AFP Houston September 2026 Education Session 

Tuesday, September 29, 2026
11:30 a.m. - Noon: Networking
Noon - 1:00 p.m.: Program

Location:
United Way of Greater Houston
50 Waugh Drive
Houston, TX 77007

Title: What Words Do We Use?

Description: Please join us for a candid and informative panel discussion about the challenges created by state and federal restrictions on the language used for grant-writing and fundraising, and how that affects providing support services for the mentally ill, LGBTQ+, the disabled and other marginalized communities. The inability to use an organization's own words from mission statements, client profiles, and common-sense descriptors has fundamentally shifted how fundraisers write grants, cases for support and even SEO for digital marketing and social media.

Panelists: 

Jennifer Battle, Vice President of Community Access and Engagement
The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

Kim Torres, MPA, CFRE
Founder and Lead Impact Catalyst; Grant Writer for Pursuit Center

Chelby King, Government Grant Writer
The Montrose Center

This session has been approved for 1 point of CFRE Credit. 

Register Here

Jennifer Battle: Jennifer is the Vice President of Community Access and Engagement at The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD in Houston, Texas. Jennifer is proud to help support Harris County and the surrounding region’s mental health by overseeing operations of 988 for 45 Texas counties, 24 hour Crisis Lines for 7 Texas Local Mental Health Authorities, the Texas COVID Mental Health Support Line. Jennifer led the development of the first of its kind in the nation 911/Behavioral Health co-located response system in partnership with Houston Police and Fire Departments and the Houston Emergency Communications Center. Jennifer’s team offers a robust mental health and suicide prevention training portfolio to individuals, universities, businesses, faith communities and non-profits as well as coordinates and delivers information and awareness about behavioral health in culturally appropriate and community centered ways across the county. In addition to these projects, Jennifer serves in several national roles including the Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. She also serves on the Clinical Advisory Council for Crisis Text Line, the Board of the National Association of Crisis Center Directors and the Board of the Texas Alliance of Information and Referral Systems.

Kim Torres, MPA, CFRE: Kim Torres is the Principal Consultant and CEO of Thrive Nonprofit Solutions, LLC, a Houston-based boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits build capacity and advance their missions. Prior to that, Kim spent nearly two decades working in the nonprofit and public sectors. Kim has a bachelor's degree in applied learning and development from The University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree in public administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also holds a certificate in AI for Business from MIT. In her spare time, Kim enjoys reading historical fiction, running, and traveling. She is a passionate disability inclusion advocate and serves on The Harris Center Foundation’s Board of Directors. 

Chelby King currently serves as Grant Writer and Manager at the Montrose Center, Houston’s LGBTQIA+ community center, where she writes grants and manages awards supporting the Center’s work in counseling, HIV services, housing, and other programs serving the LGBTQIA+ community. Her work at the Center builds on a career dedicated to supporting organizations whose missions strengthen communities and expand opportunities for others. 

Prior to joining the Montrose Center, Chelby spent fifteen years working in arts management, with a particular focus on advancing opportunities for contemporary artists and connecting the arts with the broader community. She served as director of Lawndale Arts Center and as director of the City of Houston’s civic art program at Houston Arts Alliance. Prior to coming to Houston, she worked at Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin, the Official Mexican and Mexican American Fine Art Museum of Texas. 

Chelby also teaches college courses in art history and arts administration. Her long-time interest in art, which ultimately led to advanced study in the field, includes collecting. She and her husband, Don Browne, have a collection of mid-century modern furniture, decorative art, and fine art from the period. They live in a mid-century modern house designed by Houston architect Paul Wahlberg in historic Glenbrook Valley, the largest post-WWII neighborhood in the country, with a protected historical designation. 

Chelby earned a B.A. in History from Austin College and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Houston.