How Seattle Grantwriting Got Started
Launched in 2008, Seattle Grantwriting combines the talents and interests of Randy Simon and Jon Meier into a unified vision of helping nonprofits achieve their funding goals. Although we are married and both lawyers, we arrived at this business partnership from somewhat different directions.
After a varied legal career that included practicing employment law with the U.S. Department of Labor, bankruptcy work with the Seattle law firm Foster Pepper, disciplinary work for the Washington State Bar Association, and a solo estate planning practice, Randy settled into a career as a full-time mother and volunteer. Randy was a founder and President of the Temple Beth Am Parent Association and has performed development work for many organizations, including Oberlin College, The Northwest School, and Legal Voice. During the 2008 presidential campaign, she served as a neighborhood leader in the Obama campaign. She now sits on the Board of Directors of Seattle Education Access. As the kids grew older and the volunteer experiences more involving, Randy began itching to work for nonprofits in a more focused, substantive fashion. You can read more about Randy’s background here.
Before Jon attended law school, he worked as a community development coordinator for a neighborhood center in Madison, Wisconsin. There, he edited a community newspaper and helped organize community groups and events. He then served two years as the deputy director of a federation of neighborhood centers, gaining knowledge and experience in fundraising, lobbying, program administration, and nonprofit management. Jon then attended law school at New York University and began to look for ways to achieve social change through the law. As a lawyer, Jon has represented millions of Washington residents in a series of consumer class actions against various health insurers, forcing those insurers to cover alternative medical therapies mandated by state law. His legal specialties include appellate law, ERISA, complex litigation, and securities litigation. The skills that run through all of the work Jon has done over the last 30 years center on writing, research, and editing. You can read more about Jon’s background here.