Meet Your Grant Partner
16 years winning federal contracts. Now engineered for your mission.
My Professional Journey
I'm Daria "Ria" Smith Giraud — grant strategist, proposal expert, and community advocate.
I spent over a decade inside the proposal rooms of billion-dollar federal contractors.
Why Choose Me
Our numbers speak for themselves
What I Offer
I stepped out of the federal war room and into the community — and what I found was a sector full of passionate, mission-driven leaders doing extraordinary work without the tools, the infrastructure, or the funding strategy to sustain it.
Nonprofits don't need less rigor. They need the right partner. Someone who understands compliance, narrative strategy, funder psychology, and deadline management — and who genuinely cares about the communities they serve. That's exactly what I built DSG Grant Partners to be.
Today, I bring every tool from my federal career — Shipley methodology, zero-defect compliance, persuasive narrative frameworks, and award-winning graphic design — and I put them to work for the missions that matter most.
16 years of wins. See the proof. →
Federal Force Multiplier
Most Proposal Managers and Grant Strategists only see the final binder; I see the entire machinery. With a 16-year track record that includes driving an 85% win rate for a federal department and consolidating four roles into one for Torres AES, I’ve mastered the art of lean, high-impact proposal development.
Where I Earned My Stripes
Having navigated the War Rooms of CSC, KPMG, and KBR, I now bridge the gap between federal proposal compliance and nonprofit grant writing — applying Shipley discipline and AI-powered workflows to every pursuit, from government contracts to foundation funding.
I don’t just manage the process—I optimize the output to ensure your firm’s most complex bids are both 100% compliant and strategically superior.
I treat every proposal as a high-stakes business case, not a writing assignment. Before a single word is drafted, I lead a strategic deep-dive into your competitive positioning and team capabilities to ensure our 'Win Themes' are actually winnable.
By merging Shipley-level discipline with modern AI-enhanced workflows, I strip away the administrative friction that slows teams down. I serve as the bridge between capture, technical leads, and pricing—ensuring that the final submission is a single, persuasive voice that reflects your firm’s strongest competitive advantage.
My Awards
Meet my Past Performance Wins
These proposals won contracts. From technical volumes and management approaches to award-winning covers and desktop publishing, here's what $100M+ in federal wins looks like.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Torres | Proposal
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
TJFACT | Proposal
SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
KPMG | Technical Proposal
SMITHSONIAN
KPMG | Orals
NATO
Torress | Technical Proposal
IRS
KPMG | Orals
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
KPMG | Proposal + Orals
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
KPMG | Technical Proposal
$100M+ in awarded contracts across defense, homeland security, financial regulation, and civilian operations
Additional agencies served: National Institutes of Health, Fannie Mae, Federal Aviation Administration, DoD, and 15+ federal organizations
85%
Increased Client Rating
KPMG LLP
Learn more
APMP
Member Since 2011
My Commitment
I build funding strategies that last.
With 16+ years of zero-disqualification federal proposals and a deep community service history, I bring both the discipline and the heart your mission needs to win funding — and keep it.
