Office of Foundation & Government Grants
The Office of Foundation and Government Grants (the "Grants Office") is the centralized clearinghouse and source of support for grant activity throughout the Holyoke Community College campus.
About Our Office
The Grants Office exists to:
- Support the mission and vision of Holyoke Community College through the creation of innovative projects and partnerships that are funded by external grant-funding agencies.
- Write and process proposals for the college and HCC Foundation.
- Coordinate and support grant writing efforts initiated by faculty and staff.
- Identify and pursue grant opportunities.
- Track grant activity and regularly report to the President and Vice Presidents.
- Coordinate partnership proposals with other higher education institutions, school districts, community-based organizations, and other entities.
- Track reporting requirements and provide support as necessary.
- Ensure quality and integrity in HCC's representations to and engagement with funders.
- Act as the hub for online submissions of grants through Grants.gov and other web-based portals.
- Communicate about and facilitate professional development opportunities for faculty and staff related to grant-seeking, project design, and development.
Roles & Responsibilities
Curious about grant roles and responsibilities? Click here!
Location
The Grants Office is located in Kittredge Center 201.
Alan Bloomgarden, Ed.D
Email: abloomgarden@hcc.edu
Phone: 413.552.2313
Alan Bloomgarden was appointed Director of Foundation & Government Grants in November 2022. Alan is a creative catalyst for collective impact partnerships for social change among community organizations, education institutions, non-profit/public/private agencies and programs in the Pioneer Valley. He has worked for over 20 years in higher education here and has served on several nonprofit organization boards.
After serving for over a decade as Director of Faculty Grants & Government/Community Relations at Smith College, Alan became Mount Holyoke College's first full-time Director of Community Engagement. There, he led the college's Community-Based Learning program and helped Mount Holyoke attain the Carnegie Foundation's designation as a Community-Engaged Institution as well as recognition as an example of excellence by the national Excelencía in Education: What Works for Latino Education organization. In 2020, Elms College appointed Alan as its inaugural Director of Experiential Learning, to leverage grant funds to expand opportunities across the campus and curriculum, and to enhance the institution's commitment to mutually-beneficial community engagement and learning.
Throughout his career, Alan has collaborated with staff, students, and faculty of HCC, working as a partner to K-16 partnerships for educational access and to campus-community development and social action initiatives for equity and justice in Holyoke, Springfield, and the region. He led one of the first "Commonwealth Corps" mentoring programs in Massachusetts from 2009-2012, teaching and supervising HCC, UMass and Mount Holyoke students to work with middle-school youth in the Holyoke Public Schools.
Alan's professional positions in higher education have sought to connect the human and financial resources of colleges and universities with community-driven asset development and problem-solving. He brings grants development, strategic and program planning, community-engaged research and assessment, stakeholder and diverse community engagement, project design and evaluation, writing and presentation, and inclusive facilitation skills to this leadership role at Holyoke Community College. He has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from UMass Amherst, an MPhil in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, and a B.A. in International Relations from Bucknell University. Alan is a published author, presenter, facilitator, consultant, and journal editor focusing on campus-community partnerships for social impact.
Megan Pereira
Email: mpereira@hcc.edu
Phone: 413.552.2440
Megan Pereira joined HCC as the Grants Development Specialist in October of 2018. In her 15+ years of grant writing, Megan has had the opportunity to write and fundraise for a number of local organizations, including New England Public Radio, the Springfield Museums, the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, Springfield Technical Community College, and the Windsor Public Schools' Family Resource Centers. She has her B.A. and M.A. from Elms College, and is currently enrolled in the M.S. in Nonprofit Management at Worcester State University.
Megan loves working with staff, faculty, and community partners to create data-informed stories, and finds special joy in creating the perfect logic model. When she's not geeking out mapping outputs to outcomes, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, reading (or listening to) books of all types, binge-listening to podcasts, and cuddling on the couch with her eight dogs to watch "The Great British Baking Show." Megan lives with her husband and their many furry and feathered companions in West Brookfield.
Nathan Leveille
Email: nleveille@hcc.edu
Phone: 413.552.2404
Nathan (Nate) Leveille joined HCC as its new staff associate of Grants Development & Management in October of 2021. Nate, an HCC graduate from the class of 2001, returns to the college with more than 16 years of experience in grants development and management through his positions at Springfield Technical Community College, where he had worked as grants manager and staff assistant in the Development Office since 2005.
"Nate's expertise in public grant design and administration, including extensive knowledge of budget and regulatory compliance is a critical asset to the College. HCC's efforts to secure grant funding and implement successful projects relies heavily upon attention to key detail," said Director of Foundation & Government Grants, Dr. Alan Bloomgarden. "More than two-thirds of our current external grant funds come from state and federal sources, and we are fortunate to have Nate supporting these in both the pre- and post-award phases."
After graduating from HCC with his associate degree in liberal arts, Nate went on to Westfield State University for his bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in public and corporate communications. Nates lives in Russell where he enjoys exploring the outdoors.
