Executive DirectorJanis Foster

Janis Foster is Grassroots Grantmakers'  Executive Director.  Janis came to Grassroots Grantmakers with experience as a neighborhood leader, the director of a neighborhood technical assistance center, a community foundation executive, and a consultant to funders and community building organizations.

Janis’ career began in her own neighborhood in Memphis where she worked with her neighbors to develop an effective block organization system, establish a community newspaper, and turn a blighted strip of land into a community asset through an innovative redevelopment strategy.  After serving as President of her neighborhood organization and a coalition of neighborhood associations, she went on to serve as Director of Memphis’ Center for Neighborhoods, a non-profit organization charged with serving the 300 neighborhood associations in the Memphis area. 

Following her tenure at the Center for Neighborhoods, Janis joined the staff at the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis to design and direct a grantmaking program for grassroots neighborhood associations in Memphis.  Over her nine years with the Community Foundation, Janis served as Program Officer, Vice-President of Programs, and Executive Vice President.  Of special note is her work with the Foundation's Board of Governors to refocus the Foundation's discretionary grant-making activity on community building and to position the Community Foundation as a catalyst for community development in the Memphis area. 

Janis is an adjunct faculty member of the Asset Based Development Institute and is certified as a coach from the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara.  She has served as a trainer for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute and a consultant to dozens of funders and change-oriented nonprofit organizations.  She has a Masters degree in Urban Anthropology and resides in South Central Texas.

You can reach Janis at 361-798-1808 or janis@grassrootsgrantmakers.org.

Knowledge CoordinatorKristin Senty

Kristin Senty serves as Grassroots Grantmakers' Knowledge Coordinator.  Kristin started her career as a service provider in community based organizations. Today she uses her understanding of vulnerable populations to write about issues and systems that affect everyday people, with the hope of promoting constructive change.

Immigration, education and health care reform, community organizing, rural population decline, small business, and best practices in community based organizations are issues and topics that Senty has worked on as an interviewer, writer, editor, and researcher.

Her clients have included the Des Moines Register, Iowa State Education Association/National Education Association, Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce, AARP’s Divided We Fail campaign, Iowans for a Better Future, Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, Wallace House Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She served for three years as a diarist for an ambitious Annie E. Casey Foundation community change initiative, documenting the intimate observations of participants, and crafting articles for broader learning.

Senty started working in communications as a reporter/photographer for a small community newspaper. For nearly three years she wrote for the Des Moines Register, compiling over three hundred feature articles and many statewide business profile cover stories. She continues to employ photography in her work, and has started to explore audio story telling.

You can reach Kristin at 515-288-3389 or kristin@grassrootsgrantmakers.org.