About
Your work is changing what’s not working in the world, it’s changing people’s lives, and it’s creating systems change for the better. Your community needs you and you need values-aligned support so you can not only continue to make an impact, but amplify it.
Gold Dust Grants is on a mission to eliminate the barriers to sustainable funding that small and emerging nonprofits face, and help them get set up for grant success by providing grant guidance through writing, strategy, prospect research, and readiness for government funding.
Through our radically intentional grant support we give nonprofits led by Black and Brown folks, and folks with lived experience, an internal capacity boost that creates structure and stability, so they can obtain sustainable funding and effect meangingful systems change towards liberation for all.
Let’s work toward liberation together.
Our Values
Intentionality
Meaningful engagement and respect are at the heart of what we do.
We are highly conscientious so we can move forward thoughtfully and strategically.
We believe in mile-deep, inch-wide relationships, not the opposite.
Enthusiasm
We believe that social justice work can be both meaningful and enjoyable.
We are enthusiastic about every client and project we choose to take on.
We believe that an enthusiastic sense of justice is what drives systems change for the better, so this is how we show up in the world.
Authenticity
We practice authenticity through honesty, sincerity, and gentle accountability.
We believe that when you’re able to bring your true self to your work, it can be a joyful experience.
We believe in fostering a world where everyone can show up as their truest and fullest self.
Compassion
We believe that leading with compassion is powerful.
We know we can get things done while also honoring one another’s boundaries, capacity, and humanness.
We believe in seeing others through a lens of generosity.
Meet the Founder
Hi, I’m Justine W. Krank.
I founded Gold Dust Grants in January 2023.
I’ve been a writer my whole life and love the solo act that is writing, but I also love the symphony that is working in concert with others.
This is what makes grant writing so special — it’s a collaborative endeavor that takes the work of many to create something comprehensive and compelling. Together we weave histories, program models and approaches, impact, data, and stories, and turn it into a cohesive and compelling proposal that has the capacity to change millions of lives.
If I’m not at my desk writing, I’m either cuddling with one of my many hound dogs or working outside on my farm here in Western North Carolina.
“I want to help fund the types of programs that helped me (or would have helped me had they existed) when I was a young person, because I know first-hand the lasting positive impression these supportive services can make.”
Young Justine
Grant Highlights
Prior to Consulting, I earned my B.A. from UC Berkeley with a major centered on social justice culminating in a thesis, then spent almost 10 years in the nonprofit field. The majority of my grant experience has been working on government grants, specifically for Transition-Age Youth (TAY) services, which can include youth as young as 14, up to age 25.
My government grant experience includes prospecting, writing, and packaging proposals for municipal, county, and state grants.
I’ve written for youth programs focused on Housing, Leadership & Organizing, LGBTQIA+ Youth, Workforce Development, Mental Health, and Justice-Impacted Youth. As a consultant, I’ve also served organizations working in Adult Housing, Peer-Support Mental Health Services, Disability Justice, Human Trafficking, Senior LGBTQIA+ services, and HIV and STI Testing, Education, and Prevention.