Erika M. Zinsmeister, MS, PhD

I am a strategic writer, editor, and grant consultant with a passion for communicating technical information to diverse specialized and general audiences. My professional roles have spanned academic publishing, editorial services, grants management, and research administration for individuals, community nonprofits, human service organizations, and research laboratories in the Boston and San Francisco Bay Areas.

In the more than 20 years that I’ve been practicing my craft, I’ve honed my skills in simple and persuasive storytelling, meticulous copyediting, and deadline management to deliver a high volume of quality content and edits while remaining flexible in the face of shifting priorities and deadlines. I’ve found that I enjoy helping clients communicate their big ideas to a variety of publishers, government granting agencies, foundation funders, and individual donors. I see myself as a translator motivated in equal parts by data and heart.

I began grant writing and publishing to pursue my personal research and advance — debt-free — across higher education. I hold a Doctorate in the History of Health Sciences from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), a Master of Science in Health Services Research from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University. Since leaving academia, this breadth of expertise in the life and social sciences has led me to pursue technical writing and editing on increasingly diverse projects. From cookbooks and biographies to community development awards and architectural histories, my hunger for learning new things shows no sign of abating. I want to learn about you and your passion projects and to figure out together how we can bring them to life!

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