Valerie L. V.  Stewart

A graduate of the University of Delaware, where she majored in English and Journalism, Valerie joined the Washington College staff as Grant Writer in 2014, after a long history in the grantseeking field.  She worked in the Development Office at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library from 1990 to 2005, first as Writer/Researcher, then eventually as Assistant Director for Grants and Donor Communications.  From February 2010 until July 2014, she served as Grant Writer for the National Council on Agricultural Life and Labor Research Fund (NCALL), in Dover, DE, and she is President and Owner of her own prospect research and grantwriting company, ValueWrite, Inc., which was launched in 2005. 

In her current role as Executive Director of Institutional Giving and Stewardship at Washington College, Valerie secures foundation, corporate and government funding for the College. In doing so, she conducts in-depth foundation, corporate, and government funding research to prepare foundation and corporate profiles and briefings; serves as the grants liaison for faculty and staff; prepares and submits grant applications; helps to maintain grants-related information in the donor database; ensures that internal materials required for grant applications, including the College’s IRS 501(c)(3) letter and annual financial documents, are current and available; manages grants awarded, which includes working closely with project directors and financial staff to accurately monitor all grant activity and submit required grant reports; and oversees the maintenance of grant tracking reports that include proposal and report deadlines, next steps, and grant activity — such as targets, submissions, and grants awarded — by fiscal year.