User Interview Analysis: Dr. Ahunna Margaux Akoma (Former District Grants Writer/Manager, Peekskill CSD)

1) Executive Summary

Dr. Akoma’s experience spans prospecting, eligibility triage, narrative development, compliance reporting, and post-award management. The dominant frictions are: (1) point-of-service record-keeping that collapses at reporting time, (2) fragmented prospecting (federal + philanthropic) that requires manual heuristics, (3) heavy eligibility/data pulls from long RFPs, (4) compressed submission windows paired with long, variable award timelines, and (5) internal scope-creep that misaligns delivery with what was proposed. She also highlights improving SIS/reporting tools (e.g., Tableau plugins) but notes they don’t solve ongoing evidence capture—the true choke point. Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

2) Core User Pain Points

1) Accountability data isn’t captured as work happens → reporting fire drills

Detailed Description

Frontline staff often don’t log who was served, when, and how—so compliance evidence (attendance, dosage, outcomes) is missing at report time. This creates last-minute scrambles through paper trails and ad-hoc spreadsheets, and undermines the ability to prove outcomes or pass audits. Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

Direct Quotes

• “Reporting is the worst part… the teachers are not well informed that they need to keep records… who showed up… who they are.” Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez
• “Then everybody’s scrambling… paper stuff… it takes a long time for me to decipher it and make sense of it.” Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

Impact & Severity

Major: jeopardizes reimbursement and narrative credibility; adds days/weeks of rework; raises audit risk. Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

Current Workaround

Manual reminders, collecting sign-in sheets, late spreadsheet consolidation; no systematic, real-time capture at the program site. Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

2) Prospecting is fragmented and manual; grants.gov usefulness has degraded (perception)

Detailed Description

Discovery mixes federal portals, Google searching, and foundation websites. She built her own database of foundations and evaluates fit by studying past grantees, award sizes, and cycles. She reports that, recently, many federal entries she relied on “got stripped away,” pushing her toward private funders. Dr. Ahuna Akoma - Ryan Rodriguez

Direct Quotes