Expert Grant Writers

Dr. Deborah Montgomery

Chief Executive Officer

For over twenty-five years, Deborah has had a diverse and successful career in writing grants for schools, higher education institutions, and tribal governments and agencies. She worked for a number of years as the consult grant writer for Central Consolidated and Indian Education Schools as well as for the higher education institution clients of the largest publisher of college textbooks and software in the United States. As a twenty year resident of northwestern New Mexico and the Four Corners, which is greatly composed of tribal land, Montgomery founded her own thriving nonprofit agency a decade ago. With Montgomery’s help, this organization writes grants and provides direct services to the Navajo Nation and other local tribes in the realm of youth career and life skill development, drug/alcohol/teen pregnancy prevention, cultural learning and the arts, and comprehensive wellness.

Marissa Burger

Chief Operations Officer

As Resource Associates’ Chief Operations Officer, Marissa monitors and coordinates the day-to-day activities and operations ensuring the highest quality capacity building services to organizations across the country. Her goal is to assist and oversee Resource Associates’ staff to ensure that all services are of the highest quality. In addition to her tenure as the Grant Administrator for the Southern Ute Tribe, Marissa has well over a decade of experience working in the nonprofit sector and is considered a national expert in the fields of grant writing, strategic planning, grant and community partnership development, and professional development in all domains related to grants and nonprofit management. Marissa has worked at the federal level as a grant reviewer and has personally written (and collaborated in the creation and technical reviews of) 1,500+ grant applications. Over her career, she has been directly responsible for the awarding of more than $200 million dollars in grant funding and has contributed to the creation of some of the highest scoring grant proposals in the country. With a multi-million dollar grant award track record, Marissa ensures each Resource Associates’ client receives the best grant writing service and proposal product possible. In doing so, she applies her vast experience in working with community-based, tribal and government organizations in addition to her Bachelors of Science Degree in English Journalism from one of the west coast’s most prestigious universities, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Marissa also has a Master's of Arts in Communication Studies from Tarleton State University.

John Nawrocki

Outreach Manager

John has led Resource Associates’ Outreach Team for more than 10 years as the head liaison for the organization’s nonprofit, municipal, and tribal clientele. John honestly and realistically assesses each client’s suitability for various funding opportunities, makes grant recommendations, and provides guidance and support throughout the grant writing process. He works with new clients to advise them of the best course of action to achieve their funding goals and acts as the clients’ point of contact throughout their relationship with Resource Associates. Since starting with Resource Associates in 2009, John has been involved in the coordination of over 250 awarded grants, totaling $200 million+ in funding for nonprofit and public agencies. His grant expertise is wide-ranging in the fields of federal, government, and foundation funding for public and charter schools, institutions of higher education, health and hospital organizations, tribal administration and service entities, community serving nonprofits, fire and first responder units, municipalities, and many more. Prior to Resource Associates, John taught classes in Composition Fundamentals and College Composition at Colorado State University where he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English. He further completed the coursework for a Master’s in Literature at the University. After a successful term in the US Army, John spent a number of years as the Publications Manager at Integrity Publishing, a publisher of custom client-driven magazines showcasing the community work of charitable foundations, chambers of commerce, nonprofits, and visitors bureaus. Today, John brings to the table his professional experiences and exceptional insight into the alignment of his clients’ goals and needs with grant funding opportunities that are likely to result in an award. John is a valued member of the Resource Associates’ staff who will do all he can to support his clients’ growth and development. Give him a call (505.326.4245) or send him an email (j.nawrocki@grantwriters.net) to request his advisement on the steps you need to take to advance your operations and community initiatives.