About
We envision a world where people can access and own the technologies they need to create a just, abundant and sustainable society.
We advance our vision by building open source projects for nonprofit and public sector organizations.
Sarapis is a New York-state incorporated, federally designated 501.c.3 nonprofit organization. Contributions to Sarapis are tax-deductible.
The organization was formed in 2010 for “charitable and educational purposes,” which it accomplishes “by providing consultations, trainings, and educational resources to nonprofit organizations to help them develop and deploy free/libre/opensource (“FLO”) technologies in order to operate more effectively.”
Our EIN is 27-1074148.
Our address is: Sarapis, 134 Spring St #302, New York, NY 10012.
Board of Directors
Devin Balkind
Principal
Devin began his career as an entrepreneur by co-founding in 2008 beextraordinary.org, a challenge-based crowdfunding platform for nonprofit organizations. During this experience, he realized that, even more than a lack of funding, it was a lack of collaboration among nonprofits that was limiting the sector’s effectiveness. Since then, Devin has been applying free/libre/open source methodologies to civil society’s challenges by developing and deploying software tools and operational techniques for a wide range of groups including software development communities, grassroots organizing initiatives, conventional nonprofit organizations, agriculture networks, disaster relief coalitions and technology-focused startups.
He’s developed expertise on issues related to disaster response, participatory democracy and government technology, which he has shared via dozens of presentations at events organized by the American Red Cross, US Department of Defense, NYC Mayor’s Office, United Nations, g0v.tw, MediaLab Prato and others. His writing about government technology often appears in Gotham Gazette. A complete list of presentations and writing can be found at devinbalkind.com.
Devin holds a Bachelor of Science from Northwestern University and a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Center for Bioregional Living.
Wendy Brawer
Wendy E Brawer has 25 years of experience as an eco-designer and social sculptor. She is best known as the founder and director of Green Map System, which engages communities in 65 countries in mapping sustainability and social change using the organization’s unique set of icons, mapmaking and engagement tools. ‘Semi-open’ since inception, the nonprofit’s process of going open source is underway. Wendy’s design consultancy focuses on inclusive knowledge sharing, sustainability communications and education around energy, waste reduction, bicycling and resiliency. Formerly the Designer in Residence at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and an Unte Visionary, Wendy is actively involved in diverse projects designed to help NYC address the climate challenge, including a net zero energy passive house building project in Brooklyn, capacity building for resiliency on the Lower East Side as well as mapping energy citywide since 2006.
More about her work is at http://ecoCultural.info.
Nicholas J. Davis
Nicholas J. Davis is Managing Director of the Americas for Agrion, the global business network for energy, cleantech, and sustainability. Agrion mobilizes over 250,000 professionals for intellectual capital exchange, task forces, projects, and research initiatives across verticals such as solar, wind, infrastructure finance, smart grid, microgrid, energy storage, smart cities, and resiliency. Mr. Davis built up and supervises a client list that includes Bank of America, Con Edison, AECOM, Panasonic, Toshiba, eBay, PwC, Church & Dwight, Yahoo!, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and Schneider Electric. He has increased revenue over 948% and reduced costs nearly 10% during his tenure as Americas’ leader. Nicholas has been a featured speaker at events such as the Wall Street Green Summit and serves as a panel judge for numerous energy and cleantech startup competitions. Nicholas was previously a Principal at the Selestos Group, a consultancy supporting the solar finance industry. He started his career at Pacific Gas and Electric where he supported the investor owned utility in their transition to AB-32 Carbon Regulation. Nicholas also identified opportunities in renewable energy production and energy efficiency programs to reduce risk and aid PG&E’s development.
Nicholas holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern and a Master’s in Resource Economics & Environmental Management from Duke University.
John Godfrey
John Godfrey is a corporate attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, a New York law firm. Prior to this position and during law school, he worked on a wide range of intellectual property related matters at two media companies in New York and Boston. His work during this time became the focus of a semester long research project and paper, “‘Open’ for Business,” on the open source intellectual property issues that face legal departments at content creating companies.
John’s volunteer experience includes nonprofit event planning and pro bono legal representation. John planned and co-hosted the 2009 annual fundraiser for Yoga Bear, a nonprofit organization providing yoga instruction to cancer patients. His pro bono legal work has included representing clients in the arts.
John received his A.B from Washington University in St. Louis and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Erik Osmond
For the past few years, Erik has been working as a web developer for MediaMath, an advertising technology company headquartered in New York City. Before that, his career spanned from financial accounting to quality assurance. In 2010, Erik worked full-time for 5 months during the formative months at Sarapis. His contributions included managing a team interns, project development, and working on financial models and regulatory forms. Now, as a computer programmer, Erik understands firsthand the value and importance of open source solutions, and eagerly contributes to the open source community through a variety of channels.
Erik received his Bachelor’s degree in History from Northwestern University.
Kate Nicholson
Kate is the Director of Partnerships and Events for BetaNYC, a civic technology nonprofit. She has a MFA in Design for Social Innovation from School of Visual Arts and a BA in Economics from Tufts University where she also minored in Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies. A native New Yorker and an avid traveler, Kate identifies as both a global and local citizen. When she’s not spending her time with great people doing what she loves at the office, she is engaged in the civic tech and social innovation scenes in NYC. She welcomes new perspectives and is always up for a bike ride or a coffee.