About RootedGood
RootedGood helps faith-based organizations imagine, create, and sustain a new economic future that contributes to the flourishing of their wider communities.
We do this by providing on-the-ground resources for congregations and by serving as a catalyst at the systems level, launching initiatives and building partnerships that strengthen the ecosystem in which congregations and communities can thrive.
We are faith-based practitioners grounded in both theology and economic development. We want to leave a lasting impact in our communities and make good in the world every day. We live from the fundamental belief that a different, better world is possible.
We believe firmly that God created everyone to do good work, and that the role of faith communities in the world today is still significant, and more needed than ever.
What We Do
Resource Churches and Leaders
Through the Good Futures Accelerator and our How-To Guides, we give congregations practical tools to use their buildings and land for mission and income.
Catalyze Systems-Level Change
Through research, convening, and strategic partnerships we help shape the wider conversation about the future of church buildings and land.
Fund the
Next Step
Through the Good Next Step grant program, we help Wisconsin churches pay for the early work of developing their buildings and land for community good.
Our Staff
Mark Elsdon
Rev. Mark Elsdon lives and works at the intersection of money and meaning as an entrepreneur, nonprofit executive, author, and speaker. He is the author of We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry (2021) and editor of Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition (2024). Alongside his role as a Director with RootedGood, Mark serves as Executive Director of Pres House, where he led the transformation of a dormant nonprofit into a growing, vibrant, multimillion-dollar organization.
Mark holds a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin School of Business. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he lives in Madison, Wisconsin. 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.
Co-CEO & Lead Builder
Shannon Hopkins
Shannon Hopkins is an extreme networker and social entrepreneur whose passion for community and individual transformation has launched or influenced fifteen campaigns, projects, and organizations, and trained more than 200 social entrepreneurs. In 2008, she received the Women of the UN and UK’s Annual Woman of Peace Award for The Truth Isn’t Sexy, a campaign addressing the demand side of human trafficking. Through RootedGood, Shannon is bringing two decades of work, passion, and learning to the US, bridging partners, funders, and cause-related champions in a post-Christian, secular world.
A Texas native, Shannon moved to London in 2004 and founded Matryoshka Haus: part incubator, part community, part training organization, born of a fundamental belief that a different world is possible. She lives in East London. Her work 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.”
Co-CEO & Lead Cultivator
Co-CEO & Lead LearnerMark Sampson
Mark Sampson’s professional career spans the spectrum from profit to non-profit and from start-up to established, while his academic “side-hustle” has focused on the intersection between theology and our contemporary socio-economic context. A former KLICE award holder for business ethics, Mark co-founded The Paradise Cooperative, an urban farming and education charity in central London, and directed Cocreate Consulting, a co-operative social purpose consultancy. Before RootedGood, he was a director of Matryoshka Haus and the Transformational Index Group, and he is a non-executive director of The Curiosity Society.
Mark holds a Doctorate in Theology and Economics from King’s College London, where his thesis explored social enterprise as “faithful economic practice.” He also earned an MA in Theology and Culture from Regent College, Vancouver, where he served as Interim Director of the Marketplace Institute. A native of England, Mark now makes his dwelling place outside Detroit, Michigan, with his wife Katie and their three children, Ember, Lucas, and Elora.
Alison Butler
Alison Butler brings more than a decade of administrative, organizational, and creative skills to her role as RootedGood’s Operations Coordinator. Throughout her career, she has paired a keen eye for detail with exceptional customer service and meticulous project management, and she is thankful to apply those abilities to a cause she is passionate about. She is especially stoked to be on a team that thinks her color-coded calendar management is cool.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in New Jersey, halfway between the beach and NYC, Alison holds a bachelor’s degree in Christian Ministry and has spent many hours volunteering and consulting for church worship teams. In her free time, she enjoys painting, winning against her husband at video games, and excitedly pointing out any time she sees a cute dog pass by.
Operations Coordinator
Tito Ponce
Tito Ponce (he/him) is a systems thinker with a love for clean workflows, intentional design, and the behind-the-scenes magic that makes mission-driven work actually work. As Technical Operations Manager at RootedGood, he builds thoughtful processes, sharp systems, and tech solutions that help social innovators focus on what matters most. For Tito, operations isn’t just logistics; it’s an act of care.
With a background in psychology, nonprofit operations, and faith-rooted social impact, Tito brings both heart and precision to the table, with an eye toward equity, sustainability, and human connection. He lives in Chicago. When he’s not untangling a process map or building a smarter spreadsheet, you’ll find him hosting dinner parties, collecting stationery, or admiring the divine in the mundane.
Technical Operations ManagerAngela Johnson
Equity and justice, driven by faith, motivate Angela Johnson to action, and she is dedicated to helping people thrive. For almost 17 years, she built her career in brand promotion and strategy at Habitat for Humanity International, supporting its goal to eliminate poverty housing. There, she managed ecommerce and launched a portal that supported operations and brand compliance for 1,200 affiliates nationwide. As Director of Sharing, Angela brings her experience in brand building, communications, marketing, and engagement with diverse groups to RootedGood.
Angela holds a BS in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Theological Studies from Columbia Theological Seminary. Volunteerism and travel are her passions: she has launched volunteer projects in many countries, from house building to cultural immersions, and started a food pantry donation initiative at her place of worship in Atlanta.
Director of Sharing, CommunicationsOur Board
Our Board of Directors provides governance and oversight for RootedGood, ensuring we steward our resources faithfully and stay true to our mission. Drawn from ministry, business, and civic life, they hold us accountable to the congregations and communities we serve.
Our Groundmakers
Groundmakers is a circle of leaders from across the church, finance and community development who help RootedGood stay imaginative, grounded and responsive. Alongside our board, they bring hard-won wisdom from the field and help shape how we serve congregations and the communities around them.