Silvana Serafimovska (she/her) is the Director of Grants Management at the Surdna Foundation. Silvana oversees the Grants Management team responsible for grant operations and systems at Surdna and contributes to the foundation’s learning agenda, which seeks to capture and assess data while fostering collaborative relationships with all of Surdna’s grantee partners. 

Prior to joining Surdna in 2019, Silvana worked recurrently in grants management since 2004. She served across program and grants positions at the Open Society Foundations (formerly known as Open Society Institute), the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Arcus Foundation, where she brought extensive experience in grants administration, having led the development of training manuals for grantmaking systems, modernized policies and procedures, and managed high-level panel discussions and conferences. Her background also includes deep expertise in compliance from the private sector, adding a critical layer of regulatory insight to her public sector leadership. 

Silvana holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and an MBA with a concentration in organizational leadership. She serves on the executive board of Community Bots, an organization that provides training in STEM robotics for young women and their teachers in underserved communities across the world.

A native of Detroit, Silvana enjoys traveling, hiking, and cooking for family and friends. Silvana baked professionally for several years and today is always happy to share her baked goods with neighbors and coworkers.