Andrea Powell

I’ve worked in the Voluntary Sector for most of my working life, initially within service delivery but more recently within grant making. Before starting with Community Foundation Wales in 2013, I spent 10 years on the grants team for Wales within BBC Children in Need, where I was responsible for supporting grantees throughout the grant process from application to monitoring and evaluation whilst also supporting the fundraising team during the annual appeal.

I am the Grants & Programmes Manager at Community Foundation Wales. I love my job, and consider it a privilege to work with such a great, knowledgeable and passionate team.

It is my job to ensure that our grant making has the most impact by addressing key issues affecting people in Wales. We do this by meeting with and talking to people with lived experience from all walks of life, from those in receipt of funded services/projects as well as staff and volunteers delivering services/projects. We share the learning gleaned with colleagues and others to shape the support we offer our applicants as well as to help with the design of more relevant grant programmes.

I naturally lean towards nurturing and growing those around me. I am never happier than when I can see people taking small steps towards significant change. Their relief, their smiles, their growth in confidence and belief in themselves and their ability gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside that drives me onwards. I’m not one to stand still, I love to listen and learn and I enjoy a challenge.

….grant making jargon! Including how you can improve your application, what is good evidence of need, monitoring and evaluation of your project, ensuring robust governance etc.

Always willing to discuss ideas for projects, how I can link you to others working in similar fields and ideas for sharing best practise to ensure the third sector continues to grow in strength and with a good reputation for engagement and participation.

What’s not to love! I have everything I need right here – family, seaside, mountains, countryside, culture, heritage and of course our own language. Wales is small but beautiful.