Meet Amal Morcos, the OSI’s Grant Writer

Amal has extensive communications and grant writing experience. She was trained as a reporter at some of the most recognizable publications in the United States, including Money, Fortune, and Life. In her work as a grant writer, she has successfully secured seven-figure awards from private foundations.

Amal holds a B.S. in English and Magazine Journalism from Syracuse University and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from The American University of Beirut. She uses the storytelling skills that she honed in journalism to craft compelling and persuasive grant narratives.

We chatted with Amal about her career and what led her to the OSI.

What do you consider one of your most significant career accomplishments?
During my time as executive director at the Atlanta Press Club — after six years of fundraising and capital campaigns — I worked with our board to create an endowment fund that helped secure its financial future.

Another rewarding experience was working for an international humanitarian aid organization that helps people in developing countries recover from war and natural disasters. I flew all over the world to tell the success stories of that organization to donors. [Amal is pictured above in southern Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 war, during her time as a communications officer for this nonprofit.]

What made you move from journalism to grant writing for nonprofits?
I was working as a journalist when the Berlin Wall fell. It was very exciting, but I had to ask myself, “Where can I make the biggest difference as a writer?” I was always attracted to charities, so I made the decision to leave journalism and step into the nonprofit world. My first [nonprofit] job was with United Negro College Fund, the largest Black charity in the U.S and which has had the support of every American president since FDR. It was a great place for me to learn fundraising, storytelling, and communications.

What attracted you to the OSI?
What attracted me to the OSI was the fact that it is a virtual research institute, which allows it to bring together the best minds from all over the country and around the world.

I was also attracted to its focus of pediatric cancer. There is something particularly poignant in trying to save a young life — someone who is at the beginning of their life with so much promise.

What vision or skill set are you excited to bring to the OSI?
I am at heart a storyteller. As a grant writer, I use my journalism background to write grant narratives that will draw the reader in and keep them engaged. I think the best way to do that is through patient stories and the stories of the research scientists. I also hope to make cancer research understandable to donors so they can see how their money is making a difference.

What is most compelling about the OSI’s work?
All organizations have a story to tell, and the OSI has a very compelling origin story with the Tichenors and their beloved son Willie. Also, given the OSI’s dedication to finding new and innovative treatments for osteosarcoma patients, I have a feeling that the OSI is on the cusp of something groundbreaking.

How does that influence donors?
Donors are attracted to underdogs. They may not want to be just one more donor of a well-known cancer cause. They want to be on the ground floor of something new and exciting, something that is going to make a big difference.

I am humbled to have been given this opportunity with a cancer institute as distinguished as the OSI. I am not the one who will discover groundbreaking treatment, but I am the one who will help raise the money to make that possible.

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