Founder And Executive Director
CurrentHaving refined Communitere's disaster-response model and developed three successful sites in Haiti, the Philippines and Nepal, Sam's current role within Communitere is in direction of Communitere International and the commencement of their 4th site in Thessaloniki, Greece, opening to address the refugee crisis. Sam is facilitated a trans-Europe road-trip, to bring a Mobile Resource Center full of tools and materials to the refugee communities living in Thessaloniki, Greece in the summer of 2017. Most recently, Sam has partnered with Rotary Clubs in Sierra Madre and San Juan to develop a new Communitere in Puerto Rico, and has visited the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda to assess and evaluate the need for a Communitere to be established there as well. Sam serves as not only the spokesperson for Communitere but also of the movement to incorporate innovation, local design and community ownership into disaster relief models. Based in San Francisco, Sam travels to current and prospective sites for evaluation and assessment. He often travels to address audiences in the development and maker fields to discuss the integration of the maker movement within humanitarian aid, as well as how the prioritization of community ownership and investment is directly correlated to each site's success. He has spoken at TEDx Manila; re:publica 2016 and 2017; led discussions at the annual Global Innovation Gathering events; organized the first Humanitarian Maker Faire in Kathmandu; and co-curated the 2017 Makers for Global Good Summit at the Maker Faire Bay Area in 2017. Sam was the awardee for the 2017 Rotary Humanitarian STAR Award, in the category of Disaster Relief and Recovery, and also spoke at Colaboramerica in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in November 2017.
