Holly Dickinson is the Director of Grants and District/Community Programs at the Lockport City School District. In this role she oversees ESSA program compliance; school and district comprehensive improvement and strategic planning; preparation, submission, and project direction of all competitive and non-competitive grants; family and community engagement; and the district’s community schools initiative. Holly has been leading program design teams and preparing and implementing federal, state, and foundation grants for the past 12 years and has been awarded more the 50 million dollars in grant funds during this time. In addition, she has conducted grant writing and evaluation workshops at the Grant Professionals Association national conference.

Bret Ratner is the Vice President of Grants at Good Shepherd Services (GSS), a large NYC-based nonprofit that serves more than 28,000 children and families annually through over 90 programs. In this role, he supervises a team of six Grants Managers and Grant Writers that are responsible for securing funding from NYC, NY State, and federal government agencies as well as a robust portfolio of over 50 private foundations and corporations. Prior to working at GSS, he was the Director of Institutional Advancement at the Educational Alliance and has also been a Development Officer at ExpandED Schools. Finally, Bret has his Master’s in Journalism from Marquette University and completed Columbia University’s Developing Leaders for Nonprofit Professionals program.

Jay Roscup has served as an afterschool youth worker, ELA teacher, non-profit Executive and school administrator. He operated as the Safe Schools Healthy Students Project Director role at Sodus CSD and the Director of the Community Schools Initiative in Lyons for a competitive NYS grant. In those roles, he organized building supports, served on student intervention teams, and worked in areas ranging from early childhood to juvenile justice and mental health. Currently, Jay is the Community Schools Director for Wayne County Community Schools where he supports coordinators at four schools on the journey to being Full Service Community Schools and is a Project Director for a Full Service Community Schools grant.