Sara Byard, CEO, Sara Byard Consulting

Sara Byard is a Grant Consultant and CEO of Sara Byard Consulting, an LLC based in Prattville, Alabama. With two decades of work in the grant field, Sara has experience in various grantee, grantor, and consulting roles. She has worked with the States of Alabama and Florida, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Alabama Regional Planning Commissions, the U.S. Small Business Administration, Central Alabama Electric Cooperative (CAEC), Alabama Fiber Network (AFN) and many other agencies and organizations.

Throughout her career, Sara has successfully secured over $1.6 billion in grant funding for applicants across the southeastern United States. Her expertise spans diverse sectors, but in recent years, her grant consulting efforts are focused on broadband and electric vehicle grants, aligning her skills with the emerging needs of the evolving grant landscape.

Sara has a Certificate in Federal Grant Management, and she excels in crafting strategic grants and guiding clients through the intricacies of administering state and federal funds. Sara Byard has a passion for improving people’s lives through impactful projects executed with expert administration.

Kathy LaPlante, Director of Coordinating Program Services, Main Street America

Kathy has worked in the Main Street field for over 30 years and has expertise in building organizational capacity and developing promotional programming. She joined the staff of Main Street America in May 2007. She works throughout the U.S. providing training for cities of all sizes using the Main Street Approach® to downtown revitalization. Prior to this position, she was hired as the first Director of the New Hampshire Main Street Center, serving in that role for over ten years. Kathy began her Main Street career in 1989 as the Executive Director of the Chippewa Falls Main Street Program. Seven years later, Chippewa Falls received the Great American Main Street Award.

Kristin Scroggin, Generational Diversity Consultant 

Kristin Scroggin can’t do math or bake a pie, but she knows her stuff when it comes to Generational Diversity and Communication! Kristin has a Master’s degree in Communication Studies, a Bachelor’s in Communication Arts, and has been a Communications Professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville for 15 years. In 2017 she launched her company, genWHY Communications, and has been a Keynote Speaker at more than 100 conferences and 250+ organizations across the United States, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to tiny non-profits. Her research has been published in magazines, and she’s been a guest on multiple podcasts. Kristin consults on attracting, developing, and retaining Rockstar Millennial and GenZ talent. Obsessed with travel, and desperate to see the world, she and her husband try to keep their four children alive while trying to keep their heads above water.

Cara Stallman, Owner, Grant Management, LLC

A native New Yorker, Cara landed in coastal Alabama after graduate school. After starting her career in working for the Baldwin County Commission and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Cara left the public sector in 2011 to establish a woman-owned consulting business to secure and manage grant-funded infrastructure projects for towns, cities, counties and water and sewer authorities in Southwest Alabama. Her company, Grant Management LLC, has achieved a high level of success serving over 50 clients and secured over 150 million dollars of grant funds for water, sewer, road, coastal restoration, and economic development projects throughout Alabama. She graduated with a BS from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington in 1994. She obtained her MS from the University of Florida in 2000 in Wetland Ecology and Natural Resource Management. She lives in Spanish Fort and has one teenage daughter, Mia. She has developed a deep connection with rural Alabama and enjoys learning about its rich natural and cultural diversity. She is an amateur naturalist with specific interest in land conservation, butterflies, and birds. She served on the Baldwin County Planning Commission from 2006-2012 and is passionate about the role local government can play in community development.

Shawn Terpack, Art Director, Arnett Muldrow & Associates

Shawn Terpack has been honing his design skills for nearly 20 years. Shawn has a vast understanding of design, branding, and marketing. He has worked with hundreds of clients over the past two decades of every size and specialty. He brings with him a strong sense of curiosity and eager drive to solve problems.

Allison Dearing, Consultant, Stafford Smith Group

Allison is a nonprofit executive sought after for her ability to drive change, from establishing new nonprofits to guiding teams through difficult transitions within established organizations. Allison’s unique perspective is informed by her legal background and over two decades of professional experience in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She enjoys helping to create strategic buy-in for both internal and external stakeholders, facilitating difficult conversations that generate consensus, and cultivating safe spaces and hope-centered work cultures that unite diverse populations.