AFP Understanding the Grant Funding Landscape

Please join us for a panel on understanding the grant funding landscape!

8:30am: Check-in & Networking

9:00am: Session Begins

$25 for AFP Members

$75 for Non-AFP Members

Lesley Roberts, Philanthropic Advisor – How to best partner with the Community Foundation

Regional Development Director, Arkansas Community Foundation

A native of El Dorado, Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas. Her 20 years of development experience include work with Methodist Family Health Foundation, CareLink and Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation. She is a Board member for Girls on the Run Central Arkansas. She lives in Little Rock with her husband Stan and daughters Elli and Ann Kelley.

Dr. Ginny Blankenship, CFRE, CNP - Understanding the Grant Fundraising Landscape 

Owner, The Blankenship Group, LLC

Ginny Blankenship, Ed.D., CFRE, is the founder and principal consultant of the Blankenship Group, LLC. Her magic power is using the right words to raise money, champion good people and causes and get things done. She bring smore than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits, schools and universities and federal and state governments nationwide. She began her career as a press secretary in the U.S. House of Representatives during 9/11, then fell in love with education policy and advocacy. She completed her doctorate at George Washington University where she earned a full-tuition fellowship. She has since led dozens of projects and advocacy campaigns, written 100+ publications, and raised more than $6 million for nonprofits and school districts.

Sara Drew – Grant Funding Landscape

Development Director, Arkansas Imagination Library

Sara has over 18 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including programming, education, fundraising, facilitation, marketing, and management. Sara started out in web design with Aristotle, Inc., moved on to historic preservation with the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, spent 6 years as the Director of the Study Tours Program for Heifer International, and then served as the Director of the ESSE Purse Museum in the SOMA area of Little Rock, before joining Literacy Action as the Executive Director in 2013. Sara began working with the Arkansas Imagination Library, the state organization for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, in May 2019, as the Fund Development Director and took on an additional role as Development Director with EAST Initiative from January 2023 until May 2024. Sara received a bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and a master’s degree in Public History from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Sara lives in North Little Rock with her fantastic husband, their amazing son, a sly rescue cat, and a happy rescue dog.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

CARTI Cancer Center (Room CC3 Central Conference Room - Third Floor), 8901 Carti Way, Little Rock, United States