- December 4, 2025
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One of the first things Kalee Shaberts did when she arrived as the town’s first grants coordinator in the summer of 2023 was get things organized, looking beyond Town Hall to network with not only grant providers but other professions in Florida just like her.
She formed a group of about 40 members who can often serve as sounding boards and resources in the search for a variety of funding programs. Employing connections and her powers of relationship-building and organization, she has accounted for millions of dollars flowing to the town, millions more than her salary.
With a background in grants and contracts in Manatee County, Sarasota County and elsewhere, Shaberts most recently responded to, applied for and collected on a $1.5 million grant for hurricane beach relief that popped up a little more than a week ago.
“When I first started, I noticed that we weren't the only municipality with just one grants person,’’ she said. “A lot of places have grants teams, but smaller places only have one. So, when it comes to talking about grants, you don't have someone else to bounce a lot of ideas off of. So, I created a group called the local grants professionals. It has about 40 members now of local municipalities around us and throughout Florida, that we can collaborate and bounce ideas off of and say, "Oh, have you talked to this funder? We're there as supports.’’
The Observer chatted with Shaberts recently to learn more about what she does, how she does it and what it takes to succeed.
"So, my job is to seek funding for projects we need throughout the town to get grant dollars and then to build relationships with funders, get to know different agencies — like state, local, federal — different types of funding sources that we can utilize to help offset our budget so that we're not using tax dollars money for every single thing we're doing."
"Relationship building, organization and time management. “One thing I like to do is when I'm looking for funding and I'm looking for avenues or agencies that will fund the things we need, I try to see who I can talk to there and just meet and say, "Hey, can you can you explain to me what it is you're looking for? What have you funded in the past? Do our outcomes align?’’ Another thing is just making sure that we're not wasting time applying for something when we're not what they're looking for. So, it's a lot of time management and making sure that everything aligns perfectly when you're going for money and grant dollars.”
"Absolutely. I'm here by myself. I knew about grants, but there's so many different avenues that you can take. My main focus previously was all law enforcement grants. Now, I do law enforcement, fire, public works, parks, we're going after every different avenue. So I would say 100% that this has like shaped me to be a better grants person because of the variety of work we do. We've been so aggressive in applying for grants. In the first year, I think I applied for over $20 million worth. I don't care if it's a $500 grant."
“The people. It's like a big family here and I feel lucky to be a part of it. We all work so well together. I had a resident come in my office last week just to be like, ‘hey I just wanted to tell you like you're doing great.’ The residents know what we're doing and I like things like that. I like them knowing what we're up to, what we're doing because they can call me anytime and I'll talk to them on the phone and be like, 'Well, we are applying for something for this or we're looking for this.' And some of them even send me grant opportunities that I can look into.’'
"That's why I really like the hybrid schedule I have because when I need to crunch down and do my writing or my reporting, I'm silent and there's no one there, I can get things done really quickly. When I'm at the office, that's when I try to set all my meetings, my in-person meetings and I do my collaborations and touching bases with projects and stuff like that."
