Sam was *this* close to going to rabbinical school...but then pivoted to found OpenTent in 2015. Underlying both paths is a drive for bringing people into the warmth of genuine community, building thick relationships, and helping teams run more effectively. Before OpenTent, Sam worked at NYU's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life where he built relationships with 327 students and set up Salesforce to be able to track all his team's relationships. Sam grew up in the tiny but illustrious village of Farmington, Maine, and just moved to Denver after ten years in NYC.

Kayleigh is a passionate systems developer and coach. During her time leading Echoing Green’s Knowledge Management team, Kayleigh transformed Salesforce from a system that her colleagues worked for into a system that works for staff and their community. Her passion is working with people to grow the impact of their work through smart processes and technology. Kayleigh holds degrees from Brown University and is a proud alumna of Prep for Prep Leadership Academy.

Mel is a self-defined queer geeky weirdo interested in the intersection of technology and social justice work. Throughout Mel's work with nonprofits, she was frustrated by the systemic inefficiencies that could be solved with better tools. She enrolled in a bootcamp with St Louis-based LaunchCode in 2016 and has been working with nonprofits as a technologist ever since. She hopes to help go-getters promote their missions as effectively as global corporations sell their brands. She lives in St Louis with her dog where she is committed to eco-sustainable home rehab and transportation, and volunteers as a PostgreSQL coder at a refugee resettlement agency.

Eva’s true love for data bloomed at the National Ramah Commission, where she helped track and strengthen a national alumni network through a new shared database. Salesforce entered her life at Mechon Hadar, where she built out streamlined application and registration systems to save her hardworking staff hours of time each day. Eva is a graduate of Connecticut College, a lover of boardgames, and a passionate advocate for technology within the nonprofit universe.

Alison’s trail to OpenTent was guided by adventures that helped grow her love for technical solutions and her passion for supporting nonprofits and people. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Alison set off to the seven seas and worked aboard a cruise ship that provided her with an opportunity to work with over 50 nationalities, experiencing the powerful impact of racial and ethnic diversity and building a client-focused approach to communication. She moved next to the nonprofit sector by joining New Leaders, where over the course of six years she and her team implemented mission-driven technology shortcuts to increase efficiency. Alison resides in Madison, Wisconsin where she makes every excuse to be outside running, biking, skiing or hiking.

Madalyn first witnessed the potential impact and challenges nonprofits face when she joined the United Nations World Food Programme in the development department. While working in South Africa, she saw the impact of her fundraising work on the ground, and realized that it could be scaled much further with improved data and strong processes. She joined a fintech startup to learn more about good data practices in a growing organization, and then leapt to an NYC-based nonprofit where she took it upon herself to implement Salesforce for her team. Madalyn grew up in rural Virginia surrounded by farmland and starlit skies, and now loves living in the Big Apple, where she can be found at your nearest dog park trying to keep up with her puppy.

Ariel's background is a hybrid of the nonprofit sector and the tech startup world, having previously worked at the International Rescue Committee and then pivoting to financial technology at a tech startup. These disparate work experiences have instilled a passion in her to bridge the gap between nonprofits and technology to effect positive social change and enable mission-driven organizations to be as effective as possible. Ariel drove from Dallas to New York City to begin this new journey as OpenTent's first Fellow and finally get to live in NYC (a lifelong dream!). Originally from a small town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, Ariel loves all things outdoors--from hiking a mountain to relaxing in a park with a good book.

Angie has worked in the nonprofit space for nearly a decade with equity-driven organizations focused on community building and education. Her journey with Salesforce began at Teach For America - Colorado where she used the platform to develop data-driven strategies for donor relations and standardize complex business processes. As a consultant, Angie pulls from her experience as an end-user, collaborating with clients to build customized and user-friendly Salesforce solutions that maximize capacity to provide impactful services to the people and communities they care so deeply about. Angie has spent the past eight years in Denver, climbing up sunny crags and exploring the mountains. She’s now trading in the Rocky Mountains for new adventures in Rincon, Puerto Rico, where she plans to improve her Spanish, get to know the growing local tech community, continue climbing up sunny (but warmer!) crags, and learn to surf.

Connie has aspired to be a social worker, architect, designer — and now has happily found herself in a role combining the best of all those worlds: building elegant, beautiful solutions for human-centered, impact-focused places. Her work pairs a formal education in Psychology with a deep informal education in systems and tech. Prior to OpenTent, Connie developed Salesforce-based solutions within social service organizations (centered around homelessness, trauma, and abuse), while analyzing program efficacy and evaluating organizational impact. She loves designing solutions for folks on the front lines. Connie is an Oakland native, Long Beach transplant, and her love of community and concern for racial, social, and economic justice is built from these two beautiful places.

Rafa was born in Quito, Ecuador but is truly a Colorado native by all but the strictest standards. Rafa developed his leadership and emotional intelligence skills by serving his teammates and clients in a tech startup in North Carolina and at a large financial corporation in Arizona. He is thrilled to return home to Denver and bring these skills to help the OpenTent team run fast and smooth. A life-long learner who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty, Rafa has used a chainsaw for environmental reasons, changed the timing belt on his Subaru, and served on the Governor’s Commission on Community Service for Colorado. His proudest accomplishments are his year of AmeriCorps service through Mile High Youth Corps in Denver, and raising his two fur babies, Sunny and Soren, into the lovable goofballs they are now.