Testimonial: Dr. Drew Wins $2.1 Million for Coast Community College District

Corine Doughty, Dean of Business, Career & Tech Ed
at Santiago Canyon College

I'm breaking new ground by publishing a testimonial letter from one of the most important clients I've served over the years - Ms. Corine Doughty, Dean of Business, Career & Technical Education at Santiago Canyon College. I met Corine in 2004 when she was looking for a grant writing instructor to teach at Rio Hondo College.

With her support and encouragement, I wrote a rather startling series of successful grants for schools in the Coast Community College District (CCCD). If you click on the image below, you will be able to read her letter as a larger document.

In my various workshops and retreats, I teach that grant writing is a team sport and not a lonely academic, scholarly pursuit. Consequently, I do not think my regular readers will be surprised to learn that the secret behind all of these successful grant applications was the speed with which Corine and I worked together to study the newly released RFP, to draft a compelling narrative, and to rally the faculty and administrators needed to make the grant significant, feasible and properly staffed as a project.

Ironically, I should have waited another week before asking her for this testimonial letter. It turns out that Orange Coast College won yet another grant with my assistance that funded just last week. It was a grant for buying new CNC (computer numerically controlled) machining technology that was worth $450,000.00. This was one of the last grants Corine and I worked on before she advanced to a new position as a Dean at Santiago Canyon College.