OPTIMUS Welcomes a New Director of Grants & Development
Catherine Burns brings a world of development experience to work at OPTIMUS
Catherine Burns is a nationally recognized development executive, fund raiser and proposal writer with 25+ years’ experience in private sector and government grant funding.
In her new role at OPTIMUS, she will be strengthening our financial foundation, leveraging years of experience in Bridgeport and throughout Fairfield County as a leader in community-based health and education initiatives. Her career includes:
- Grant and Development work for The Center for Family Justice (Bridgeport), Cultural Alliance of Fairfield (Norwalk), and Children’s Learning Centers (Stamford).
- Successfully landing $14.7 million in education grant funding for the Bridgeport Board of Education’s Fairchild Wheeler Inter-district Science Magnet Campus – a national model for STEM curricula.
- Service to Ann’s Place, a Danbury community-based cancer support center.
- Tsunami disaster relief, with the AmeriCares Foundation in southeast Asia, where more than $750 million was raised in a single year.
- Representing AmeriCares Free Clinics for the uninsured and organizing a mobile medical team to travel to Louisiana during post-Katrina recovery.
Join us in welcoming Catherine to the OPTIMUS family!
