Center for Nonprofit Leadership > Faculty

Jon O’Brien
Sandy Point Ink, LLC and K & M Enterprises

A successful program designer/grant writer for the past 15 years, Jonathan O’Brien’s offbeat, humorous approach incorporates his experiences as a network TV executive, professional screenwriter, creator/co-host of NPR’s Beyond Words and college screenwriting teacher. With roots in Ventura County, O’Brien is a consulting program designer and grant writer for K & M Enterprises -- an award winning grant writing team responsible for raising nearly one-half billion dollars in competitive grant awards.

Jon is a UCLA film school graduate, a former network program executive, a former juvenile hall writing instructor, and currently an ever-popular adjunct screenwriting instructor at Santa Barbara City College.

John has combined 35 years of diverse creative experiences with his passion for teaching to create his groundbreaking program design method resulting in nonprofits winning more than $385 million in competitive grant money. One of his educational program designs is permanently enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution. Two of the charter schools he helped to create are in the top 100 Charter Schools in the nation according to the America's Best High Schools analysis as reported by US News and World Report.

John is author of RIGHT BEFORE YOU WRITE: the Groundbreaking Planning Process Used to Win More Than $385 Million in Competitive Grant Awards. RIGHT BEFORE YOU WRITE has won six national book awards and was called by one reviewer “…the funniest book about writing I’ve ever read, and the most serious!”

Jon facilitates the following CNL courses:

• Beyond the Seven C’s
• Grantwriting Bootcamp
• Write Here/Right Now
• Monday Night Grantwriting