Our Staff & Board of Directors

Whitney Namm Pollack

Executive Director
wnpollack@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Whitney joined Project Sunshine as the Executive Director in 2018. She has built her career over the last twenty years at the Robin Hood Foundation, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, University of Pennsylvania and 92nd Street Y. She has consulted with non-profits including the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Character Lab, Riverdale Country School and The Center for Jewish History.

Before coming to Project Sunshine, she served as Interim Executive Director for EB Research Partnership, a national medical venture philanthropy. After completing this leadership role she accepted a position on their Board of Directors. She received her BA and MA from Penn and is a member of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women.

In her downtime, she can be found spending time with her husband and two young sons or reading fiction.

CHILDHOOD FACT: According to family lore, for years the only “vegetable” Whitney would eat was olives. Now, she eats all sorts of vegetables.

Amneet Anand

Marketing & Communications Coordinator
aanand@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Amneet is Project Sunshine’s Marketing & Communications Coordinator. She’s passionate about bringing creative ideas to life that speak to the community. Before joining Project Sunshine, she worked in tech building marketing campaigns and strategies for a variety of audiences. She’s also been a health advocate for a non-profit organization that improves lives for those affected by rare skin conditions, like hers.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Amneet joined the theater club when she was young and landed her first role as an Oompa Loompa in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Since then, she continued to be a cast member in plays until high school.

Hannah Baek

Director of Marketing & Communications
hbaek@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Hannah is passionate about bringing light to both the extraordinary and the mundane stories of people’s lives. Prior to Project Sunshine, Hannah served at DREAM, an education nonprofit, as the Director of Communications. Over her nine years at DREAM, she built a powerful brand narrative for the organization by highlighting authentic stories of individuals and teams. She was responsible for both internal and external communications for the organization. Most recently, she was at Praxis, a nonprofit serving entrepreneurs, managing marketing efforts around original content while supporting entrepreneurs with developing clear organizational narratives. Hannah is a proud Michigan Wolverine. She lives with her husband and daughter in New Jersey.

Childhood Fact: Hannah developed her love for coffee at the age of 4 when her grandma would sneak the last sip to her every morning without her parents knowing. It was especially a treat because Hannah’s grandma would daily use 7 packets of sugar. Today, Hannah mostly drinks her coffee black but will reach for a sweet sip to honor her beloved halmuni.

Rouane Bayor

Manager, Operations
rbayor@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: he/him

Rouane joined Project Sunshine in the fall of 2019 and brings with him more than a decade of nonprofit’s best practices and operations experience in human resources, technology, and management. As our Operations Manager, Rouane leads our operations and provides high-level administrative support to our Executive Director and her team.

Rouane has a strong track record in philanthropy, with an emphasis on being a partner and a resource to the leadership team. Previously, he worked at the Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) for more than a decade, most recently serving as the Office Manager. While at the NCF — a private family foundation working to create a more just, vibrant, sustainable and democratic society through grantmaking in the United States and Israel — Rouane took a leading role in managing the NCF’s Ladder of Opportunity Internship Program and overseeing office administration.

Before joining NCF, Rouane was a teacher assistant at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, NY through an Academic Peer Instruction program, a free peer tutor initiative that helps students succeed in their courses.

Rouane graduated summa cum laude from the City College’s Groove School of Engineering in New York. He is a native of Togo, West Africa and speaks about half-dozen languages.

Maimuna Fadhil Adams

Chapter Leader, Project Sunshine Kenya

Pronouns: she/her

Maimuna is a Chapter Leader, serving in an administrative and program assistant role for the Project Sunshine Kenya team. In 2005, she joined a youth group based in Bomu Hospital as well as another with the Kenya Revenue Authorities to create awareness on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other health-related matters.  In 2009, Maimuna joined Project Sunshine Kenya as a volunteer at Bomu Hospital and later in the Likoni clinic of the hospital.  In 2019, she was awarded Volunteer of the Year at Project Sunshine Kenya for her hard work, devotion and 11 years of service to the program.  When the program expanded to Wema clinic in April 2021, Maimuna relocated to help with both the launch and organizing events.

CHILDHOOD FACT: The last of four children, Maimuna began participating in drama roleplays as soon as she was enrolled in lower class (kindergarten) and through her high school studies.

Ariela Federman

Coordinator, Project Sunshine Israel
ariela@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Ariela manages volunteers and operations abroad as the on-site program coordinator for Project Sunshine Israel. Ariela gained her expertise in early childhood development through her work in preschools and early childhood daycare programs. Since 2016, she has been using her wealth of experience managing fun-filled bedside programs at 6 medical facilities throughout Israel. She proudly continues the Project Sunshine tradition of dressing up for our patients- Ariela holds a certification in Medical Clowning from the Simchat Halev Organization. Ariela speaks four languages and loves to travel.

CHILDHOOD FACT: As a 4 year old, Ariela received a yellow Canary, named Olly. Unfortunately, she had to part from Olly about a year later when her family immigrated from Argentina to Israel.

Greg Feigeles

Development Coordinator
gfeigeles@projectsunshine.org

Gregory is Project Sunshine’s Development Coordinator. He became interested in the non-profit world at a young age and even founded his own organization called “Threads to Thrive” as a high school student.  He graduated from The George Washington University, before moving to Amsterdam, Netherlands to explore the intersection of sport and social impact at the Johan Cruyff Institute’s Master of Sport Management program. Most recently, Greg worked at The Over Under Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to increasing access to play for youth around the country.

When he is not working, you can find Greg being constantly let down by his favorite sports teams.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Greg has never been a history buff. In fact, there is an entire family photo album dedicated to all the tourist attractions where he has been caught napping.

Kaitlin Garzia

Director, Volunteer Engagement
kgarzia@projectsunshine.org

Kaitlin manages Project Sunshine’s volunteer programs, working with a dedicated team of staff and volunteers across the country. Kaitlin has a passion for volunteerism and has spent her career developing sustainable volunteer programs for various organizations.

Prior to joining Project Sunshine in 2019, Kaitlin worked at the Girl Scouts of the USA, where she was responsible for driving strategy to design and implement volunteer delivery models that aligned with girl and volunteer demands, and increased membership and market share. Kaitlin also worked at NYC Service, a division of the New York City Mayor’s Office. During her time at NYC Service, she oversaw all external relationships and managed the recruitment, placement and tracking of volunteers to NYC Service initiatives. Kaitlin received her Executive Master’s in Public Administration from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College and her BA in Political Science from Dickinson College. In her free time, you can find Kaitlin spending time with her husband, and traveling to new and interesting places around the world.

CHILDHOOD FACT:  In the eighth grade, Kaitlin won first place in physical science at the Connecticut State Science Fair for her project on Buckminsterfullerenes (aka “bucky balls”). This was her first and last serious foray into the world of science.

Cathy Hertz

Development Manager
chertz@projectsunshine.org

Cathy recently joined the Project Sunshine team in the role of Development Manager. She grew up in Surrey in the South East of England, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Social Studies from Aston University in Birmingham.  Following graduation, she worked for Disability Challengers, a non-profit organization that provides exciting and inclusive play and leisure activities for disabled children and young people in Surrey and the South East of England.  Cathy moved to New York City in 2001 and continued her career in the non-profit world, first at New York Cares, followed by Girl Scouts of the USA and now she is delighted to be a part of the Project Sunshine family!

In her spare time Cathy loves to spend time with her husband and two children, exploring the city, especially their local neighborhood of Astoria. She enjoys travelling, cooking (and eating!) delicious food, attending shows and concerts and movies. She also relishes any opportunity to cozy up with a good book and a cuppa (tea!), although the opportunities to do so are few and far between with two lively kids at home!

CHILDHOOD FACT: Cathy grew up with two sisters and a twin brother. She doesn’t really look like her twin brother, and people often think she is actually twins with her younger sister, because they look more alike, even though there are four years between them. Cathy absolutely ADORED her baby sister (and still does!), and loved taking care of her, as you can tell from her childhood picture which was taken shortly after her sister was born!

Kyra Hu

Program Coordinator
khu@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

As Program Coordinator, Kyra supports the delivery and management of Project Sunshine’s programs including TelePlay, Sending Sunshine and in-person volunteering.

Prior to working with Project Sunshine, Kyra was involved in the education field through various teaching fellowships and mentorship positions and is very happy to continue helping children in this role. Kyra graduated from Brown University in 2021 with Bachelors of Arts in Engineering and Education Studies.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Kyra loved arts & crafts and Legos growing up and thus wishes she herself could play with Project Sunshine’s kits.

Samantha Kagan

Director of Development
skagan@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Samantha joined Project Sunshine in November 2019 after a year of consulting for the development and corporate partnerships teams, as well as with other nonprofit clients. Previously, she served as the Director of Special Events at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School. Before that, as a Senior Account Manager at Event Associates, Samantha honed her fundraising and event management skills working with organizations including Robin Hood, Jazz at Lincoln Center, iMentor, and the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Samantha is a native New Yorker who loves exploring Central Park with her 2 year old son, cooking, and riding her Peloton.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Samantha was a competitive swimmer when she was younger, making it all the way to the “Junior Olympics” at the age of 11! Unfortunately, her sporty days ended soon after…

Hansee Karamchandani

Program Coordinator, Corporate Partnerships
hkaramchandani@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Hansee supports the volunteer programs available for our corporate partners. Over the years, Hansee strived to understand the diverse needs of children and families within their distinct physical and mental abilities and the impact of early experiences on mental health. Her passion for non-profit work grew during her undergraduate years at the University of Central Florida as she had the opportunity to serve as president for a college chapter focused on fundraising for pediatric cancer patients and volunteering at local hospitals.  In her free time, Hansee enjoys walks along the pier with a friend, cooking different cuisines, and exploring new parts of the city.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Hansee was born in Hong Kong and was partially raised in India. During her time in India, Hansee loved to put on impromptu performances for her family dancing to her favorite Bollywood songs.

Meg Kellett

Director of Pediatric Experience
mkellett@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Meg oversees Project Sunshine’s national programs and medical facility and nonprofit partnerships. Meg’s passion for pediatrics led her to pursue a career as a Certified Child Life Specialist, supporting patients and families both in and out of the hospital setting for over a decade.

Prior to working with Project Sunshine, Meg worked in at Memorial Sloan Kettering in Patient Experience to innovate and enhance numerous pediatric programs. At Cohen Children’s Medical Center of NY, Meg was the lead CCLS of the inpatient surgical unit. As a once former employee of Project Sunshine, Meg is thrilled to return to Project Sunshine yet again to further the impact and reach of its programs across the US.

Katy Kienitz

Chief of Staff
kkienitz@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Katy leads the charge as Project Sunshine’s Chief of Staff. Prior to working at Project Sunshine, Katy led girls’ education programs in the Peace Corps and large-scale volunteer programs for dozens of nonprofits in NYC. When she’s not working, you can find Katy exploring with her husband and dog or eating her way through all the dollar slice joints in the city.

CHILDHOOD FACT: An animal enthusiast from birth, Katy spent her summers as a Junior Zookeeper at the Dallas Zoo while caring for up to 8 pets at home. Her father never recovered from the “home zoo” where he resided.

David Macias-Clark

Senior Salesforce Manager
dmacias-clark@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: he/him

David is responsible for overseeing and managing Project Sunshine's CRM, Salesforce. A technologist to his core, David is passionate about improving business processes through digital transformation.

David joined the Project Sunshine family in 2021 and brings with him almost two decades of experience in the Customer Service, Hospitality, Information Technology, and Business Intelligence industries. Most recently, he worked for Girl Scouts of the USA overseeing the movement-wide service delivery design for strategies impacting the overall customer experience.

When he isn't heads down working on Salesforce improvements, you'll find David in Las Vegas where he lives with his girlfriend and their two rescue pups; Malla and Hailey. He enjoys camping, hiking, off-roading, and is learning to play the guitar.

CHILDHOOD FACT: All through high school, David was a championship debater and travelled across the country competing in debate tournaments.

Dennis Ngui Muyanga

Manager, Project Sunshine Kenya
dennis.ngui@bomuhospital.org
Pronouns: he/him

Dennis manages a robust, dedicated team of Project Sunshine volunteers in Kenya- a few of his volunteers have been with him since 2006! Prior to his work with Project Sunshine, Dennis was a community health worker at Bomu Hospital and an addiction counselor in an outreach center. Dennis is one of the pioneers of our Kenya program and has seen Project Sunshine through many exciting developments, including the construction of a hospital play area. Dennis’ work with Project Sunshine allows him to combine his diverse skills and experience with his passion for empowering families to have healthy lives. Dennis holds a BA in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In his downtime, he enjoys reading, attending motivational talks, and having quality time with his family. He is the proud father of two daughters, Abigail and Ciela.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Dennis  grew up in Kitui County, in a place known as Ikanga. He loved playing football so much at school and in the community that he was nicknamed “Kadenge,” after a famous footballer.

Kennedy Mwachala

Chapter Leader, Project Sunshine Kenya

Pronouns: he/him

Kennedy Mwachala is a Chapter Leader, serving in an administrative and program assistant role for the Project Sunshine Kenya team.  Kennedy began volunteering for Bomu Hospital in Mombasa in 2013 as a Community Health Worker where he gained exposure to volunteering and the value that he could provide to communities through critical health messaging. The following year, he was introduced to Project Sunshine by his sister, who is also a volunteer.  He was quickly recognized for his outstanding work, winning the best volunteer of the year award in 2016. He then opened a new volunteer site at one of Bomu Hospital’s locations in Mariakani, where he led the volunteer team in establishing that new partnership.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Kennedy attended kindergarten at the age of 4 where he enjoyed playing football.

Florence Otieno

Chapter Leader, Project Sunshine Kenya

Pronouns: she/her

Florence Otieno joined Project Sunshine Kenya in 2014 as a volunteer in the clinic program but was later recommended to participate in the Healthy Living Initiative where Community Health Volunteers travel to ‘last mile’ communities to deliver special health lessons to children living with HIV who lack consistent access to healthcare.  Apart from volunteering with Project Sunshine Kenya, Florence trains peers about sexual reproductive health, menstrual hygiene and life skills.  She has also served as a facilitator on behavioral change intervention as part of the US-government funded DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) initiative.

CHILDHOOD FACT: As a child, Florence belonged to a music club.

Feiras Rahman

Digital Marketing Coordinator
frahman@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: he/him

Feiras is Project Sunshine’s Digital Marketing Coordinator. Prior to joining the Project Sunshine Team, he supported online marketing efforts by managing email campaigns as well as developing social media and website content at Columbia University and the United Nations World Food Programme. Feiras received his Master’s in Public Administration from New York University and his BA in Communications and Political Science from American University. In his spare time, he likes to go biking and explore New York City.

CHILDHOOD FACT:  Feiras grew up as a third culture kid leaving his birth country, Bangladesh, when he was a year old. Before moving to the United States, he lived 18 years of his life in 5 countries spread across Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

Swabra Berek Ramadhan

Chapter Leader, Project Sunshine Kenya

Pronouns: she/her

Swabra is a Chapter Leader, serving in an administrative and program assistant role for the Project Sunshine Kenya team. Born in Mombasa, Kenya, Swabra is the last in a family of four.  She loved reading storybooks during her high school years and later attended college to study business management for baking. She was introduced to Project Sunshine Kenya when her nephew was a patient at Bomu Hospital and became a volunteer in 2016 for both the clinic and the Healthy Living Initiative programs.  In 2021, she was awarded Volunteer of the Year at Project Sunshine Kenya for her contributions and devotion to the program. Swabra is excited to see the program grow and hopes it will expand to Nairobi or elsewhere in Africa so that more children benefit from the mission.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her daughter and family, either baking for them or as part of a social enterprise.

CHILDHOOD FACT: During her O level education (approximately 10th grade), Swabra loved reading storybooks with funny characters.

Louise St. Rose

Operations Associate Manager
lstrose@projectsunshine.org

Louise coordinates the shipment of craft kits and program boxes for our Sending Sunshine and Direct Service programs nationwide. Before coming to Project Sunshine, Louise worked at after-school programs throughout three boroughs of New York City. In her spare time, Louise enjoys exploring Inwood Hill park with her dog, Shiro, and listening to podcasts.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Growing up, Louise’s parents owned an ice cream store. She even had a sundae on the menu named after her – the LouLou Brownie Sundae! Although her parents sold the business, Louise followed her love of ice cream and worked at a frozen custard shop all four years of high school.

Jake Rosenblum

Corporate Partnerships Manager
jrosenblum@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: he/him

Jake joins Project Sunshine as the Manager of Corporate Partnerships. He has worked in New York City’s education and nonprofit space for nearly a decade, with extensive experience in relationship and community building. Prior to starting with Project Sunshine, Jake was the Director of Career Services for Lincoln Technical Institute and spent several months overseeing an Emergency Childcare Center to help serve New York’s first responders during the height of the COVID19 pandemic.  A graduate from SUNY Albany with a degree in English and Communications, Jake is a native New Yorker who loves exploring the diverse culinary options of Queens, walking his dog, and arguing about proper bagel etiquette.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Jake always loved music and at age 9 he utilized his parent’s treadmill to try and recreate Jamiroquai’s “Virtual Insanity” music video. It did not go well for either Jake or the treadmill.

Chloe Sider

Program Assistant
csider@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Chloe joins Project Sunshine as our Program Assistant. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from Lehigh University where she founded a non-profit dedicated to empowering America’s youth to reclaim their civic agency through political activism. In addition, she served as the Campaign Manager for the current mayor of the city of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Chloe has had a mission to make the world a better place since she was young and is thrilled to be pursuing this passion at Project Sunshine.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Chloe’s favorite activity as a kid was doing backflips off anything possible. Whether it was off a set of monkey bars into the snow, off a balcony into water, or just on the grass outside her house, Chloe was upside down!

Shapari Taxell

Director, International Programs
staxell@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Shapari serves as the Director of International Programs, which oversees Project Sunshine’s work in Canada, China, Israel, and Kenya.

Prior to joining Project Sunshine, Shapari lived in Africa, Asia, and Europe working for non-profits, the public and private sectors, and the United Nations.  She received her masters from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and her bachelors from Pomona College.

CHILDHOOD FACT: One year, Shapari forgot her lines at an annual recital and started laughing uncontrollably from nervousness.  Eventually the audience joined in the laughter, and she didn’t complete her lines.  She was never again asked to perform at the recital.

Michelle Vaux

Senior Manager, Project Sunshine Canada
michelle@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Michelle manages Project Sunshine Canada’s programs, volunteers and Corporate Social Responsibility partnerships.  Michelle joined Project Sunshine Canada in 2017 as a volunteer in three of our programs.  Michelle brings more than 1,600 volunteer hours from several programs in local hospitals and charities in the Toronto area.  Michelle spent many years as an Early Childhood Educator, as well as Faculty Supervisor supporting students in the field.

CHILDHOOD FACT: Michelle fondly remembers her first road trip to Walt Disney World when she was five years old.  Today she still loves Disney, having been there seven times since.  Her wedding song was a Whole New World and two days later they were honeymooning in Walt Disney World.  She has been to Disneyland California and hopes to knock both Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris off her bucket list.

Shana Van Valkenburg

Director, Corporate Partnerships
svanvalkenburg@projectsunshine.org
Pronouns: she/her

Shana serves as the Director of Corporate Partnerships, overseeing virtual, in office and in hospital engagement opportunities as well as strategic partnerships. She has been working with corporate and individual donors and volunteers for nearly a decade with the ultimate goal of facilitating meaningful impact. Prior to working in Nonprofit, Shana was a production coordinator in entertainment across soap operas, award shows and reality TV. In her free time, she likes to be outdoors relaxing on a beach or hiking and backpacking with her husband and dog, Pickles.

CHILDHOOD FACT:  As an only child, Shana wanted a sibling so badly she told everyone at her preschool that her downstairs neighbor (and schoolmate) was her brother. She was so convincing that a teacher approached Shana’s mom to speak about her son’s progress.