Judy Riffle, Ed.D. (she/her/hers)

Dr. Judy Riffle is a former K-12 teacher, education specialist, University of Hawaii new teacher mentor, and school district office administrator with degrees in special education (University of Texas at San Antonio), Deaf education (University of the Incarnate Word), and educational leadership in higher education (University of Southern California). Her doctoral dissertation focused on prevention of college campus violence against women. Judy owns Santa Cruz Grants & Consulting, LLC, and has raised over $35.5 million through grants and fundraising. She has five years of grant management experience with a school district, a nonprofit, and a charter school, successfully handling $7,968,721 in federal/foundation grant and online fundraising monies. Since 2012, she has served as a frequent peer reviewer for federal grants and community foundation grants. She was a GPA Approved Trainer and was the 2009-2010 Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District #35 Office of Curriculum & Instruction Teacher of the Year. She has completed an 8-week course on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) not once but twice. Some clients she has partnered with are Sunnyside Unified School District, Purple Mountain Institute, Pidola, and IQsonics, LLC.

Judy is a subject matter expert in a host of grant areas, including: Advocacy/Social Justice, Community Colleges, Healthcare, Higher Education, Human Services, K-12 Education/Special Education, Libraries, Public Safety, School Safety, Criminal Justice, Development & Physical Disabilities, Early Childhood Education, Economic Development, College & Career Readiness, Telemedicine, Mental Health, Hospitals, Military Veterans, Animal Welfare, Corporate Grants, Community Organizations/Development, Historic Preservation, Chamber of Commerce, Homelessness, Law Enforcement, Rural Education, Homelessness, STEM/STEAM, Youth Development, Hearing Impairments/Deafness, and Performing Arts/Dance. Her pre- and post-award training experience includes tips from a grant peer reviewer, grant readiness, the grant cycle, K-12 education grants, single audits, federal grants compliance (2 CFR), how to write a grant, collaboration with partners/teams, and mindfulness for grant professionals.

She lives and travels full-time in her RV, accompanied by her husband and two rescued cats. Her home base is San Antonio, Texas, where she frequently visits her daughter and two grandsons.

My favorite thing about this work: I love research, learning, and writing. Although math was never my favorite subject, I adore when strong budgets come together and help tell the story of what clients need to make the world a better place.