About E&K Grants LLC

E&K Grants LLC is a mission-driven consulting business founded to strategically support nonprofit organizations’ grant writing and fundraising efforts, operated by co-owners Emma Jones, PhD and Kathleen Johnson, MPP.

Together, we bring 30 years of experience furthering the missions of social service and social justice nonprofit organizations. Combined, we've raised $40 million in grant funds, and we have implemented systems that significantly increased both efficiency and revenue at the organizations with whom we’ve worked.

Experience

While working together at Catholic Charities East Bay in Oakland in the 2010s, we honed our expertise in fund development, nonprofit operations and finance, executive management and resource allocation, designing and implementing grant writing and management systems, cross-departmental collaboration, and more. During this time, we used our combined skills in big-picture strategy, day-to-day operations, and quality assurance to drive successful outcomes, including:

  • Over a five-year period (2015-2020), we nearly doubled the agency’s grants revenue, with sustained growth from annual total grants revenue of $3.4M to $6M, and more than doubled the agency’s foundation grants revenue from $1M to $2.3M.  

  • Designed, staffed, and led a full-scope Grants and Contracts Department from the ground up after significant organizational transition. This included creating all infrastructure: hiring staff; creating job descriptions, systems, and workflows; establishing data tracking and quality assurance systems; and implementing high-level strategy to achieve outcomes.

  • Designed and implemented streamlined custom Salesforce database for full-scope grants data tracking, project management, contracting, and post-award implementation/management. 

  • Contributed critical grants fund development strategy and grant writing support to make lasting community resources possible through innovative public private funding partnerships:

Drawing on this collaborative experience and these successes, along with each of our distinct backgrounds, we built E&K Grants as a vehicle to share our expertise and strategies with other social service and social justice-oriented nonprofit organizations. Check out the impacts we’ve achieved together as E&K Grants LLC!

Our Values

  • We support equity- and justice-focused work.

  • We write about communities, clients, and services in an accurate, respectful, and strengths-based manner.

  • We tailor our approach to the client’s needs, goals, and unique voice.

  • We deliver timely, organized, and comprehensive grant proposals of the highest quality.

  • We ensure that all of our work is based in smart, efficient grants strategy and best practices.

Our Team

  • Emma earned a PhD in philosophy before entering the nonprofit sector and is the author of a 2023 book in feminist philosophy. She began her nonprofit career first as a volunteer crisis counselor and then as a full-time grant writer for nonprofits with a focus on family violence and trauma-informed therapeutic services. Emma has worked as a consultant for multiple nonprofit organizations since 2017. In addition to her deep experience in grant writing, fundraising, and leadership, Emma is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, bringing knowledge of mental health service delivery, trauma-informed care, and communication skills to her consulting work. View Emma’s resume here.

  • Kathleen is an experienced grant writer, editor, project manager, and nonprofit executive with a background in equity focused policy analysis and advocacy. Kathleen began her nonprofit career as a local and state level policy advocate and analyst focused on civil rights issues in education, before moving into institutional grants fundraising in 2016. Kathleen has worked as a grant writing, fundraising strategy, and editorial consultant since 2020. She received her BA from U.C. Berkeley in Communications and Political Science, and her Master of Public Policy degree from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Policy. View Kathleen’s resume here.

Interested in subcontracting with us? We’re hiring!

Successful Government Proposals:

We have prepared successful applications to all levels of government, from local to state to federal, including:

Federal:

  • U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)

    • Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)

    • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

    • Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

    • Office on Victims of Crime (OVC)

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

    • Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR)

    • Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

    • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

  • National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

  • State of California:

    • CA Governor's Office of Emergency Services (CalOES)

    • CA Department of Public Health (CDPH) 

    • CA Department of Social Services (CDSS) 

    • CA Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) 

    • CA Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS)

  • Alameda County:

    • Social Services Agency (SSA)

    • General Services Agency (GSA)

    • Probation Department

    • Behavioral Health Department

  • Contra Costa County:

    • Employment and Human Services (EHSD)

    • Children and Family Services (CFS)

    • Public Defender’s Office

    • Probation Department

    • H3 Department

  • San Francisco County & City:

    • Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development

    • Department on the Status of Women

    • Grants for the Arts

  • City of Oakland

  • City of Richmond 

  • City of San Pablo

  • City of Concord

  • City of Walnut Creek

  • City of Antioch

  • City of Pleasant Hill

  • Los Medanos Healthcare District

Successful Foundation Proposals:

We have successfully written grants to hundreds of private, corporate, community, and family foundations over the years, including donor-advised funds. A small selection of foundations for which we have written successful applications include:

  • Kaiser Permanente Foundation

  • Blue Shield of California Foundation

  • The California Endowment

  • William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

  • Walter & Elise Haas Fund

  • Evelyn & Walter Haas, Junior Foundation

  • William G. Irwin Foundation

  • Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative 

  • Crankstart Foundation

  • Sunlight Giving

  • Monterey Peninsula Foundation

  • San Francisco Foundation

  • Richmond Community Foundation

  • Chevron Foundation

  • Western Digital Foundation

  • Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation

  • Wayne & Gladys Valley Foundation

  • Thomas J. Long Foundation

Work with us for Smart, Scalable Grants Solutions that Drive Results