FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 8, 2019

CITY OF KINGSTON HIRES GRANTS MANAGER FOR NEWLY ESTABLISHED OFFICE OF GRANTS MANAGEMENT

KINGSTON, N.Y. -- Mayor Steve Noble is pleased to announce the hiring of the new Grants Manager, Ruth Ann Devitt-Frank, who will start on March 4, 2019. She has been a Grant Writer/Manager at Bardavon 1869 Opera House for the last eight years and has served as their Development Director since 2014. Ruth Ann is also a founding member of Kingston’s Midtown Arts District (MAD), where she has been a volunteer Grant Writer and Advisory Board Member since 2016. Her experience includes securing significant funds and managing major applications including the Consolidated Funding Application, New York State Council on the Arts, NYS Legislative Initiative, State/Federal Historic Tax Credits, National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Economic Development Agency, Ulster County IDA, and more. 

The Grants Manager will be responsible for researching funding opportunities at the federal, state, local and foundation levels, grant administration and coordinating grant management activities. The position was established by Mayor Noble in 2016 to improve coordination of grants across City departments and to effectively pursue funding to support priority initiatives. Due to the Department’s success and growing portfolio of grant-supported projects, Mayor Noble recently established the Office of Grants Management to be led by the previous Grants Manager, Kristen Wilson, who will now serve as its Director.     

“We are so thrilled to have Ruth Ann join our Grants Management team, and know she will be an asset not only to the department, but to our expanding efforts to secure funding for a wide range of important community projects,” said Mayor Steve Noble. “Ruth Ann will bring extensive expertise and deep knowledge of the grant process to this role.”  

“I am pleased that Ruth Ann will be joining us to increase our ability to move existing grant-funded projects more quickly and further establish a grants management system that works across departments.  Ruth Ann brings a fresh perspective that will enable us to seek funding from new sources,” reflected Kristen Wilson, the Director of Grants Management.  

The City is currently managing numerous grant-supported projects that will move forward in 2019, including transportation and waterfront revitalization, along with six New York State funded Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) projects. The current portfolio of projects totals $38.7 million.