Interested in joining our Board of Directors?

Feel free to reach out if you are interested in being updated during our next recruitment cycle or if you have any questions regarding what it means to be on our Board of Directors. We'll let you in on all the secrets.

Board members are passionate about the mission and approach of Break Away and alternative breaks, and serve as advocates and ambassadors for the organization. They represent a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, and are based throughout the country. They take a collaborative, open-minded approach to strategic planning and problem solving.

Board Job Description

Staff

Samantha Giacobozzi

Executive Director

sg [at] alternativebreaks [dot] org

Sam was a student coordinator with the alternative breaks program at Eastern Michigan University, before an internship with Break
Away led her to serve as Programs Director for five years. She returned to Break Away in the position of Co-Executive Director after receiving a Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan, where she focused on Community Organizing. She was a Global Scholar (working on gender-based violence in South Africa) while at Michigan as well as co-founder of the Alliance of Progressive Social Workers and The Feminist Table.

Tia Fay

Community Director

tia [at] alternativebreaks [dot] org

Tia fell in love with alternative breaks and Break Away at the ABCs in Grand Canyon National Park in 2010. Already a believer in the power of small groups, Tia took everything gained from the ABCs and worked as part of a dedicated team founding the alternative breaks program at the University of Delaware. Tia has since served as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Campus Compact in West Virginia, and has contributed to the Movement as a Break Away Intern, Trainer, Fellow, Programs Director, and now - Community Director. Tia is honored to continue involvement with this powerful network, contributing to, and learning from, community every day.

Nisha Kavalam

Programs Director

nisha [at] alternativebreaks [dot] org

Nisha's alternative break experience started as an out-of-state freshman looking to make friends. After her first trip, she was quickly hooked and continued on as a three-time site leader, co-chair, then program chair. In her time at the University of Utah, she helped develop program-wide social justice trainings and used alternative breaks as a model to write her thesis on the essential integration of social justice and community engagement. Nisha worked with Break Away as a summer intern in 2015 and the official Social Work Intern the following fall. She graduated from the University of Utah in 2015 with an honors degree in social work and a minor in political science.

Meghan Foley

Membership Director

meghan [at] alternativebreaks [dot] org

When Meghan started at William & Mary, she was just another freshman with a vague interest in service. She quickly found herself captivated by the immersive aspect of alternative breaks and went on to serve as a Site Leader and Student Director for the program. Her commitment to active citizenship only deepened after attending the ABCs and witnessing the true power of commitment to community. After a 2016 Break Away Internship, Meghan returned to William & Mary as a Community Engagement Fellow, serving as the adviser for alternative breaks.

Our Team

Board Members

Katie Stearns

Board Chair

iMentor, Chicago, IL

Former AB Director at Northwestern University

Jared Greene

Board Vice Chair

Mindshare, Chicago, IL

Former AB Executive Board member at Xavier University

Abby Williams

Board Secretary

Suvoda, Philadelphia, PA

Former AB President and Team Leader at Lafayette College

Lucas Hernandez

Board Treasurer

Democracy Works, Miami, FL

Former AB Student Coordinator at Rollins College

Matt Gayer

Catalogue for Philanthropy, Washington, DC

Former AB Chair at Southern Methodist University

Bethany Glass

Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Former AB Chair at Vanderbilt University

Jon Gromek

Service Year Alliance, Cleveland, OH

Former AB Executive Board member at Xavier University

Lauren Haynes

University of Chicago Center for Data Science and Public Policy, Chicago, IL

Former AB Executive Board member at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Matt Henkes

Shadowcast Pictures, Los Angeles, CA

Former AB Executive Board member at Bowling Green State University