Shane Hankins
Executive Director
Shane provides executive leadership to the organization, and is extremely excited to build the capacity of non-profits around the country to better serve their communities and constituents. He brings a rich experience in non-profit management and fundraising to Grassroots.org. He most recently served as Executive Director of Road of Life: Cancer Prevention for Kids, a Grassroots.org member that provides health education programming for children. He also was a member of the founding management team for the Economic and Community Development Institute, an organization dedicated to building wealth and employment opportunities for refugees, immigrants, and low-income individuals. In his career he has managed dozens of staff and programs, and has raised over $17 million. Shane grew up in Centerburg, Ohio (population 1,000) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Ohio State University, with a degree in History and Political Science. He also went to grad school for City and Regional Planning at Ohio State.
Shane recently moved to NYC, and absolutely loves the city. He also loves art, literature, music, architecture, white water rafting, canoeing, hiking, family, friends, and coffee. He wants to learn how to sail, but will settle riding the Staten Island Ferry (which is free!) for now.
Katie Winterbottom
Director of Operations and Strategy
Katie received her BA in African and African-American Studies from Dartmouth College in 2004. She then enjoyed the honor of serving as a post-graduate fellow in Accra, Ghana in 2005, where she worked to build a computer education program in a government school. Before coming to Grassroots.org, Katie worked as the Marketing Coordinator at the Ohio Community Computing Network as a member of the Americorps Vista program. Starting at Grassroots.org nearly 2 years ago she is now the Director of Operations and Strategy.
Back when she had free time, Katie enjoyed a long weekend hike and a good podcast of This American Life.
Mickey Panayiotakis
IT Lead
Mickey stays awake at night dreaming of a community where non- profits, donors, and volunteers connect. He leads the GR development team with the ultimate goal of realizing this vision. For about a decade erstwhile, Mickey led NTT/Verio in building, operating, and managing their East Coast Network.
When not making the world a better place, he and his dog sail the Chesapeake bay and beyond, or trudge along the Appalachian mountains, or find some other Suitable Adventure.
Sura Hart
Program Manager
Sura is a recent graduate of the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She was born and raised in a suburb of L.A. and is now living in Brooklyn, New York. During her years of higher education she had a couple internships including one for a non-profit finance company and a few others in campaigning. Since all of that ended, life has taken her to New York where she started as the Outreach Coordinator for Grassroots.org. She is still ecstatic to be in the Big Apple and even more to be the Program Manager for Grassroots.org!
When not on the job Sura enjoys a good existential author, French film, or night on the town...not to mention an excellent bike ride or walk through the park. She is still learning what snow is really all about.
Laura Benack
Development and Outreach Coordinator
Laura is the new Development and Outreach Coordinator and will be serving as an Americorps CTC VISTA this year. In May, Laura graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BA in International Relations and French. Her prior experience working for a non-profit was a positive one that inspired Laura to continue on the path towards a career in the field. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, she is very excited to be working for the Grassroots.org team in New York City!
Laura plays the piano and comes from a family of musicians. She enjoys Japanese food and lives vicariously through Anthony Bourdain's adventures on the Travel channel.
Alice Luu
New Media Coordinator
Convinced by a professor to consider creative writing as an academic path, Alice's English major at The City College of New York and Rutgers University gave her the freedom to indulge in African-American literature and Photo-Literary theory. She experimented with new media during a web publishing opportunity as a news intern for Dulcinea Media. After helping a few other start-ups and production projects, Alice was excited to find that she could combine her experience in new media with her ongoing curiosity for non-profits!
During her free time, Alice sometimes posts on music webzines and sustainable living projects on the web. Alice also likes the occasional NY Times crossword, re-reading classics and enjoys creative non-fiction.
Scott D'antuono
Communications Intern
Scott recently finished up his degree in May 2008 at SUNY University at Albany, where he studied Communication and Business. During his college years, he became inspired by non-profit organizations and decided to take the Communications Internship to pursue his goal of one day working for one full-time. Scott previously interned as a Marketing Assistant at a local news station, Capital News 9 in Albany. He is super excited to work with Grassroots.org and is thrilled to be onboard!
In his free time, Scott is probably on the internet searching for new music or taking care of his pets. He enjoys boardgames with friends and watching Animal Planet.
