Mary E. Costello is a 1987 graduate of The Catholic University of America, in Washington, DC, where she studied both Social Work and Drama, earning a BA degree in Social Work.

Her non-profit service began in 1984, marking the start of a long and successful career in Social Work Administration, primarily in the fields of mental health and developmental disabilities.  Within this framework, she gained valuable experience in developing grant proposals and grants administration for multiple human services agencies -- in addition to winning a 2.8 million dollar contract with the State of Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene/Developmental Disabilities Administration to start-up and operate the social services agency she founded in 1992, Creative Options, Inc.

Her greatest strengths include her ability to "think outside the box" and to create brand new non-profit programs and organizations from the ground-up.  Coupled with her strong writing skills, Mary is a perfect choice for many non-profit organizations in need of writing assistance and grants development, and she is known for her innovative approaches to helping organizations build better programs that garner support and respect.

Before becoming an independent consultant, Mary served as a full-time Grant Writer/Fundraiser for an independent school for children with a plethora of learning challenges and language delays/disorders. She now offers her expertise to new programs in particular, providing a wide range of writing and non-profit program development services to organizations throughout the nation.

Grant proposal services are only offered to non-profit organizations (with rare exceptions), but a variety of writing and editing services are available to for-profit entities and individuals.  Additionally, Mary handles most projects personally, but subcontractor teams can certainly be arranged to accommodate larger projects and "rush order" deadlines. 

Experienced as a non-profit administrator, mental health clinician, casemanager, advocate, grant writer, change-agent and visionary--Mary is interested in helping YOU meet all your financial, programmatic, and operational needs.