Gracework Group: Strategic Funding Support

About Gracework

Faith-led consulting that helps mission-driven organizations plan well, communicate clearly, and grow with purpose.

I’m Francine Smith, though most people know me as Fran. I am a nonprofit and business development strategist, community builder, and faith-grounded servant leader based in Goldsboro, North Carolina, serving Wayne County, Eastern North Carolina, and beyond.

For more than 20 years, I have worked at the intersection of service, strategy, and community impact, helping mission-driven organizations, leaders, and entrepreneurs turn meaningful ideas into practical, well-executed work. My experience includes securing more than $10 million in nonprofit grant funding, leading nonprofit development and programming efforts, and facilitating more than 10 cohorts of small business development classes.

Much of my work has centered on youth, families, food access, civic engagement, and community partnerships. I spent 18 years serving through Rebuilding Broken Places CDC, and that chapter shaped some of the deepest work of my life. During that time, I helped nurture programs, partnerships, and initiatives focused on empowerment, outreach, and meeting real community needs. I supported and strengthened efforts related to Project Y.E.S.S. STEAM youth programs and HOPE for Youth Wayne County, helped advance food access work, such as WePack backpack distributions serving children and families, and designed and implemented civic education and voter engagement efforts with the Goldsboro-Wayne Branch NAACP and its partners.

I am both a strategist and a builder. I develop programs, support partnerships, shape communications, and help organizations move from vision to implementation with clarity and purpose. I am as comfortable drafting a grant proposal or designing a strategic plan as I am coordinating an event, building a run-of-show, or creating the messaging and materials that help good work show up well in the world.

My work often includes grant strategy, program development, event planning, communications, branding, digital content, facilitation, and implementation support.

I also bring a strong creative lens to community work. I believe presentation matters, and that clear, thoughtful communication builds trust. From flyers and event programs to messaging, branding, and digital materials, I help organizations communicate with credibility, professionalism, and heart.

Through GraceWork, I offer faith-led wisdom for work that matters. GraceWork reflects how I approach every assignment: with clarity, care, organized execution, and a commitment to helping good work become sustainable, credible, and impactful. In this next chapter, I am continuing to support nonprofits, small businesses, and community leaders through strategy, communications, and practical development support, with a growing focus on digital marketing, AI integration, skills development, and faith-led creative production

At the heart of it all, I am driven by work that centers dignity, access, service, and community transformation. I care about feeding children without stigma, supporting families and youth with practical resources, strengthening organizations, and helping neighbors engage civic life with confidence and knowledge. Faith shapes how I lead, not as a slogan, but as a daily practice of listening well, serving with humility, and doing the next right thing with excellence and compassion.

If you are building something that serves people, strengthens community, develops leaders, or brings a good idea to life, I would love to help you make it happen.