Carolyn's Nonprofit Blog

I attended high school at Clear Creek High School in League City, Texas. My father was transferred from Southern California in 1967 to work on the first manned moon mission at what is now called Space Center Houston. I participated in the highly regarded choral program at Clear Creek and received University Interscholastic League or UIL awards for choral and ensemble performance. Upon graduation from high school, I received the honor of being approved for the National Honor Society and I wore its gold cord around my neck during my graduation ceremony.

I was accepted to the two universities to which I applied, the University of Colorado at Boulder (where both my parents attended college), and The University of Texas at Austin. I chose the latter. There, I received two degrees and studied two languages, Arabic and French. In the end, I took more university courses than required to graduate. I have always loved learning.

My first degree was a Bachelor of Arts With Honors in Middle Eastern Studies (General and Comparative Studies), College of Liberal Arts (1977); the second a Master of Arts, 19th Century American Art History, College of Fine Arts (1985). During graduate school, I was the recipient of the Meredith Long Scholarship in American Art. I was also elected to membership in the nation’s oldest academic honor society, The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. I remain a member today.

During graduate school in the College of Fine Arts, I authored and co-authored articles for professional publications like the book, Collecting the West: The C. R. Smith Collection of Western American Art (The University of Texas Press, 1988); Gilcrease: Magazine of American History and Art; and The Magazine Antiques. You can read a description of my Gilcrease experience as a post, “Why Art and Looking Matter.”

The same year I obtained my Master’s Degree, I completed the intensive grant training course offered by The Grantsmanship Training Center in Los Angeles, California. Hence, my development career was founded on grant research and writing. If you follow me on social media, I share information about the Center’s work occasionally, and I recommend it highly. I have since that time regularly taken continuing education coursework, and I have shared my knowledge as a guest speaker at a number of local and national conferences (see Media Room on this website). To read about my circuitous journey to becoming a grant professional – with advice for those wanting to join the ranks of nonprofit development professionals – follow the link.

After my first few years as an undergraduate at UT Austin, I assumed my own college and living expenses. No silver spoon for me! And after securing my B.A. With Honors, I continued working for a few years, and I took additional college courses on the side. I then applied and was accepted to graduate school. I recall feeling that at age 26, I was so “old.” I feared I would be an odd duck in graduate school but was surprised to discover many of my student colleagues were older than I was, a few almost twice my age.

I obtained a guaranteed student loan and multiple part-time jobs. To this day, I marvel at how organized I had to be to work, take courses, study and write my master’s thesis simultaneously. But several years of “office” work around The University of Texas campus gave me fast fingers, a ready knowledge of office work and organization, and comfort interacting many leading national academic scholars. My office typing skills would allow me to take the majority of my future nonprofit development work “in-house” (DIY). Hence, these early work experiences were actually an added benefit.

My first nonprofit development experiences occurred during graduate school. I began volunteering for a local art museum to gain some hands-on experience and after about a year, the staff noticed I could research and write well and that I was comfortable with museum patrons. I began working as an employee half-time then full-time. My greatest mentor worked there.

Since those early days, I have received awards for excellence in work and volunteering from the likes of NTEN: Nonprofit Technology Network, Art Museum of South Texas, North American Butterfly Association, Dallas Zoological Society, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Botanical Research Institute of Texas and more.

I was also pleased to find time in 2010 to have my genealogy thoroughly researched, and to be formally elected to membership in NSDAR: National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution. To read about the ancestor who initially allowed me to join DAR, follow this link to Goodreads. Today, I am a member of the Austin Colony Chapter with six proven American Revolutionary War ancestors. I am also an associate member of the Molly Goodnight and Camp Middlebrook chapters of NSDAR.

To learn about my abiding interest in libraries, follow this link.