Katherine FH Heart, GPC, M.Ed. is a GPA Approved Trainer with 15 years of grant course development and training experience.

Click on the links below to view the course descriptions. Organizations can request customized webinars and virtual workshops on the Contact page. 

*Accepted Education Programs (*) for GPCI-certified individuals and candidates for the GPC by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute in 2022.

See the Events page for upcoming and recent presentations.

Grant Train-Coach-Mentor Program: Katherine utilizes this approach with individuals and grant teams to effectively and quickly build grant skills and competencies recognized by the Grant Professionals Certification Institute and Grant Professionals Association. The process results in improved capacity to navigate the full grant cycle including pre-proposal planning, grant research, proposal and budget development, grant management and monitoring, and grant report writing. Katherine presents in plain language with "can-do" enthusiasm. Content is regularly updated for regional and national trends. Participants fulfilling course requirements receive a certificate of completion. 

Katherine offers mentoring via private video calls and emails to participants in the Grants Cafe and GPA Mentor Match Program. In September 2023, Katherine was one of three mentors selected for the Catalysts for Community (C4C) Program, a national pilot project to increase the capacity of under-resourced small nonprofits in NW Arkansas to apply for and manage grant awards while creating a pipeline of trained grant professionals and future nonprofit leaders. The nonprofits and student interns receive tailored training and mentoring from September 2023 to May 2024 to produce grant and fundraising deliverables. The program is operated by the GPA Arkansas Chapter with partial funding from the Walton Family Foundation. Katherine offers mentoring to a student and nonprofit with a mission centered around “opening avenues” of opportunity for people with disabilities.  

Katherine has provided grant presentations, webinars, and courses for these organizations from 2008 to the present.

American Therapeutic Recreation Association

Association of Fundraising Professionals-Western PA Chapter

Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh-Nonprofit Resource Center (Basic and Advanced Proposal Writing and other grant workshops, 2009-2019)

Carnegie Mellon University

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh 

Community College of Allegheny County (Grant curriculum development and grant courses, 2009-2011, 2022)

Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery

Coro Center for Civic Leadership

East Suburban Citizen Advocacy

Emerging Philanthropy Conference sponsored by AFP/PPGC

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (Mission Sustainability Cohorts in Beaver PA, Toledo OH, Fargo ND, San Francisco CA, Southwest Washington State)

Grant Professionals Association Annual Conference & Webinars

Grant Professionals Association-Western PA Chapter

Grants Cafe: https://www.meetup.com/grants-professionals-of-western-pa

Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank - Huddle 4 Hunger Conference

Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Monroeville Campus

Local Government Academy

Love Your Space Cohort sponsored by Green Building Alliance & The Forbes Funds

Marietta College Nonprofits LEAD Program in cooperation with the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley

Open Avenues

Pennsylvania Library Association, Southwest Chapter

Pittsburgh Mercy Health System

Reimagine Fayette

Steel Rivers Council of Governments

Sto-Rox School District

Student Conservation Association

United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh: English Department, Global Studies Department, Graduate School of Social Work, National Network of Libraries of Medicine Mid-Atlantic Region

VisionServe Alliance

Volunteers of America in Pennsylvania-Working Order Program

Trainer Bio: Katherine (Hudgens) Heart earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1984. Receiving an A+ in the Grants and Fundraising Course at the Graduate School of Social Work turned her interests to the nonprofit sector. She managed education and training programs for several nonprofit organizations. Katherine has provided presentations on nonprofit program development including workforce and youth development, entrepreneurship, disability awareness, health promotion, physical fitness, mental health, victim advocacy, and grant topics during her 45-years of service.

Contributing to her training/coaching style, Katherine’s participation in the 2012-13 SAMHSA Voice Awards Fellowship included advanced communications training and mentoring with Vanguard Communications, a national award-winning PR Agency in Washington D.C. which also enhanced her ability to plan and present an advocacy campaign involving media outreach and motivational speaking. 

Katherine has also completed Train-the-Trainer programs with the Department of Justice and Fred Pryor Seminars, the Grantsmanship Center's 5-Day Grant Training Program, Advanced Grant Proposal Writing and Budgeting courses with the Foundation Center of New York, author Dr. Bev Browning, and many online courses.

See these success stories from past training participants.