28 Jul Cheers to Twenty Years by Megan Campbell, MPA, GPC

When the email from the Grant Professionals Association (GPA) came at the beginning of 2024 congratulating me on twenty years of membership, I called one of my fellow Gen-X colleagues and joked, “I don't know whether to feel exuberant about a career milestone or join the AARP.” In many ways, 2004 doesn’t feel so very long ago. In other ways, twenty years feels like two hundred. Since 2004, I’ve experienced learning to balance marriage, motherhood, graduate school (twice, because I’m a glutton for punishment), and countless career ups and downs. I’ve been part of creative teams, navigated ever-changing technology, learned valuable leadership skills, and taken professional paths that “2004 me” would never have imagined. I’ve witnessed civic unrest, a new age of social activism, and survived a global pandemic. And I’ve seen the nonprofit sector and philanthropy step up and evolve to continue to meet the community's needs.