Natalie Grandison serves as the Director of Higher Education & Strategy at the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation. She believes deeply in the value of community investment, meaningful social impact and the potential for systems to change, especially in higher education scholarship administration and student supports.
At the Clark Foundation, Natalie’s portfolio has committed nearly $400 million in philanthropic capital to date to ensure high-potential students with financial need can access a high-quality engineering education. Her primary responsibility is managing the scholarship arm of the Foundation’s signature academic investment, the A. James Clark Scholars Program, which will support over 450 students at 11 campuses nationwide in perpetuity.
In addition to the Clark Scholars Program, her work involves investing in organizations that empower leaders to creatively develop solutions to support the whole student beyond financial aid and in the classroom. Natalie oversees the Foundation’s multi-year investment of nearly $220 million in students, faculty, infrastructure, and research at the University of Maryland.
She serves on the Board of Trustees Engineering Foundation at the University of Virginia. Natalie also serves on the Advisory & External Evaluation Board for the National Science Foundation Project, “Better Together: Leveraging the Shared Commitment of Community Colleges and HBCUs to Optimize Black Engineering Student Pathways.”
Previously, Natalie was the Director of External Relations in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, where she focused on development, corporate and public relations, external outreach, board management, and communications. Prior to that, she worked in development at George Washington University; City Year – Washington, DC; and New York University.
Natalie volunteered on the Board of Jubilee Jumpstart, an early childhood education center; and as President of the Board for the Congressional Chorus, where she is a singer and dancer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Business and a Master’s in Public Administration from New York University. She resides in Washington, DC with her husband and daughter.