Words@Work serves organizations and individuals who want to improve their writing and communications skills or those who need direct writing and editing services.

Helping people meet their communications goals, we:

• write grant proposals (over 90% of which get funded)
• design executive and staff courses
• deliver custom communications seminars
• help graduate students complete theses and dissertations
• facilitate meetings and brainstorming sessions
• run focus groups
• write corporate, non-fiction and academic documents
• edit non-fiction and academic documents

We teach what you want to know so you become skilled at doing the work yourself—more quickly, more precisely, more effectively.

We also write and edit documents when you are short on time or staff. We support you, we represent you, and we care for you and your work. Ask any of our clients.

In short, Words@Work makes your writing and communications projects effective and elegant. Guaranteed.

Dr. DeVos has edited non-fiction books such as:

• the educational therapy handbook, Too Scared to Learn: Overcoming Academic Anxiety (by Cara L. Garcia)
• the classic text on the advertising model DAGMAR, Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results, 2^nd edition (by Solomon Dutka)
• the biography of American literary critic and author, Lionel Trilling (by Edward Joseph Shoben, Jr.)

She writes passionately about society and education, and has published articles in national and local print media like Education Week, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Breeze, The Hollywood Independent, The Internal Auditor, Desert Magazine, and the Los Angeles Business Journal.

To see some samples of her writing, click on the links below:

“Close Your Eyes or Else”! (Education Week)

“Giving Useful Feedback About Writing” (The Internal Auditor)

“Don’t Let Possessions Define You” (Los Angeles Times)

“No One Came Back on the 911 Line” (Los Angeles Times)

“The Awfully Steep Price of Bad Timing” (Los Angeles Times)

“Learning the Hard Way” (Education Week)

Whether you apply to college or graduate school, you know it’s your personal statement that defines you. You want admissions committees to see you, to understand what distinguishes you from other candidates, but you don’t want to brag. It’s a challenging task that requires writing with insight, finesse and balance. Without expert help, it’s difficult for you to see your uniqueness and even harder to get it down on paper.

For over 20 years, Dr. DeVos has helped students write statements that set them apart from other applicants.

You will find your voice—and succeed—because you can truly be personal in your personal statement. Dr. DeVos has remarkable intuition and the ability to help you articulate your authenticity and uniqueness.

Moreover, she knows the application committee process from the inside: while a graduate student, she served on the Harvard School of Education Admissions Committee. Dr. DeVos also volunteered as an alumna representative for the Admissions Committee at Harvard College, and interviewed local high school applicants.

She learned first-hand then—and continues to believe now—that one critical skill differentiates the best from the rest: Writing clearly and correctly.

Her students—applicants to medical school, law school, veterinary school, doctoral programs, master’s programs, and undergraduate colleges—all gain admission to at least one school of their choice. Dr. DeVos’ students were accepted to schools such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Occidental, Morehouse, Vassar, INSEAD (international MBA), Cal Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, USC, the U.S. Naval Academy, University of San Diego, Cal Poly (both campuses), and many others..
Dr. DeVos’ approach to writing application statements helps you reflect your personality and interests in the best possible way . . . with authenticity and power. With compelling heart. With a voice uniquely yours.

Need more support?

Dr. DeVos offers a full package of services to help you navigate the planning, logistics, and writing necessary for college and graduate school applications.

Working together, you and Dr. DeVos will:

• plan a schedule
• review applications requirements
• write the various personal statements
• choose the best colleges for your interests, experience, personality, and learning style.

We’ll customize seminars and workshops to your business or academic needs.

Or choose from these popular favorites:

Communications Boot Camp

Go from terrified to terrific

Want to reduce your anxiety about speaking and writing?  Communications Camp teaches you to think on your feet, remember details, listen effectively, and get focused. Because we use fun improvisation exercises, engaging activities, and personal feedback you learn to feel less stress. You become more effective. You can go from a terrified to a terrific communicator! (Communications Camp is co-taught with Mary Elizabeth Holmes, an associate of Words@Work, who brings two decades of experience as a stage and film performer, director, and teacher of improvisational games and techniques.)

Collaborative Communications: “Ask About the Boat”

The magic of turning adversaries into advocates

Although you can’t change people, you can change how you deal with them. Learn to strengthen relationships by recognizing early signs of resistance and resentment in others. Using seven simple principles of collaborative communications, you can turn problem people into allies.

Run Meetings That Don’t Waste Time

What’s crucial for successful meetings?

You probably know from experience what makes meetings miserable. Now, find out what you can do to run productive and meaningful meetings. Step-by-step, you will learn how to plan and hold successful meetings that people enjoy attending. In the longer format of this seminar you participate in an actual meeting—a real-time lab to practice and develop your meeting savvy.

Write Audit Reports That Get Action

Delivering both good and bad news

Are you an auditor who needs to think like a writer? Do you feel you’re not getting through? We’ll teach you to write audit reports that people will really read and heed. Learn the components of complete audit points. Discover methods to distinguish easily between facts and opinions. If you want to perform your job more professionally, use our highly efficient and effective ways to write audit reports that will be taken seriously. As you know, it’s not only what you say — it’s how you say it.

The Writing MAP©

Quickly generate and organize ideas

MAP^© is a thinking and outlining technique that solves your frustrating problem of getting ideas down on paper. Write clearer, livelier letters, memos, and reports—in less time than you now spend. When you use the Writing MAP^© to plan and outline ideas, your writing improves dramatically. We guarantee it.  (MAP^© is a Words@Work method)

Could your non-profit organization use more funds? Words@Work increases your odds for success in today’s stiff funding competitions. Uniquely leveraging experience in education and high-level writing skill, Dr. Elena DeVos submits grant proposals that get funded about 85 to 90% of the time.

She has written successful grant proposals for clients such as San Jose State University, California State Polytechnic University (Pomona), Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Antioch University, East LA Classic Theatre, The Chancellor’s Office of the CSU system, College of the Desert, Desert Sands Unified School District, Henry Ford Community College, and many others.

Funders have included The Knight Foundation, the US Department of Education, the CA Department of Education, College Bound, The Gannett Foundation, The Fletcher Jones Foundation, and the Annenberg Foundation.

Use Dr. DeVos’ expertise to help you submit clear, intelligent proposals to governments, private foundations, and businesses. She will manage the entire proposal writing process or complete any of these tasks:

• Brainstorm with your group
• Determine appropriate funders
• Communicate with potential funders
• Compose and revise drafts
• Edit proposal drafts
• Keep projects on track once funded
• Write annual and final reports

If you’re concerned about your child’s academic future, Dr. Elena DeVos can help. Dr. DeVos’ tutoring and study sessions transform students’ thinking abilities and writing skills. Young people not only learn to stay on top of their schoolwork, they learn to excel. Her students become adept at the skills central to success at school and at work. Not surprisingly, they enjoy school more and gain admission to the colleges of their choice.

With personal attention and guidance from Dr. DeVos your child will:

• write clear and polished essays
• complete work on time
• study more efficiently
• earn better grades
• score higher on exams
• gain self-confidence
• enjoy learning and school
• experience less academic anxiety
• stay on track through text, email and phone check-in’s

We help group members plan effective retreats and meetings. We plan and run focus groups. And we provide you with summaries of all information collected. In short, we work like extra, high-skill members of your staff.

Sometimes the best way to get the inside track is to look outside.

Words@Work has run focus groups and meetings for organizations like:

• The California Community College System
• The San Jose State University Library
• The Palm Springs Library Virtual University
• The Advisory Board for the San Jose Cal-SOAP
• The California Cal-SOAP Directors
• The Deans Council of Cal Poly Pomona
• Antioch University Los Angeles
• College of the Desert