About Beckie Irvin, M.Ed.
Owner, Nonprofit Founder, Former Executive Director
Beckie Irvin is a nonprofit founder and a sought-after consultant in the social sector. With a decade of experience in outdoor education, Beckie has a passion for combining her love of the outdoors with her drive to make a positive impact on the Northwest Arkansas community. She uses her skills in leadership, fundraising, and strategic planning to help organizations effectively address social issues and achieve their goals. Beckie believes wholeheartedly in the value that nonprofits bring to their communities and she sees it as her mission to provide them the training and support that founders and staff need in order to find success in the early- to mid-stages of nonprofit growth.
Beckie is well-versed in nonprofit budgets, forecasting, development strategies, and diversifying revenue streams. Not only can Beckie help brainstorm and implement new fundraising tactics in the moment, she is comfortable assessing the solvency of a nonprofit, making revenue projections, and will only recommend fundraising tactics that she believes have the margins needed to actually impact your bottom line. Prior experience creating outdoor lifestyle brands and tourism marketing campaigns, give Beckie an excellent edge when it comes to messaging and framework for fundraising campaigns.
Beckie received her master’s degree in Recreation and Sport Management from the University of Arkansas. There she published research on Women’s Perceptions of and Barriers to Mountain Biking in Northwest Arkansas. You can read the full-length text HERE.
In 2019, Beckie founded Grit MTB Festival – a mountain biking event that openly invites members of the trans community, nonbinary people, and women to spend three days in Fayetteville, Arkansas connecting to their peers and to nature. In 2021, Beckie was awarded a 6-figure grant to expand the event into a fully-funded nonprofit (All Bikes Welcome) and operate year-round. This work led Beckie to become a local and regional expert in social issues and sports.
The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal named Beckie a member of the 2022 Fast 15 Class – an award reserved for people in their 20’s on the “fast track to success.”
In 2023, Beckie was honored as one of the Top 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas.
On top of her work in the social sector, Beckie is an active member of the Democratic Party in Northwest Arkansas. She graduated Emerge Arkansas's Signature Program for women and non-binary folks seeking to enter the political arena. And in November of 2023, she will graduate from the LBJ Women's Campaign School at the University of Texas.
About Amanda Ravensbergen
Grant Writer
Amanda Ravensbergen is a grant writer with seven years of experience in the outdoor and nonprofit industries. Amanda’s experience working as a volunteer and an outdoor instructor for nonprofit, academic and therapeutic programs gives her a unique and well-rounded understanding of the importance of collaboration, creative thinking, and unifying people around values and a mission. She is most passionate about using her years of experience to help create compelling narratives that help nonprofits achieve their goals so the communities that benefit from their services can thrive.
The projects Amanda feels most inspired by are those where there is a values-driven commitment to creating inclusive, accessible, and welcoming services for the impacted communities. Amanda is motivated to use her writing skills to empower nonprofits and help them secure the funding they need to do their best work and to have the most effective and meaningful impact on their community possible. She is skilled in identifying compelling stories, articulating the influence projects would have on a community, and presenting information in a way that delivers the hard facts with the heart of your organization’s mission at the center.