Rachael (She/Her/Hers) is available for project-based supports in many areas of nonprofit engagement, including board, staff and volunteer development, fiscal responsibility and governance, grant writing and administration, communications and program implementation.
She is available as a resource by phone, video conference or in-person, for minimal commitments, to large-scale projects and programs, as available.
Rachael brings her zest for creativity and spark of fun to all proceedings, putting stakeholders at ease, so we can get down to do good work.
Please reach out to share more about your organization’s needs.
Summary
For two decades, Rachael has been a tireless champion for underserved communities. As a nonprofit founder, director and board leader, she has seeded and sustained innovative arts programming, through collaborative organizational partnerships and dynamite ongoing grant proposals. As a professional writer with 20 years’ experience, she’s developed rapport through more than a 1,000 engaging features and reviews. As an educator, she’s opened the door to dance, theater and music to those who wouldn’t otherwise have access, because she believes arts and culture belong to everyone. Rachael wants this to be a more beautiful world.
Experience
Organizational Development and Nonprofit Consulting
Production Coordinator (Part-Time) with the City of Eugene Cultural Services Department, overseeing Volunteer Coordination, serving as a liaison to Public Art Management, organizing Event Planning, advising Marketing, Web Development and Social Media, as well as tracking long-range program design, evaluation and reporting. Also serving as a docent and visitor guide (Part-Time) for the Adventure Children’s Museum.
Volunteer work includes the Art Gives Hope Task Force for ShelterCare, building the Business Sponsorship program for the HIV Alliance, developing Communication tools for Food for Lane Co., including writing their newsletter features, as well as ongoing volunteering for local arts organizations and civic groups, such as Roosevelt Middle School, the Oregon Children’s Choir, Rose Children’s Theatre, Oregon Contemporary Theatre and 100 Women Who Care. Former member, City of Eugene Cultural Services Advisory Committee.
Recent client work includes: The Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, an organization serving 27 tribes, hired me to research, analyze, interpret and craft current grant funding requirements with their organization’s Childcare Development Fund policies and procedures.
ArtCore Project Coordinator, Inflexion 2017 – 2018
Rachael served as the liaison among the many and varied partners — arts organizations, teaching artists, school administrators, classroom teachers, interns, volunteers and students — in this dynamic co-located, co-organizational, collaborative federally-funded grant project that brings arts integration practices into five local Middle and High Schools. Rachael is responsible for developing and implementing special events, such as teacher-training institutes and ongoing professional development opportunities for the ArtCore team. She has contributed her skills in grants administration to ArtCore’s proposal development, as the lead grant writer on a multi-million-dollar proposal to the National Science Foundation in Fall 2017. She was tasked with developing ArtCore’s marketing strategies as well as designing the final phase of the project’s Case Research Study. Rachael has implemented meaningful new structures to the ArtCore team, helping to build the effort’s capacity for functional shared leadership and facilitation. This was a grant-funded position.
Nonprofit Founder and Leader 1999-2017
- Founded and directed Sparkplug Dance, a nonprofit 501c3, dedicated to making learning fun for everyone through dance, including most recently, a 4-year partnership with the Relief Nursery of Eugene/Springfield and one-year with E.C. Cares.
- Oversaw Sparkplug Dance development, with repeated successful proposals to the Oregon Community Foundation, the Lane Arts Council/City of Eugene, the Phileo Foundation, the Chambers Family Foundation, the Oregon Cultural Trust and others.
- Responsible for all marketing and messaging, including Sparkplug Dance initial web design, and re-designs, in 2008 and 2016.
- Responsible for annual budgeting, monthly reconciliation and all governmental reporting and compliance.
- Recognized as an international leader in the field of inclusive dance education, Rachael has taught workshops in The Hague andIstanbul as well as in Oregon and elsewhere in the U.S. In 2008, she served on the faculty of the Kennedy Center’s annual Arts forLearning Institute. Her recent client list includes school districts across Oregon, the Relief Nursery, and currently, EC Cares.
- Early in her career, 1996-1999, Rachael created a new position at On the Boards, in Seattle, as that arts organization’s first Education
Director. She also worked in Public Relations and Marketing and coordinated an ongoing festival of new performance.
Contributing Writer and Editor 1996-Present
- Ongoing outlets for professional writing include Seattle’s The Stranger, Eugene Weekly, Eugene Magazine, the Portland Mercury, and Oregon ArtsWatch. Rachael’s work is widely shared, and has leveraged support and patronage for a wealth of local organizations.
- Editor of special sections, responsible for communicating with, managing and overseeing work of writers, photographers and interns. EducationReed CollegeBachelor of Arts in DanceTheaterNew School for Social ResearchProgram of study in Dance Movement TherapySkillsA collaborator at heart, Rachael’s interpersonal relationships are what make life fun. Organized and efficient, Rachael is also sunny, adaptive and committed. She enjoys meeting with new people, and working with them to solve problems swiftly and in good humor. She has that rare ability to juggle a myriad of projects without losing attention to detail, or the passion for the work at hand. Rachael has a green thumb, she’s a great cook, and dogs love her. She has been married twenty years and has two beautiful children, ages 13 and 17. Being a mom is her first love, and she’s proud to serve as an example of a creative, contributing community member for her kids. Rachael recently took up playwriting, and had more than 50 productions of her work in 2018, all around the world!Client List
Residencies and staff trainings in Inclusive Educational Practices:
Eugene District 4j: Adams Elementary, Arts and Technology Academy, Chavez Elementary School, Churchill High School
Edgewood Elementary, Ridgeline Montessori, Charlemagne Elementary. Springfield Public Schools: Thurston High School,
Springfield High School, Mount Vernon Elementary, Douglas Gardens Elementary, Brattain Elementary, Moffett Elementary, Walterville School. Bethel Public Schools: Willamette High School, Duval County Public Schools, Jacksonville, FL, Hood River School District, Astoria School District, Medford High School Teen Parent Programs, Creswell School District, Elmira High SchoolTeacher-Trainings at conferences, symposiums or professional development opportunities, in best practices for inclusion:
LCC’s Arts Works for Education, LCC Course on Arts Integration, Boys and Girls Club of Emerald Valley, Dance and the Child International, The Hague, The Netherlands, EC Cares, University of Oregon Dept. of Education, Lane Community College Dept. of Education and Dance, Eugene Public Library, Head Start of Oregon, City of Eugene Dept. of Recreation, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lane Arts Council, Lane County Health and Human Services, Lane County Public Health, Lane Family Connects, Linn-Benton Family Connects, Little French School, National Institute of Recreation Inclusion, Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children, Oregon Association of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, Oregon Department of Education, Oregon Music Educators Association, Relief Nursery of Eugene/Springfield, Right Brain Initiative, Smiling Child Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, Springfield Public Library, Suzuki Strings AssociationPlease note: Most of the clients listed above represent long, multi-year relationships.