WHO’S ATTENDING
C(R) Team
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Ben Davis is a strategist, convener, and service-driven leader with a passion for strengthening civic life through connection, creativity, and systems-level change. He is the co-founder of Civic (Re)Solve, a 10-year philanthropic investment in civic health and democratic renewal. Prior to that, he spent eight years with the Wend Collective, testing innovative, trust-based, and risk-tolerant approaches to philanthropy across a broad range of public issues. Ben also co-founded OnSight Public Affairs, where for over 15 years he led high-impact campaigns and communications for causes and candidates shaping Colorado and the nation. He believes lasting change is rooted in deep trust, moral imagination, and creative acts—and sees his work as a way of listening for what wants to emerge in the world. Outside of work, he’s a father, husband, climber, runner, biker, and lover of Colorado’s high country, live music, and the radical idea that everyone is an artist.
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Grant Brooke works at the intersection of philanthropy, markets, community, and place. His career has taken him through entrepreneurship, investment, and systems-building, but the thread running through it has always been the same: a belief that people deserve to belong to economies they help create. He is especially drawn to rural communities, agriculture, and the overlooked institutions that hold everyday life together. Grant studied sociology, economics, and theology, and is as interested in ideas as he is in execution. He cares about building things that are useful, dignified, and durable. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Sudi, and is a super fan of the San Antonio Spurs.
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Jennifer Siems Ford is a program consultant based in New Mexico, currently working with Civic (Re)Solve on the Expand Representation portfolio. Previously, she managed a portfolio of dozens of grantee partners at NEO Philanthropy, supporting investments in advocacy, culture change, and movement building in the reproductive freedom space. Earlier in her career, Jennifer helped build the progressive movement as State Director for America Votes, and has directed multimillion dollar statewide independent expenditure campaigns, advocacy campaigns and ballot measures. She is also passionate about her volunteer work with Emerge NM where she has trained hundreds of Democratic women to run for elected office and serve their communities. Outside of work, Jennifer is a proud parent of three who keeps her sanity by hiking with her dogs in the beautiful Sandia Mountains.
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Maxwell Zorick is a social impact strategist and creative campaigner. He’s the Program Director of the Elevate Dialogue portfolio at Civic (Re)Solve. A program of the Wend Collective, Civic (Re)Solve provides patient, risk-tolerant capital to a network of diverse, effective pro-democracy leaders and organizations across the country.
Previously, he was the Senior Director of Social Impact at the MTV Entertainment Group at Paramount (which includes MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, among other networks), where he worked on social impact campaigns across many issues, including civic engagement, gun violence, and mental health. During that time, he played a leading role in starting Vote Early Day, a civic holiday with over 2,000+ partners to promote voting access and turnout.
Recently, he has been a strategy and campaigns consultant to a number of philanthropies, including Schmidt Futures and Grounded. Prior to MTV, he was the Manager of Social Impact at General Assembly, where he focused on programs that promote economic mobility through careers in technology. He has also been a Partnerships Manager at Purpose – a social impact agency – and a Senior Aide to Sean Eldridge and Chris Hughes – where we coordinated their political and charitable giving.
In 2013, he was a Fellow at The New Leaders Council in New York City. Maxwell graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude from NYU.
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Reena Szczepanski serves as a Program Lead for Civic (Re)Solve's Expand Representation work, and also as the Majority Leader of the New Mexico House of Representatives. Reena is the daughter of immigrants and the first Asian American to serve in legislative leadership in NM. She has been a champion for public health, drug policy reform, reproductive health, and training new women leaders. Previously, Reena was the President of the New Mexico Public Health Association, State Director of the New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance, Department of Health Hepatitis Program Manager, Executive Director of Emerge New Mexico, and Chief of Staff to former House Speaker Brian Egolf. She lives in Santa Fe with her husband, their two amazing boys, and everyone's favorite mini-poodle.
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Sam was one of the youngest people ever to run for Washington D.C.’s advisory neighborhood commission. Despite a narrow loss, the experience ignited her passion for public policy, advocacy and removing barriers to participate and engage in democracy.
She most recently managed political and advocacy strategies for Walton Enterprises, supporting impact agendas for individual and collaborative efforts. She helped establish the political and communications department for the family office and works across the political spectrum to drive deep engagement with external partners.
Sam thrives when creating innovative advocacy and issue management programs that bridge the worlds of philanthropy and traditional public affairs at the local, state and national level. Sam previously worked in energy sector communications, developing and executing strategic commercial, social and digital media campaigns at the Institute for 21st Century Energy in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and for America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA). She started her career at the National Foundation for Women Legislators, empowering elected women from all levels of government.
While Sam also answers to ‘Sami’ or ‘Samantha,’ her favorite is ‘mommy.’ When not on a Zoom call or creating in the kitchen, Sam makes music – figuratively and literally – with her rockstar son, Bowie.
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With a background in both C-suite administrative support and K-12 and higher education, Sheretta Edwards is deeply committed to serving others and making a meaningful impact in the community. Driven by a passion for helping people thrive, Sheretta has always placed a strong emphasis on fostering inclusive environments that promote equity and support individual growth. As an educator, Sheretta worked relentlessly to empower students and their families, ardently advocating for their success and well-being. Beyond education, Sheretta is dedicated to civic engagement and the principles of democracy, equality, and justice for all. Whether contributing to local organizations or working alongside teams committed to social good, Sheretta possesses an unwavering belief in the power of collaboration, connection, and shared responsibility in creating a better world for everyone.
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Taylor Holden joyfully serves as a Senior Advisor to Civic (Re)Solve, a 10-year initiative offering patient, risk-tolerant capital to leaders who are empowering voters, expanding representation, and elevating dialogue in our democracy. A longtime organizer and strategist, Holden has spent most of her career working behind the scenes to radically resource advocates and candidates who provide aid, inspire civic engagement, and shift policy to meaningfully improve people’s lives.
Holden previously served as Chief Executive Officer of One for Democracy, a funding network investing in election excellence and voter empowerment. For years, she has advised a number of prominent families and funders, directing their civic and political giving. In these roles, she shepherds significant funds towards a broad and diverse body of community-led impact work ranging from election modernization, rights restoration for formerly incarcerated people, and addressing information crises in news deserts, to fair policing, access to reproductive care, and much more. She has served on the steering committees of numerous statewide ballot initiative campaigns for these issues.
Before moving into strategic advising, Holden worked on numerous campaigns, including President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, conducted voter protection activities in Texas, and served as a three-time trainer at the New Politics Forum at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a 2024 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she conducted research on the current state of American democracy philanthropy and how to shift it to adequately address intersecting challenges facing communities, elected officials, and civil institutions.
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Zoe Gelman is a Senior Program Manager at Civic (Re)Solve. In her role, Zoe works across Civic (Re)Solve’s portfolios—leading grants management and keeping the team’s people, partners, and priorities moving in sync. Previously, she spent four years in social impact consulting, where she advised nonprofits, advanced work to shift the culture around voting, and helped organize national days of action including National Fentanyl Awareness Day. Earlier in her career, Zoe worked with the U.S. Department of Defense doing organizational and leadership development. Zoe holds a degree in Political Science from Vanderbilt University, where she focused on U.S. political polarization and public opinion. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Ben, and their (slightly unhinged) rescue dog, Peanut.
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