Foundation and Government Grants
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Lona Livingston |
Lona graduated from Emerson College and received her M.A. from the University of Florida. She was director of grants and contracts in community colleges in Florida and Tennessee and was director of development at the East Tennessee Foundation before coming to Columbia, where she was the first director of the Office of Sponsored Programs and director of corporate, foundation and government relations in the Office of Institutional Advancement. Currently, Lona specializes in state and federal-directed grants and is pursuing a life-long passion for the theatre in her spare time. |
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Bea Rodriguez |
Bea works closely with the director to manage foundation and government submissions, write grants, and support the grant writing efforts of the college. She has worked as a development coordinator for Howard Area Community Center, served on the boards of Filipino American Network Chicago and Leadership Center for Asian Pacific Americans, and chaired a volunteer chapter for BELIEVE International. She enjoys rock climbing and creative writing, and is the first winner of WILDsound Film Festival's One-Page Screenplay Competition. Originally from the Philippines, Bea earned her BA in English and Sociology from Beloit College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. |
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Cynthia Thomas |
Cynthia Thomas joined Columbia’s staff in 2006 as assistant director of the Foundations, Grants and Government Relations department. She brings a broad range of experience in the nonprofit sector, having worked for arts, education, and human services organizations. Prior to coming to Columbia, Cynthia successfully solicited funding from local, regional, state, and national foundations and corporations. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, and worked earlier in her career as director of education for two major orchestras, Columbus and Atlanta. Later, she was part of a research team on a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, hosted by Georgia State University, which studied educational partnerships between arts organizations and schools. |
