Ashley Perales is a storyteller, a factfinder, and the lover of a well-laid-out plan. Since 2005, she’s been figuring out how to “make things happen,” her first official job description.

After working in marketing, communications, and program management for 14 years, she joined Lone Star Family Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Conroe, Texas, as their Communications and Outreach Manager. It was there she was introduced to the world of grants. She partnered with Lone Star’s Grant Manager to restructure multiple grant programs, streamline outreach efforts, and realign community partnerships to strengthen federal, state, and local grant proposals.

She then became the Grant & Development Coordinator at Inspiration Ranch and took on the full responsibilities of grant writing, research, and grants management herself. She instituted data tracking for the Ranch’s two main programs to strengthen grant proposals and worked with program teams to properly allocate and track the usage of grant funds in addition to other development department duties.

Ashley approaches grants with a communicator’s training. She believes that doing your research, knowing your audience, and framing the message in a way that will make sense to the funder is the best way to tell your story. Understanding your funder and their goals is vital to the grant process – this is how she increased the Ranch’s grant revenue by 68% in two and a half years.

Ashley has written for more than $6.6 Million in foundation and capital grants and contributed to $17 Million in federal funding for FQHCs, charter schools, and nonprofits. She has designed and managed programming for millions more.

In 2022, Ashley became one of just 33 people holding the Grant Professional Certification (GPC) in the State of Texas and 499 internationally. She began consulting to help nonprofits build their grant capacity, is a member of the Grant Professional Association (GPA), and serves as a Board Member of the Southeast Texas Chapter of GPA. In 2023 and 2024, she Chaired and Co-Chaired the GPA Southeast Texas Regional Conference.