ISAAC
It is my pleasure to introduce our new Development Consultant, Lauren Fitzmaurice. In November 2015, ISAAC’s Leadership Board voted to offer Lauren a year-long contract to work on issues of organizational sustainability such as: board development and governance; grant-writing; visioning; media and fund-raising planning. A significant amount of her time will also be spent helping us to enhance our Annual Banquet which will be held on June 30, 2016. An important charge of Lauren’s time with ISAAC is to try to diversify our funding base to encompass areas of revenue ISAAC has previously not explored. The Development Consultant position is grant-funded through the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. We are so grateful to have received this level of support from the Foundation in order to build the capacity of our organization.
Lauren has an outstanding background in non-profit management and development. She attained her Master’s in Social Work Administration from WMU and then received a post Master’s Certificate in Fund-Raising Management from Indiana University. During her graduate studies, Lauren was trained in grant-making, management and donor relations work at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. For many years, Lauren was an Executive Director of a health care related non-profit in Kalamazoo. She was employed in higher education fund-raising at WMU, Senior Services and other organizations in our region. In 2005, Lauren was elected to the state Hospice board and in 2012 was appointed to the Chair position of the Michigan Adult Day Association Board. Lauren is also a creative artist as Doubleday published her book, Garden of Healing in 2006.
She was a co-founder of the Hospice and the Arts initiative fund currently housed within the Arts Council of Kalamazoo. In 2012 and 2013 she designed visual art for installation as part of the ArtPrize contest and was sponsored by the Spectrum Theatre in Grand Rapids.
Please join me in welcoming Lauren to our ISAAC family as we further the blessed work of social justice in our community.
Executive Director
Ed Genesis is an artist, poet, musician, organizer, entrepreneur, and community leader. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana and moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan permanently in his early 20’s, his love of art/music, his passion for his people and community, and his gift of creativity are evident in all areas of his work. In October 2018 Ed Genesis released a song to accompany the campaign he was working on around school push out, entitled Junior High, which was distributed nationwide including on his own iHeart radio station, Spotify, and iTunes.