Bess de Farber, a Florida native, is the library grants manager, a new position in the Libraries as of October 6, 2008.  Prior to accepting this position, she served for three years as grants and revenue manager for the University of Arizona Libraries and Center for Creative Photography, in Tucson. She holds a BM in Clarinet Performance from USC, an MNM (Master of Nonprofit Management) from FAU, and is a certified professional facilitator through the International Association of Facilitators. Bess has held positions in the world of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector for the past 23 years, assisting over 600 organizations. In 2001, she created the CoLAB Planning® workshop series, a “speed dating” method for mobilizing and connecting community assets, mostly in Florida. It has been a successful facilitation tool for people working in 1,000 different organizations including foundations, libraries, museums, universities, nonprofits, and governmental agencies.

Kelley Cunningham joined the Smathers Library in January 2005. As the grants coordinator from 2005-08, she was responsible for supporting every grant proposal which the Libraries undertook. Along with the Grants Management Committee (GMC) support, she was responsible for maintaining and expanding grant related projects. One component of this expansion included The Smathers Library Mini-Grant program, now in its third year, which has been instrumental in helping the library staff receive “hands-on” training in preparing proposal applications, and managing their grant projects. Kelley also maintains the GMC website, which includes grant writing tips, mini grant information, the Grant Tracking database, and a Google calendar with grant application deadlines. Currently working with the new grants management team, Kelley creates bi-weekly “Funding Alerts.” These alerts contain library, humanities, science and educational funding opportunities, deadlines and related important agency contact information. Additionally, Kelley is responsible for managing post award grant activities. Prior to coming to the Library, Kelley worked in the UF College of Engineering Contracts and Grants office from 2001-04 administering and maintaining post award responsibilities for over 200 contracts and grant awards. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Lambuth University, Jackson, Tennessee.