Mac Layne

Grant Writer

Mac (he/him) is a grant writer who loves to help organizations achieve their goals by first gaining a deep, nuanced understanding of their work and then crafting compelling narratives to share their unique stories with the world. He excels at helping organizations gain clarity and confidence around their development goals by creating strategic plans, researching and connecting with institutional funders, conceptualizing and aligning programming with funding priorities, and cultivating organizational partnerships to create robust and sustainable community impact. 

Mac has successfully secured funding from foundations, individuals, and government entities on the state, county, and city levels during his tenure as Development Manager at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, California and more recently as a Development Consultant for Essex & Drake Fundraising Counsel and Empathy in Action Consulting. As a Development Consultant, Mac played a critical role in helping emerging community-based organizations develop the capacity and funding needed to become self-sustaining and impactful assets in their respective cause areas. 

Mac holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics and Latin American & Latino Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Certificate from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He currently resides in Oakland, California and is a drummer in the tradition of candomblé, returning to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as often as possible to visit loved ones and fulfill his obligations as a member of the community. Mac also loves watching and playing soccer, swimming in natural bodies of water, petting dogs, and eating all the burritos.