Alayna Buckner is an experienced development consultant who specializes in development strategy and grant writing for growing nonprofits in the Washington, DC area. She has a deep knowledge of the region’s private funding community, as well as a proven record in securing national and federal funding. In addition to creating strategic development plans and building grant writing programs, she works with Executive Directors and development staff to build effective development departments that attract funders. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and American Grant Writers Association. Alayna has also served as a grant reviewer for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In 2013, she founded Elevate to make the highest-level development expertise accessible to small and medium nonprofit organizations. Alayna graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Philosophy and Public Policy and Honors in Ethics in Society in 2006. In 2009, she was elected to serve a one-year term as the Chair of the Women’s Information Network (WIN). She was sworn in as a Commissioner for Serve DC, the Mayor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism, in 2013.