Our founders and board members are committed to creating more good in the world by empowering institutions, social enterprises, and entrepreneurs to create systemic change.
Shannon Hopkins
Co-Founder & Lead Cultivator
Shannon Hopkins is an extreme networker and social entrepreneur living in East London. Her passion for community and individual transformation has launched or influenced the formation of fifteen campaigns, projects, and organizations — and trained over 200 social entrepreneurs. In 2008, Shannon was awarded the Women of the UN and UK’s Annual Woman of Peace Award for The Truth isn’t Sexy, a campaign that addressed the demand side of human trafficking.
A Texas native, in 2004 Shannon moved to London and founded Matryoshka Haus. Part incubator, part community, part training organization, Matryoshka Haus was born of a fundamental belief that a different world is possible. Shannon is excited to see how over a decade’s worth of work, passion, and learning will live on and take new shape in the US through RootedGood. Shannon’s mission-centered focus on bridging the gap between partners, funders, and cause-related champions in a post-Christian secular world is rooted in one powerful concept: inspiration. In her words, “I think we undervalue what inspires us and moves us to act… but once someone is inspired it can really set a whole host of things in motion.”
Mark Sampson
Co-Founder & Lead Learner
Mark’s professional career spans the spectrum from profit to non-profit, from start-up to established, and his academic ‘side-hustle’ has focused on the intersection between theology and our contemporary socio-economic context. Mark has a Doctorate in Theology and Economics from King’s College London, with his thesis focusing on social enterprise as ‘faithful economic practice’. Prior to this Mark studied at Regent College, Vancouver, where Mark gained a MA in Theology and Culture and where Mark was also the Interim Director of the Marketplace Institute.
Mark is the former KLICE award holder for business ethics. Mark has a background in management consultancy and was the director of Cocreate Consulting, a co-operative social purpose consultancy. Prior to RootedGood, Mark was a director of Matryoshka Haus and the Transformational Index Group. Mark was the co-founder of The Paradise Cooperative, an urban farming and education charity in central London. Mark is also a non-executive director of The Curiosity Society. Mark’s dwelling place is outside Detroit, Michigan where he lives with his wife Katie and his three children Ember, Lucas and Elora. Prior to Michigan, the family lived in Mark’s native land, England.
Mark Elsdon
Co-Founder & Lead Builder
Mark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning as a non-profit executive director, pastor, consultant, speaker, and author. Mark engages in this work by combining his theological training with skill and experience in business development.
In addition to his role as a Director with RootedGood, Mark is also Executive Director at Pres House, where he led the transformation of a dormant non-profit into a growing, vibrant, multi-million dollar organization; owner of Elsdon Strategic Consulting which assists nonprofit and faith-based organizations with strategic planning, revenue generation, governance, and more; and Vice President of the Board of Directors for Working Capital for Community Needs, a Madison-based impact investing fund that provides microfinance funding to the working poor in Latin America.
Mark has a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin School of Business. Mark is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.
Mark is an avid cyclist and considers it a good year when he rides more miles on his bike than he drives in his car. He is married to Rev. Erica Liu — they have two kids together.
Christian Peele
Member, Board of Directors
Christian Peele has worked at the intersection of social good and strategic administration for more than a decade. She is currently the Director Of Operations of Stop the Spread at ImpactAssets, an innovative COVID response organization. She previously served as Executive Minister of Institutional Advancement at The Riverside Church, and prior to that she was Deputy Director for White House Operations in the Obama White House.
Christian holds an MDiv from Duke University Divinity School, and serves on the boards of three social justice organizations.
Laura Peck
Member, Board of Directors
Laura Peck, is a partner at the law firm, Axley Brynelson, LLP. She focuses her practice on commercial lending, real estate transactions, non-profit organizations and general business matters. Her clients are small and large banks, for-profit and non-profit corporations, insurance companies and small businesses. Laura has worked in the world of finance for more than 25 years. Her experience as in-house counsel at several large and mid-sized institutions gives her deep industry knowledge and a unique ability to understand and respond to her clients’ needs and concerns.
Laura was a Women in the Law 2014 honoree, recognized by the Wisconsin Law Journal for her excellence in the legal field, as well as her commitment to creating opportunities for women to succeed within the profession. Laura was named the 2017 Banking and Finance “Lawyer of the Year” in Madison by Best Lawyers® and is frequently recognized for her industry knowledge as a top banking and finance attorney.
Greg Richards
Member, Board of Directors
Gregory “Greg” Richards is the founding member of Gregory A. Richards, P.C where he primarily practices business, real estate, and estate planning law. Greg graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication and from Texas Tech University School of Law with his law degree. He is board certified in residential and commercial real estate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Greg says this about his work: “While my title and accomplishments sound fancy, they don’t make me unapproachable at all. I love helping people! I am honored to serve the people and businesses of the Texas Hill Country as a trusted advisor. The greatest honor for my team and I is to be invited to partner with our clients to help them achieve their goals. I don’t wear ties and we aren’t stuffy. We try and create an atmosphere for our clients that encourages open and honest communication.”
Greg comes to the RootedGood Board of Directors with many years of service on the Matryoshka Haus Board of Directors. Matryoshka Haus is the organization that gave birth to RootedGood in 2020.
