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Grants don’t fund ideas—they fund clear stories that solve real problems. We sit down with Dr. Natasha Goldman, an art historian turned grant strategist, to map out a practical path from fuzzy concepts to fundable proposals. Natasha shares a simple five-part framework—what, why, how, who, and how much—that helps teams decode dense RFPs, align their plans, and write with confidence under pressure.

The funding terrain has shifted. Foundations are swamped and more selective, which makes warm outreach and relationship building essential. On the federal side, opportunities are alive and evolving, with more space for industry participation alongside nonprofits and higher ed. Programs tied to AI, workforce, and economic development are gaining traction, while long-standing programs at NSF and NEH continue with updated priorities. Natasha shows how to focus on fit, guard your integrity, and only chase opportunities that match your mission and values.

Partnerships take center stage. Rather than competing head-to-head, local players can combine efforts, add wraparound services like child care and transportation, and present a stronger, scalable model. We break down how to set roles by team strengths, avoid timeline compression, and use low-stakes practice to master iteration before tackling high-stakes grants. Natasha’s $23M Good Jobs Challenge win for Boston illustrates what this looks like at scale—multi-sector coalitions, measurable outcomes, and childcare placements that exceeded targets.

If you’re ready to craft proposals that read clean, demonstrate broader impact, and stand up to tough review, this conversation offers the steps. Subscribe for more candid strategy, share with a colleague who’s chasing funding this year, and leave a review with your biggest grant challenge—we’ll tackle it in a future episode.

Guest Bio

Natasha Goldman, PhD, is President of WISSEN, Inc. and Visiting Researcher at Boston University. She is a higher education consultant, published scholar, and federal grant winner. 

She founded WISSEN in 2018. Natasha loves helping clients formulate grant projects and strategize their priorities. Among others, she has won NSF, NEH, DOJ, Fulbright, Dept. of Labor, EDA, and foundation awards for her clients.

Her book, Memory Passages: Holocaust Memorials in the United States and Germany, was published by Temple University Press (2020). She is a 2018 and 2020 awardee, along with co-director Page Herrlinger, of an NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers on the topic of “Teaching the Holocaust through Visual Cul

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