The NTEN team continues to grow! We're excited to welcome Samara Islam as our new Program Coordinator. Samara brings a passion for community and problem-solving. I asked her five questions to help us get to know our latest teammate.
What was your first job?
My first official job was in high school. I ran the audio board with an A/V team that recorded football games for local public access TV. If we want to get technical, my first job was actually in elementary school. I was fortunate enough to have a pretty sizable VHS collection growing up and rented them out to my friends and family.
You're a musician. What are some of your favorite bands?
We could be here a while — I love a lot of bands, and my favorites are constantly changing! These days I've been listening to a lot of Weezer, Against Me!, and Meg Myers. I've seen Everclear live more than any other band and have always had a soft spot for 90s-era Aerosmith. I also really love Green Day, The Darkness, Muse, and Bad Religion. Oh, also Motion City Soundtrack, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie. I could spend an eternity talking about music I like, so let's go ahead and cut it off here for now.
What are some of your favorite local adventures?
I'm not much of an outdoor person, but I do love taking my daughter to the Oregon Zoo! I also enjoy walking around Downtown Vancouver and Portland with my wife.
What was a favorite childhood meal?
Pizza! I have loved pizza for as long as I've had a conscious memory. I grew up in the 1990s, so Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles probably influenced this a lot.
What is one new place you'd love to travel to?
I am fascinated by early human civilizations and would love to check out the Pyramids of Giza. I also really want to go to India to see the Taj Mahal. We're going to have to call this one a tie.
Ash Shepherd
he/him
Chief Program Officer, NTEN
I got my first job in the nonprofit sector when I was 18. It was at a group home that served girls between 12 and 18. Very soon after starting, I began to grasp for the first time what a former high school teacher meant when he said, "If you want to help people, you need to be willing to work with people that need help." While it was extremely challenging at times, this work led to a deeper sense of empathy and imagining what an end result can look like for others if you genuinely put in the effort to support their success. I fell in love with doing work that truly mattered and have been in the nonprofit sector since.In the end, I spent a decade working in social services in various settings, from schools and wilderness therapy programs to community and residential programs. Eventually, my interest in technology and how it could amplify nonprofit missions brought me to make a career shift. I spent several years working at nonprofits that consulted with other nonprofits in dig ...
Dan Fellini
he/him
Senior Web Development Manager, NTEN
Dan Fellini is the senior web development manager at NTEN. He has more than 20 years experience in digital media, most of which has been in nonprofits. As a developer, Dan has a strong understanding of modern web development concepts and has proven their ability to create dynamic, responsive user interfaces that integrate seamlessly with back-end databases and APIs. Dan is responsible for building and maintaining NTEN’s website, along with the site’s Salesforce and WordPress integrations, its e-commerce tools and Tech Accelerate. Beyond web development, Dan has extensive experience in digital content production and direction, which morphed out of his original career as a print journalist. Before joining NTEN, Dan was an executive producer, and vice president of media, at One Economy Corp, a multi-national nonprofit based in Washington DC. Before that he was managing producer for Public Interactive, a Boston-based startup that built web applications for public broadcasting and was later ...
