Liz LaFornara

Liz LaFornara is a Senior Grant Writer at ProPublica and the Director of Communications for Friends of Jamaica. Specializing in nonprofit news, she has secured funding for award-winning newsrooms including Chalkbeat and ProPublica, while leading storytelling, digital strategy, and community engagement to support Friends of Jamaica’s mission.

A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Jamaica, Group 89), Liz served as an Education Volunteer from 2018–2020—an experience that deeply shaped her commitment to community-led work, long-term partnership, and sustainable impact. She holds an MFA in Writing from The New School, an MA in Engagement Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and is currently completing a Certificate in Fundraising at NYU.

A true Western New Yorker at heart (Go Bills!), Liz balances her professional work with creative projects, baking experiments, slow hikes, and copious cups of coffee.