I'm on a short sabbatical, but this episode is too good not to revisit. Enjoy this listener favorite while I rest and recharge! 

The grant funding landscape is shifting—and staying ahead means adapting to change. In this episode of Grant Writing Made Clear, Dr. Trenette shares her Top 5 Grant Funding Trends for 2025 that every nonprofit leader, researcher, and grant writer needs to know. From changes in federal funding priorities to leveraging AI as your new assistant, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you secure funding and make an impact in the coming year.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

1. How federal funding priorities are evolving and how to align your mission accordingly.
2. Why some foundations may step up and how to better align your proposals with their priorities.
3. The do’s and don’ts of using AI in your grant writing process.
4. How to integrate AI-driven innovation into your grant projects to stand out.
5. Why demonstrating impact is no longer optional—and how to do it effectively.

Resources Mentioned:

• Free guide: Think Like a Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day
• Foundations mentioned: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Kellogg Foundation
• AI tools mentioned: ChatGPT, Perplexity

Subscribe & Connect:
If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your network. Together, we can make grant writing clearer and more impactful!

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

In this Season 1 finale, Dr. Trenette makes a powerful case for intentional rest as an act of resistance in a productivity-obsessed culture. She announces her summer sabbatical and invites listeners to join her in centering rest - not as a reward to earn, but as a fundamental right that fuels better and sustainable impact.

Key Topics Covered

Drawing from her rural upbringing, Dr. Trenette reflects on lessons from the cornfield across from her childhood home. She observed how farmers allow their land to rest for soil regeneration, understanding that this strategic pause strengthens future growth. She argues that we need the same regenerative approach, viewing rest as strategy.

The episode delves into the science of strategic rest, explaining how innovative ideas can emerge during seemingly non-productive moments. Dr. Trenette discusses the brain's deeper insight function during walks, daydreams, and quiet time, suggesting that activities like folding laundry might actually be your most creative work time. This reframes rest as an essential component of the creative and intellectual process.

Dr. Trenette shares her personal summer rest plan, which includes daily nature walks without headphones, reading for pure interest, baking with her children, and creating comfort through simple pleasures like fuzzy socks, electric blankets, and new pillows. Most importantly, she discusses releasing the guilt that whispers "you should be working" and shares wisdom from her mentor about the perpetual "clouds" of undone work that successful academics carry.

The episode introduces a Rest Portfolio Framework that includes physical rest through extra sleep and joyful movement, sensory rest via time outside and fewer screens, creative rest through art or music that asks nothing of you, emotional rest that provides space to feel without fixing, social rest with people who know you beyond your title, and spiritual rest.

Dr. Trenette poses reflection questions for listeners, asking what might change if they centered rest in their summer and whether they could plan even an hour with no goal but to be present. She challenges listeners to create their own rest portfolio using the framework provided and she provides helpful homework.

Connect with the Grant Writing Made Clear Facebook community and share: How will you center rest in your summer? What does your rest portfolio look like?

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

As we prepare for a summer sabbatical, this powerful episode offers heartfelt encouragement for anyone who has ever doubted their place in the room.

Dr. Trenette shares a personal and affirming message that you are the assignment. Your unique voice, perspective, and story are not just valuable - they are essential. This episode is a call to walk boldly in your purpose.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why your lived experience is a great asset
• Encouragement to embrace your strengths and imperfections as your greatest source of power

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

In this episode of Grant Writing Made Clear, Dr. Trenette challenges the culture of constant busyness and explores why strategic focus leads to deeper impact. She breaks down the hidden costs of overcommitting and provides practical tools for protecting your most important work.

Barriers to Focused Work

• People-pleasing and its impact on decision-making
• False urgency culture 
• Administrative accumulation over time

Practical Focus Strategies

1. Mission-Driven Filtering: Creating a concrete mission statement to guide decisions
2. Environmental Planning: Designing physical and digital spaces for deep work
3. Strategic Subtraction: The "subtract two for every new yes" rule
4. Boundary Scripts: Graceful ways to decline requests

Join the conversation in our Grant Writing Made Clear Facebook group and share: Which project deserves your undivided focus right now, and what are you willing to release to protect that focus?

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

In this episode of Grant Writing Made Clear, we explore consistency and why it matters. If you've ever struggled with staying focused, getting started, or making progress on big goals like grant writing, this episode is for you.

We unpack how consistent effort builds momentum, creates cognitive residue that fuels creativity, and mirrors the way our bodies continue burning energy after intense exercise. With practical encouragement and simple mindset shifts, this episode will help you resume consistency one small step at a time.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why consistency is powerful
• What cognitive residue is and how it leads to innovative ideas
• How daily engagement rewires your brain for creative problem-solving
• The connection between consistent effort and physical training
• A simple call to action to help you build momentum over the next 14 days

Join the Challenge:
➡️ Join my private Grant Writing Made Clear Facebook group to participate in our free 14-Day Consistency Challenge, happening mid–late June! Set one small, sustainable goal and get support every day as you follow through. 

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

In this heartfelt episode of Grant Writing Made Clear, Dr. Trenette opens up about why she’s stepping away from the podcast for a summer sabbatical, and what it really means to pause on purpose. After an intense season of writing grant applications and building community, she's choosing self-care and inviting you to consider what that might look like in your own life.

You’ll hear:

• What led Dr. Trenette to make this decision
• What she plans to do this summer instead 
• How you can also find small ways to realign with what matters most

Whether you’re a nonprofit leader, researcher, or changemaker, this episode is a powerful reminder that rest is not a reward but a responsibility.

Resources Mentioned:

• Join the Facebook Community for support during the break
• Stay tuned for 4 final episodes in June before the podcast pauses

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

Winning a grant is just the beginning. The next challenge? Leading with impact. In this episode of Grant Writing Made Clear, I’m joined by leadership expert Jennifer Manghisi, a corporate real estate professional who previously worked in higher education and has deep experience in operations, process improvement, and team development.

We explore how leadership shapes the success of grant-funded projects, from setting a clear vision to managing priorities under pressure. Jennifer shares practical strategies for avoiding common leadership pitfalls and fostering a strong, aligned team. Whether you’re leading a research study, a nonprofit initiative, or a community effort, this conversation is full of insights you can apply immediately.

What You’ll Learn:

• The difference between being a leader and a manager
• Habits that make leaders more confident and effective
• How to develop and communicate a compelling vision
• Smart hiring tips and red flags to watch for
• Strategies to stay productive and focused under pressure

About Our Guest:
Jennifer Manghisi is a corporate real estate professional based in NYC with a background in operations management and a focus on process improvement and workflow automation. She holds degrees from Bentley University and Columbia University, including an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Resources & Links:
→ Join our Facebook group: Grant Writing Made Clear Facebook Group
→ Subscribe to the podcast
→ Want to strengthen your leadership skills after winning the grant? Be sure to follow Jennifer at careermyths.com or connect on IG @career_myths_podcast 

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

We’re back for Part 2 of my conversation with Dean Gary Cuddeback, and this episode is packed with actionable insights for anyone looking to strengthen their grant writing skills. Dean Cuddeback shares how he learned to write successful NIH grant applications, the importance of mentorship, and his advice for researchers who want to grow in both clarity and confidence. Don’t miss this episode if you’re navigating the world of academic funding or preparing your next application.

What We Cover in Part 2:

• Dean Cuddeback’s personal approach to writing NIH grants
• How he developed clarity and confidence over time
• The role of mentorship and community in academic growth
• Encouragement for those just getting started

Links & Resources:

• Join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2385712291797538/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
• Listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear

In this powerful first half of our two-part conversation, I sit down with Dean Gary Cuddeback, an NIH-funded researcher and academic leader, to talk about his inspiring journey from research associate to dean. We cover the early stages of his research career, the lessons he learned along the way, and how he developed the resilience and clarity needed to move forward. Whether you're just beginning your grant writing journey or need a reminder o keep going, this episode will leave you inspired.

What We Cover in Part 1:

• How Gary transitioned from research associate to dean
• His first experiences with grant writing and early challenges
• Why persistence matters in the grant world
• Lessons that shaped his approach to success

Links & Resources:

• Join the Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2385712291797538/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
• Subscribe to Grant Writing Made Clear on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!

Grant Writing Made Clear.

We’re back with Part 2 of my inspiring conversation with NIH-funded researcher, Dr. Rain Masa. In this episode, we go even deeper, unpacking what it means to write grants with a good strategy, especially when the stakes are high and the work spans the globe.

Rain shares his hard-earned wisdom on writing successful grant proposals and navigating rejections. If you’ve ever felt unsure, overwhelmed, or disconnected from the “why” behind your work, this episode is for you.

In Part 2, you’ll learn:

• How to bounce back from grant rejections with clarity and confidence
• Why building community in academia can fuel both impact and joy

Whether you dream of leading NIH-funded studies or just want to feel less alone in your grant writing journey, this episode offers both practical advice and soulful encouragement.

🎧 Catch up on Part 1 (Episode 20) if you missed it!

Don't forget to join our Grant Writing Made Clear Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2385712291797538/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT

Grab my FREE Think Like A Grant Winner: Unlock Your Path to Fundable Ideas in 1 Day cheat sheet at https://trenette-goings.mykajabi.com/thinklikeawinner

If you’re thinking “I love Dr. Trenette and Grant Writing Made Clear” please rate, review, and subscribe!