Staff
Administrative Coordinators
Ben Sheldon is an emerging leader in the community non-profit field. In his role as board president he is now coordinating information and work flow for the organization. For three years Ben served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA member in a variety of organizations and communities in and around Boston. During this period Ben used his extensive knowledge of fundraising, communications and program management to improve a diverse group of projects from public education and intergenerational mentoring to cable access television and community resource development. Ben currently is Assistant Director of the CTC VISTA Project, placing and supporting Americorps*VISTA members within non-profit organizations to address the needs of low-income and at-risk communities through media and information technologies. An engineer at heart, Ben believes in the transformative power of proper planning and practical technology within organizations, communities and social-causes (Expires January 2010).
Felicia M. Sullivan is a community media advocate and educator living in Lowell, MA. In her role as board treasurer, Felicia is handling organizational financials and membership. She is currently working on her PhD in public policy at the McCormack School at UMass Boston and 15 years of community-based practice. She works with community media & technology centers as well as social justice and arts organizations to bring the power of communication, media and information technologies to communities. She was previously OC's Executive Director. Prior to joining OC, she worked at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation in Lowell, MA as Director of the Lowell Community Technology Consortium. She has served on the national board of CTCNet. She currenlty is also affiliated with the University of Massachusetts (Boston & Lowell campuses). She speaks and writes frequently on issues of community communication in a connected age and the preservation of civic space in telecommunications. Connection. Capacity. Cognition. Creativity. Compassion. These are the values which fuel Ms. Sullivan’s work. (Expires February 2010)
ODB Project Director
Rich Cowan, OC founder, is now serving as Director of the ODB project. Rich has two degrees in computer science from M.I.T and built OC over a six year period into an group that assists hundreds of social change nonprofits. He has worked as academic computer support specialist, a database consultant, an adjunct faculty member, a newspaper editor, and as a nonprofit founder. Prior to founding Organizers' Collaborative, Rich started the Center for Campus Organizing making extensive use of the Internet to network progressive students and faculty. Rich has written articles for Responsive Philanthropy, Techsoup.org, and speaks frequently at conferences on the intersection of technology and social change.