Team
Annie Grunewald, Director
Annie Grunewald has supported nonprofits, government agencies, and private entities in the areas of program management, planning, and training for more than 20 years. Informed by early experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer teacher in West Africa, and as a former Executive Director of a nonprofit organization supporting youth programs, Annie helps organizations increase capacity, build stronger teams, and develop and implement programs that fully integrate diverse and marginalized populations into all aspects of service delivery and planning. Annie is particularly known among disaster human services agencies as a leader and an innovator, where she has designed, managed, and strengthened social services programs in the context of often changing and always dynamic environments.
For five years, Annie managed disaster training and deployment programs at the American Red Cross in Greater New York, and served as the lead planner and liaison to external partner agencies. She also co-founded the New York City Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NYCVOAD). Annie also spent six years in a leadership role with the New York City Office of Emergency Management(OEM) where she created the Human Services division.
Under her leadership, Annie expanded OEM’s Human Services department from two to eight staff members and developed new programs and multi-sector planning coalitions. As human services lead during September 11th recovery operations, Annie worked with more than 50 local, state and national human services organizations from all sectors, coordinating many aspects of recovery operations related to human needs. This included creating and leading a multi-agency coalition to design and implement improvements in the coordination of recovery service delivery to more than 80,000 New Yorkers. By collaborating internally and externally to build trust, Annie implemented a new level of partnership among government, nonprofit agencies, faith-based institutions, and community-based organizations that led to more inclusive service delivery, stronger relationships, and increased capacity for the disaster human services sector.
Annie launched her own consulting practice, Grunewald Consulting, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As Director of Grunewald Consulting, Annie spent several years convening partners and specialists to provide a wide range of services to clients. This includes working with EAD and Associates to lead a Special Needs Advisory Team to develop initiatives promoting full access to housing recovery programs and providing expertise to a wide range of nonprofits, government agencies, and private entities to build and actualize initiatives through collaboration and coordination with stakeholders at all levels.
During her career, Annie has led collaborations with community boards, government officials, and nonprofits in a variety of realms including social services, housing, mental health, animal care, victim support, immigration, education, interfaith collaborations, hunger, disability, and volunteerism.
Annie received her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and her Master's in Nonprofit Management from the New School University - Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy.
Annie lives in Brooklyn, New York with her son and is a long-time practitioner and teacher of Tae Kwon Do.
Subject Matter Experts: To ensure the right mix of expertise and experience for a particular project, we can engage trusted colleagues with a variety of expertise from program evaluation, coaching and mentoring, technology, security and subject specific knowledge.
Strategic Partnerships
EAD & Associates is a long term partner, specializing in inclusive emergency management.