Course Description

This course is under development and will open for enrollment in Spring 2020. Please join the GrantsMagic U community to be notified when enrollment opens! Or email: Support@GrantsMagic.org. Thank you!


What does the word “mission” mean to you as a practicing grant professional? 

Too many of us focus on the missions of the organizations we serve, and lose sight of the ways our work supports our own personal sense of purpose in the world. 

In this experiential session, you’ll have the opportunity to step back from the details of what you do, and reflect on the why and how – Why the work is meaningful to you personally, and how to rediscover and stay connected with your passion and purpose.

Through a series of thoughtful discussions and individual and team exercises, you’ll be challenged to: 

  • Reflect on and articulate your personal mission – the direction of your path in life and the qualities you want to bring to the journey;
  • Explore and clarify how your practice as a grant professional nurtures and furthers your pursuit of your personal mission; and 
  • Identify strategies for deepening your commitment to your work and staying profoundly grounded in your passion and purpose.

You will leave with a new understanding of the value of your work in the world; a renewed sense of commitment to your practice; and new take-away tools to help you stay mission-centered not just in your current position as a grant professional, but throughout your lifetime.




Maryn Boess

Chief Magic-Maker

Over her 20+-year career in the nonprofit world, Maryn has been an on-staff program developer and grantwriter; a independent grants consultant (winning more than $42 million for her clients over 10 years); a grants project manager; a grants trainer; a grants reviewer, author, speaker, mentor and coach; and - for the past 10 years - even a grantmaker. This done-it-all background gives her the unique 3-D "insider's" perspective she brings to the practical and inspiring trainings on healthy, successful grantsmanship that she has been blessed to share with thousands of nonprofits of every size, nationally and internationally as well. GrantsMagic U, launched in fall 2015, is the "virtual academy" she created to make her extensive portfolio of grantsmanship trainings available (and affordable!) for anyone, anytime, anywhere. GrantsMagic U is an Approved Continuing Education Provider for both the Grant Professionals Certification (GPC) and Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) credentials. Since 2006 Maryn has also been “in the grantmaker’s chair,” managing up to $2 million annually in grantmaking for K-12 education in the Southwest. She considers herself a dual citizen in the grants world, and may be the only person currently holding membership in both GPA (Grant Professionals Association, for grantseekers) and GEO (Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, for grantmakers). Every hour of GrantsMagic U training qualifies as 1 credit toward CFRE and GPC continuing-education and certification requirements.

Course curriculum