Today we’d like to introduce you to DeaRonda Harrison.
Hi DeaRonda, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
As a little girl, people would ask me what I wanted to do when I grow up and I always knew I wanted to make this world a better place. I could not articulate what that looked like exactly but I knew I had to do work that made a difference. Upon graduating college and entering into a job that didn’t give me any satisfaction, I resigned to force myself to figure it out. Friends would ask me to help them write grants and I didn’t know exactly why they were reaching out to me because I didn’t even know what a grant was so I started doing research; how to apply and prepare successful grant applications. Later, I launched June First Firm.
June First Firm is a grant writing firm that assists organizations especially under new leadership, increase revenue to grow their impact. This business has allowed me to make my dream a reality because I am able to help mission-led organizations by providing grant writing services. Over the course of my career and business launch, I have helped organizations that are changing the world for the better – winning awards totaling $35M! Some organizations include maternal child health resources for black mothers, housing for individuals that are marginalized, education resources for students at under-resourced schools, and job training and upskilling for low-income individuals. My specialty is serving organizations that are typically challenged with obtaining resources and lack the knowledge on how to win grants. From my experience and success, I now coach organizations challenged with limited grant writing experience to increase revenue to continue to make an impact in their community and/or region. My recent successes are clients’ inability to obtain grants but working with me and winning grants on their first grant application and a client preparing a complex federal grant application ready for submission.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In the beginning of my business launch, it was very tough. It was difficult leaving a consistent check every two weeks and figuring out my next steps. Honestly, I don’t think I would make the same move again without more information. But it taught me to be persistent and learn how to figure things out. I struggled with selling my services and positioning myself as an expert. I was never taught sales and I didn’t know what it looked like so I made sure to enroll in sales courses to highlight my skillset. I am motivated by the challenges I faced early on to work with clients to help transform their organizations. I am encouraged when customers leave me and they are better off than when they came. I am grateful when we work together to bring in additional revenue for their organization so they can continue to fulfill their mission.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about June First Firm?
My business speciality is grant writing training targeted for mission-driven organizations. I found that organizations were hiring grant writers and not seeing any results. So instead of organization leadership trying to find and hire a great grant writer, I help organizations train someone from their team to successfully apply for and win grants. I help to make sure organizations don’t feel like they are missing out on funding and/or feeling overwhelmed and missing all grant opportunities because they don’t have the capacity or knowledge to move forward. I help free up time for leadership who are swamped with many tasks to ease the burden of managing someone to win/manage grants. I am most proud of my successes working and consulting with numerous leading nonprofits as a grant professional with ten years of experience winning awards totaling $35M over the course of my career.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
My success is defined by my planning and efforts to meet the needs for mission-driven organizations. I make sure to pivot to the needs of the clients that I serve. For instance, I recently implemented cost-effective strategic advisory hours so that organizations can strategize, increase funding, develop ways to successfully cultivate partners, and lay the groundwork for a successful grant program. My successes are shared by making guest appearances on podcasts and conducting grant writing training for organizations. I make sure to plan and share ideas to my consultant community for their feedback and I am grateful for their support and encouragement.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://
junefirstfirm.com - Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dearondaharrison
- Youtube: @dearondaharrison
