About Andrea

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Hi! I am so glad that you stopped by. I’d love to tell you a little bit more about myself. I mean, why would you hire a consultant if you don’t know anything about them? So here’s the true story about me…  

I was born to two amazing parents who just celebrated their 60th (yes, 60th!) wedding anniversary. I have 3 just-as-amazing older sisters, a loving and supportive husband, and a wildly beautiful and intelligent daughter (who is also married to a loving and supportive husband). What more could I ask for in life, right? On top of it all, I get to do what I love for a living. I get to work with communities, coalitions, nonprofit organizations, governmental offices, schools, universities, prevention and treatment providers, and statewide organizations that are all working on providing needed services and creating healthier, happier, and more fulfilled individuals, families, and communities. There are still days when I am floored by the fact that I get to do this for a living!  

My professional background is in behavioral health, but I didn’t enter this field knowing that I was going to grow a lifelong passion for it. In fact, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and had no idea what I was going to do with my life. The first job I landed was providing behavioral health prevention services to pregnant and parenting teenagers. I saw, firsthand, how a single caring adult could alter the trajectory of a person's life for the better. I worked for that organization for 12 years, and 27 years later, I’m still at it! I love the idea of going “upstream” before someone develops a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, and helping them to make healthier choices that will spare them the burdens, challenges, and heartache that accompany mental illnesses and substance use disorders.  

Over the course of 12 years in the nonprofit sector, I transitioned from providing direct services and began taking on more administrative roles such as grant writing, strategic planning, logic model development, and creating program evaluation plans. This is where I truly began to see how impactful a strong, mission focused agency can greatly influence the larger community. And quite honestly, it aided in my understanding of how important it is to have viable “backroom” functions to support the good work of an organization. So much of my experience in the nonprofit field continues to influence the work I do today, most notably the trainings I conduct on topics such as organization leadership, project management, employee development, and grant writing.    

 
Early on in my nonprofit career, I learned that I had a knack for writing grants. I wrote and was awarded my first million dollar grant back in 2006. In my entire career, I’ve written over 100 grants, and in the last two years alone, I’ve written and have been awarded over $16 million to support behavioral health prevention, treatment, coalitions, youth leadership, and domestic violence organizations. And federal grants seem to be my specialty; in the last few years, I’ve written 16 of them and have been awarded 14 of them (not a bad success rate!).  

In 2007, I decided to leave the nonprofit world and began working in the public sector. This is where I was able to see how a public entity could create systems level changes to influence the trajectory of an entire community, county, and even the State. I can’t even count the number of initiatives that I was privileged enough to be a part of, but I definitely have a few favorites, some of which I have included below. Please know that I did not do any of this work alone; I was always surrounded by amazing, creative, and intelligent professionals, many of whom I still consider friends to this day.  

• I led a Substance Abuse Task Force of over 200 community leaders to redesign the behavioral health system in my county. This process completely transformed the prevention, treatment, recovery supports, and harm reduction services to better equip behavioral health organizations to provide high quality services. 

• I led a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Task Force that was able to implement an alcohol screening and brief intervention service to all pregnant women receiving WIC services in my community. This service helped women understand the harms of drinking while pregnant. This program was eventually adopted statewide. Just think of the number of babies born without FAS because of the power of a community coming together for a common goal! 

• I initiated a school-based prevention program that incentivizes schools for implementing prevention services at the individual student, parent, school administrator, and policy levels. That program is still going strong and helping our youth to stay healthy, happy, and drug free. 

• I’ve served on, led, and/or facilitated a variety of coalitions throughout my career, including suicide prevention and drug-free prevention coalitions. In fact, the coalition in my hometown now has over 100 members that work in 8 different committees to initiate efforts to prevent problem gambling and gaming, opioid use, marijuana use, underage drinking, suicide, and power-based violence, all through policy and advocacy initiatives.  

Since I left the public sector, it has been my honor and pleasure to share my years of experience to help organizations fulfill their vital missions. I’ve worked with organizations small and large and everything in between. One particular organization was about to close their doors just as I started working with them. I’m happy to say that I was able to help them raise almost a half a million dollars in less than two years. They are fiscally viable and continuing to expand their staff and their reach in the community!   

So you see, I have had the honor and privilege to dedicate my career to helping organizations and communities be the best that they can be. For me, this is not just a job; it’s a passion. And that is why I named my company YOU THRIVE! At the end of the day, the work I do is not about me, it’s about you. My goal is to help more nonprofits and public agencies to truly be the catalyst for the change that they wish to see. I believe that my drive for effective and sound management systems can help any agency create a solid foundation. I know that my dedication to creating financially stable programs and entities can help any agency flourish. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that I’ve played a role in helping a person, organization, or community become happier, healthier, and more vibrant! And I know that my passion for helping communities truly thrive can help you.

   
So how do you thrive?