Securing Grants: Lessons from a Changing Landscape w/ Kristin Cooper from GMA

<p>Host Jared Asch interviews Kristen Cooper of Grant Management Associates (GMA) about major shifts in the federal grants landscape affecting cities, nonprofits, special districts, and other agencies. Cooper shares GMA’s background and scale, then explains how funding pauses in 2025 created uncertainty that is easing as awards resume in late 2026, alongside unusually short application deadlines that require shovel-ready projects. She highlights a key process change under Executive Order 14332: increased political review of discretionary funding, making legislative outreach and letters of support more important. The conversation stresses a stronger emphasis on measurable outcomes and evidence-based reporting, strategic partnering to strengthen proposals, and careful use of AI—using it for funding identification, deep solicitation analysis, and review tools while keeping humans responsible for narratives, budgets, and technical content.</p>