Participatory grantmaking
Field-tested infrastructure
A consulting practice led by Melissa Zellner Gomez

Strategy and systems for the work that actually changes things.

Project Mavens is the consulting practice I built to do one thing well: help mission-driven organizations design programs, grantmaking, and infrastructure that hold up in the field. Federal agencies, state systems, foundations, and supportive housing networks have hired this practice for the parts of the work that are hardest to get right.

Start a conversation → See past performance
$130M+
federal grant portfolio advised at U.S. DOJ Office of Justice Programs
$4.63M+
awarded through participatory grantmaking I led
5
field guides authored, including Opening the Door
15+
years in homeless response, justice, and health systems
How I work

I bring field practice and framework authorship to the same engagement. That combination is rare, and it is what makes the work land in the systems it is meant to serve.

Most consultants either write the framework or run the program. I have done both, in the same domains, often on the same projects. That means the strategy I design is shaped by what actually happens after the deck closes.

My practice is built around four lanes where I have deep credentials and named past performance: participatory grantmaking design, homeless response and shelter systems, AI governance for mission-driven organizations, and program design for federal and state agencies.

I also build the infrastructure, not just the strategy for it. When a system needs to exist, I ship it. That is a rare thing to find in a strategy practice and it is why the recommendations survive contact with the work.

I work as a sole principal on smaller engagements and lead a project team for larger builds. I am comfortable as primary contractor or as a subcontractor partner.

Practice areas

Four lanes. Real credentials in each.

I do not list capabilities I cannot back with named projects, published work, or sustained role experience. These four lanes are where the practice has both.

01

Participatory Grantmaking Design

End-to-end design and implementation of participatory and community-led grantmaking. Application architecture, review committee design, decision frameworks, and evaluation. Field-tested through two major foundation initiatives, documented in two published guides.

Application design Review committee facilitation Community engagement spectrum
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02

Homeless Response & Shelter Systems

Curriculum design, technical assistance, and infrastructure for low-barrier shelter and homeless response systems. Five published field guides, including Opening the Door. Active center administrator role for a state-funded TA center in Illinois.

Low-barrier operations Training series design Coordinated entry
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03

AI Governance & Digital Infrastructure

AI readiness, governance frameworks, and the systems themselves. I design the governance model and then build the thing: partner portals, content management systems, contract lifecycle workflows, and finance dashboards. The Fourth Lens framework evaluates adoption through technical, financial, operational, and power dynamics.

AI readiness assessment Equity-centered adoption Full-stack partner portals Contract lifecycle systems
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04

Strategic Operations & Program Design

Program architecture, scope of work design, partner contracting, and operational close-out for federal and state agency portfolios. Background includes senior program consulting at the U.S. Department of Justice and project management at Walter Reed.

SOW & contract design Federal portfolio support Close-out & compliance
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Past performance

Named projects, real numbers, documented outcomes.

These are projects I led directly, either as principal or as the contracted practitioner. Each has a public record. References available on request.

We Rise Together · Together Fund

Together Fund: participatory grantmaking across two tracks

Designed and led a two-track participatory grantmaking process for the Together Fund. Built the application architecture, recruited and facilitated the community review committee, and oversaw the full decision and award cycle. Featured case study in the published guide Getting Real About Participatory Grantmaking.

$1.63M
awarded across 12 grants
200
applications across two tracks
Chicago Cultural Treasures · Culture Forward Chicago

Community-majority review across nearly 200 applicants

Led the participatory grantmaking process for the Chicago Cultural Treasures and Culture Forward Chicago initiatives. Stood up a community-majority review committee, developed equity-centered scoring frameworks, and managed the full award cycle. Documented in the published practitioner guide Participatory Grantmaking in Practice.

$3M
awarded to 77 organizations
~200
applications reviewed
HETAC · Supportive Housing Providers Association · Illinois OPEH

Statewide technical assistance center for homeless response

Director and lead content developer for the Illinois Homelessness Education and Training Technical Assistance Center. Designed and delivered the Low-Barrier Shelter Training Series 2026. Currently serving as Center Administrator and contracted lead for the HETAC Visibility Project.

$10M+
in program budgets managed
Statewide
across the Illinois OPEH-funded TA network
HETAC Visibility Project · Platform Build

Public site and partner portal for a statewide TA network

Designed and built the digital infrastructure for the Illinois HETAC network end to end. A nine-page public website backed by a content management system with a live visual editor, so program staff can update the site without a developer. A separate partner portal handles gated onboarding through scope of work, budget, and contract, plus finance dashboards and ESIGN-compliant contract lifecycle management.

I designed the brand system, wrote the content architecture, and built the software. Strategy and delivery on the same engagement.

Full stack build Content management system Live visual editor Partner portal ESIGN contract lifecycle Finance dashboards Brand system
Statewide
deployed across the Illinois OPEH-funded TA network
Full stack
brand, content, CMS, portal, and contract workflow
Melissa Zellner Gomez, Founder and Principal of Project Mavens
Author of 5 field guides
Lead practitioner Participatory grantmaking
Principal

Melissa Zellner Gomez

I have spent the last fifteen years in the work that mission-driven organizations call the hard parts. Homeless response. Justice systems. Foundations giving real money to communities they have not always trusted. AI adoption inside the kinds of nonprofits that cannot afford to get it wrong.

Before founding Project Mavens, I served as Senior Program Consultant at the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance, Community Health Strategist at AmeriHealth Caritas, and Project Manager at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence at Walter Reed. I am Dominican-American, first-generation professional, and based in the Greater Tampa Bay Area.

Field publications
Five field guides, including Opening the Door and two participatory grantmaking practitioner guides
Education
MBA in progress · B.S. Information Technology & Networking, DeVry
Certifications
Certified ScrumMaster (Scrum Alliance) · Certified Advisor (21/64) · Project Management Professional
Current roles
Center Administrator, HETAC · Founder, Project Mavens
Published work

The frameworks I use in client engagements are the same ones I publish in the field.

Authorship and field practice on the same domain is the differentiator. RFP reviewers can read the methodology before they sign the contract.

Field Guide

Opening the Door: A Practical Guide to Low-Barrier Shelter Operations

The operational reference used by shelter providers across Illinois and adopted in TA conversations beyond the state.

Read the guide →
Field Guide

Illinois Law Enforcement Response to Homelessness Guidebook

Published by the Illinois State Police. Guidance for law enforcement responding to homelessness in the field.

Read the guide →
Field Guide

Participatory Grantmaking in Practice: A Guide for Donors and Foundations

Authored. Introduces the Community Engagement Spectrum used by foundations designing participatory processes.

Read the guide →
Field Guide

Getting Real About Participatory Grantmaking: Reflections from the Field

Authored. Documents lessons from the Together Fund and other initiatives, including the "polish is not readiness" principle.

Read the guide →
Newsletter

Intelligence, Adjusted

A space to discuss ideas at the intersection of AI adoption, equity, and mission-driven systems. Published through The Fourth Lens.

Subscribe →
Framework

The Fourth Lens

A framework for analyzing AI adoption through technical, financial, operational, and power dynamics lenses. Asks who benefits, who decides, and whose voice matters.

Explore the framework →
Let's talk

If you have an RFP open or a hard problem worth a real conversation, send it.

I respond to procurement inquiries within 48 hours. For coffee-conversation pace, the booking link is open.

Send an RFP inquiry → Book a conversation Download capabilities statement