Daniel Shaffer
Grant Writer
Dan was born and raised in Lancaster, PA and attended Juniata College, earning his bachelor’s degree in International Studies in 2017. After college, Dan completed a year of service through the Pittsburgh Urban Leadership Service Experience (PULSE), serving at the Hill Community Development Corporation, helping their small business and homeownership programs, as well as working with the local philanthropic community and the state to secure funding for projects in the Hill District including the New Granada Square development. In December 2018, Dan began a grant writing and consulting business that was formalized as Community Charge PGH in June 2021. Community Charge PGH's mission is to establish an equitable nonprofit ecosystem for under-resourced organizations by listening to the community, creating individualized educational workshops and events, and providing direct access to philanthropy. His goal is to increase accessibility and transparency, so that individuals are not discouraged and do not disqualify themselves before they apply due to socio-economic barriers or poorly worded FAQs, putting a human aspect back into the grant writing process.
In addition to his PULSE service year, Dan participated in the City of Pittsburgh's Commission on Human Relations' Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Task Force in 2018, helping draft recommendations to City Council to improve fair housing policies city-wide. He has also worked with almost every local foundation and government entity as well as many of the larger financial institutions in the region. Through his work, Dan has had the unique opportunity to communicate with foundations directly and contribute towards the success of multiple minority and/or women-led nonprofits and their projects.
As the Grant Writer, Amani sits in a unique position as a smaller community development nonprofit in the Hill District. With the funding coming in for the redevelopment efforts in the Lower Hill District spreading throughout the Greater Hill District, the potential for the organization to grow and give back to the community is endless. The organization has a long history in the neighborhood and being there on the ground under Rev. Walls' leadership has provided myself and other staff the opportunity to develop a skill set that is community-driven and will create or establish equity in our work in the future.
Interest: Coffee. At every meeting, it is a guarantee that Dan will have coffee. In his free time, Dan enjoys learning about different types of coffee, different brewing methods, and finding local coffee shops. Right now, his favorite coffee is Kahawa 1893's Safari blend.