12-month editorial calendar for 40+ active grant applications, reducing missed deadlines from 6 per year to zero and cutting revision cycles by 30%.
Mentored two junior grant writers, conducting weekly proposal reviews that lifted their individual win rates from 38% to 61% within 18 months.

Grant WriterJun 2016 - Feb 2020

Lakeview Health Foundation, St. Paul, MN

Raised $3.8M across 55 foundation and government grants over four years, expanding the organization's funder base from 18 to 47 active relationships.
Authored a successful $1.1M CDC cooperative agreement application — the organization's largest single award — by coordinating logic model development, budget narratives, and evaluation plans with a 6-person program team.
Streamlined post-award reporting by creating a standardized template library, reducing staff time spent on compliance reports by 22% annually.

Development AssociateAug 2014 - May 2016

Prairie Roots Education Fund, Duluth, MN

Researched and qualified 120+ prospective funders annually using Foundation Directory Online and GuideStar, generating a prospect pipeline that supported $900K in first-year grant revenue.
Drafted letters of inquiry and concept papers for 14 state and private foundation prospects, converting 9 into full applications and 6 into funded awards totaling $420K.
Maintained grant tracking data in Salesforce NPSP with 98% record accuracy, enabling real-time reporting to the executive director and board development committee.

Skills

Federal grant writing (NIH, HHS, SAMHSA, NSF, AmeriCorps) · Logic model and theory of change development · Budget narrative writing · Grants.gov and SAM.gov submission · Foundation Directory Online (FDO) / Candid · Salesforce NPSP · Post-award compliance reporting · Prospect research and funder cultivation · Grant Management Professional (GMP) — GPCI, 2021

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