Rachel Oliver Young is a passionate dance artist and educator who has recently expanded into communications and development roles.
Rachel leads strategic fundraising and financial development efforts to support the growth and sustainability of Bare Bait Dance and the Westside Theater, as Development Director. She develops and executes multi-year fundraising strategies, oversees donor and sponsor cultivation, and manages all aspects of grants, sponsorships, and donor relations. Rachel also partners with our bookkeeper to monitor financial performance, ensure grant compliance, and produce regular financial and fundraising reports.
Rachel additionally directly with the Denver Tool Library, Nature Through Her Eyes, a project within the VII Foundation, and Open AIR, implementing grant research, grant writing and reports for each organization.
As the Education Director at Denver School of the Arts for the past six years, Rachel and her Co-Director successfully redeveloped the dance program, creating curriculum and performance schedules while managing auditions, cross-departmental collaborations, and guest artist programs. Known for her strategic vision and relationship-building, Rachel excels in fostering collaboration and served as the Arts Chair as a liaison between the Administration and the Arts faculty, facilitating and leading the art directors in meetings and collaborative conversations.
Her business and office management skills have been acquired through several jobs in New York as an Administrative Coordinator. Her responsibilities included general office administration, general accounting and bookkeeping, balancing monthly books, generating financial reports for the board, and working with the accountant to prepare 1099’s, W-2’s, and annual filing. In addition, she communicated as a liaison to partnering schools and the NY Department of Education (DOE), completing work orders, invoices, and follow-ups to ensure that funds were encumbered and released.
Rachel loves to weave together her organizational skills and project management abilities in order to develop creative strategies to find funding for nonprofits and help them grow sustainably.
