Amy Carey serves as Managing Director of Grants and Federal Affairs for the firm’s Higher Education Practice. With over 15 years of experience in grant writing, acquisition, and management for higher education institutions and nonprofits, she partners with colleges and universities to identify and secure federal, foundation, and state funding. She provides strategic guidance across the full grant lifecycle, contributing to significant awards supporting research, student success, infrastructure, and academic programs. She also leads the firm’s Post-Award Capacity Building Service in collaboration with a partnering legal firm.
Before joining McAllister & Quinn, Amy spent 12 years in the nonprofit sector in administrative and leadership roles. At Siena Heights University (SHU), she served as Director of Institutional Budgets, supporting development of the university’s annual operating budget and overseeing key accounting processes. Previously, as a University Grant Writer at SHU, she worked with academic and institutional leaders to shape fundraising strategies and manage the university’s federal and foundation grant portfolio, securing more than $12 million in awards from agencies including the National Science Foundation, Department of Education, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Department of Justice.
She also established grant management policies, authored the university’s first grants handbook to ensure compliance with Office of Management and Budget and funder requirements, and led both pre- and post-award operations. Additionally, she played a pivotal role in renegotiating the university’s federal indirect cost rate and securing its first Congressionally Directed Community Projects award for STEM initiatives.