About Us

Rachel Waterman holds a Master's degree in Community and Economic Development from Illinois State University with a concentration in Applied Social Research. While in graduate school, Ms. Waterman won several research awards including a grant from the Illinois State Governor's office for her groundbreaking ethnographic research with the Latinx community of Central Illinois. Her research was later utilized by the U.S. Department of Justice as the baseline indicator for the Federal Social Justice State by State Report. She went on to conduct numerous community, social, and economic impact analyses for local nonprofits and municipalities throughout her career.

Ms. Waterman's career over the past 3 decades has encompassed a broad spectrum of community & economic development. She has worked as a non-profit Executive Director, a researcher, a consultant, a grant writer, a trainer, a Senior Planner with Palm Beach County's Office of Community Revitalization and served as Mayor of Lake Worth, FL. While with Palm Beach County, Ms. Waterman created the County's signature leadership program REAP (Residents Education to Action Program) and the Neighborhood Partnership Grant Program, both still in use today. She has conducted charrettes for master plans, as well as community and economic analysis for NGOs and municipalities throughout Florida. Ms. Waterman, who is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese, is an advocate for empowering residents to become active participants and leaders in the development, economic and otherwise, of their own communities.

Yure Berkeley has over 30 years of experience in business administration in the hospitality, development, marine and fine arts industries. He has worked as a consultant with municipalities, nonprofits, fine art galleries, museums and development firms throughout South Florida as well as in New York State, the Bahamas, Brazil and Spain. He has also worked as a community organizer, in sales, and as a trainer. Yure prides himself on leading by example and working side-by-side with his team toward stellar results to exceed client expectations. Mr. Berkeley is fluent in both Spanish & Portuguese and is a life-long learner with eclectic interests from quantum physics to politics, engineering, technology and history.

With ten years of experience as a Certified Orthopedic Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Manager, Deja brings a unique clinical lens to her role at GDS. Her experience in healthcare fostered a passion for public health and preventative medicine, with a particular focus on health equity. As the GDS Client and Funder Relations Manager, Deja conducts best-practice research, aggregates existing community and industry data, serves as a client liaison, facilitates the development and presentation of webinars, in-person trainings, and grantee orientations, moderates community convenings, and conducts key informant interviews with community leaders and residents to generate support documents for grant applications and program evaluation. She lends her clinical skillset to our health-based clients, influencing program design and generating proposal narrative. Deja also enjoys volunteering for local nonprofit organizations in her hometown of Houston, where she is a community advocate for education equity.

Heather graduated from Portland State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Community Health Promotions. She has over four years of Public Health Administration experience working with nonprofits in her home state of Oregon, focusing on health and improving the lived experiences of BIPOC communities. Additionally, Heather has worked directly with the PRISM Climate Group of Oregon State University to digitize over 120 years of National Weather Service Data for over 1000 weather stations across the United States to produce the new Plant Hardiness Map in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture. Heather is highly skilled at geo-mapping, custom impact mapping, data analysis, demographic and Census research, and agency outcomes evaluation. She uses her expertise in Adobe Suite to use our client's data to make compelling visual aids for funders and boards, believes in the power of data to tell a compelling story, and is a strong proponent of using programmatic outcomes in innovative and responsive ways.

Sa'mya Wilson has a Bachelor's Degree from Smith College in Africana Studies & English Language & Literature, with a Concentration in Community Engagement & Social Change. She graduated in May 2024 with a Liberal Arts Commendation; is a Projects For Peace recipient for her work with Youth Spirit Artworks Tiny House Empowerment Village in East Oakland; and, was presented the Rita Wilkins Award, given to a senior who has demonstrated significant leadership & commitment to community service.

Sa'mya is an innovative, deliberative, and disciplined community-centered practitioner with nonprofit experience ranging from education and public health to human and social services. She has worked with Matriculate, The Alameda County Community Foodbank, PhixCare in Ghana, Global Medical Brigades in Honduras, and the University of Southern California's Readers' Circle.

Caity Quinn received her B.A. in French Language and Literature from Hunter College, and holds an MFA from York University. She is fluent in French and Spanish, and has reached an intermediate level in Italian. She is a professional grant writing and fundraising consultant who has won dozens of grants, including local, state, and federal government awards for arts-based organizations, raising over six figures for her clients and her own projects.

Caity has won and managed several National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants and works with various arts organizations, including an Off-Broadway chamber music ensemble in NYC. In addition to her expertise in winning arts-based funding, she specializes in helping non-profit organizations improve their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) scores with funders.

Rodrigo has professional certifications in Frontend, Backend and Database, with eight years of experience in multinational companies as a software engineer and team leader.

At GDS, Rodrigo serves as a Chief Software Engineer, responsible for the entire technology lifecycle including both frontend and backend development, content and web development, and IT support ensuring seamless integration and efficiency across all technological aspects of the company. Rodrigo develops custom data tracking systems to support GDS clients with monitoring and analyzing program outcomes and is responsible for the ongoing development of and provision of subscriber tech support for GEMS Grant Easy Management Software.