About Sam Chenkin

Who I am

My name is Sam Chenkin (she/her or they/them). I am a nonprofit professional, community organizer, and community builder. I am a trans woman, white, Jewish, and was raised with upper-middle-class privilege.

Reclaim the Sector is my consulting and organizing project. It is my profession, my activism, and my personal struggle. I want a better world for myself and others deemed disposable by society. I believe nonprofits can be part of that change.

I help nonprofit leaders build equitable organizations by changing power and governance structures. I address unhealthy imbalances between organizational leaders and staff, between nonprofits and their communities, and between funders and those they fund.

Inclusivity and shared power make organizations effective. Together we can reclaim our sector as a force for justice.

My organizing extends beyond Reclaim the Sector. I am part owner of a 7 person majority POC, majority queer, anti-gentrifying communal home in West Philadelphia. I am also a local community organizer focused on housing and gender justice.

How I got here

I came to this work after 12 years working as a program director at a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia, PA. There I built and managed a 10-person team helping nonprofits navigate complex systems change, measure their impact, and stay secure.

In that time, I grew frustrated with my role as an a-political capacity builder. I felt that the organizations doing the most important work did not have access to our services. And I saw that our priorities, and those of our nonprofit clients, were set by funders and not communities.

My experience is not only intellectual. In 2018, I came out as transgender. For the first time in my life I was discovering my voice and my power. But I was sidelined by a nonprofit culture that values professionalism and stability. I was called emotional, I was no longer taken seriously in client meetings, and I was told that basic steps towards inclusivity would make others too uncomfortable. It was fine for me to keep doing what I was doing, but only if I hid the complexity of my experience and tried to pass as a cisgender woman.

Moving through the world as a trans woman has given me an intimate understanding of the fear, lack of access, and silencing that so many marginalized people experience. That knowledge is useful in building effective nonprofit programs. And because of my white privilege and ability to speak the professional nonprofit language, I can help shape the sector.

But what about other folks with marginalized experiences? What about those who have even deeper expertise but are even less likely to be heard?

That is why I started Reclaim the Sector. I believe that we already have the knowledge we need to make our nonprofits effective. I work with nonprofit organizations to make room for those closest to the work. Together we can build a sector capable of systemic change.