My story

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I grew up in Cleveland.

My first real job was as a fundraiser for Ohio Public Interest Campaign, a coalition of community groups, churches and labor unions seeking fair solutions to the unemployment crisis caused by factories chasing cheap labor overseas. 

I headed west to Seattle where I worked as a grassroots organizer, a lobbyist for consumer organizations, and a campaign manager for a city council candidate (she won). 

Then I moved to Washington DC to take a post as the national field director of a women's political organization. While there I was part of a learning team studying effective grassroots organizations. We found that strategic planning was a common denominator. I started putting what I learned to work. The results were dramatic. I was hooked. 

I moved again (I was young!) this time to New York City where I worked as a major donor officer and then served five years as a senior program officer for the Ms. Foundation for Women. In that position I raised over a million dollars in a single year, spearheaded an in-depth evaluation of a core program and I brought grantees together annually for structured peer-to-peer learning. When I left New York I moved to St. Louis, and stayed. 

I have helped dozens of social change and social benefit organizations in the region with strategy development, advocacy planning, and fund development.

Email:  mebeaton@earthlink.net
Phone: 314-396-2322