Our team

Christine Fry, co-founder and principal of Onside Partners, provides strategic guidance to leaders of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations promoting social justice, environmental sustainability, and public health. Throughout her career, Christine has worked with government and non-profit professionals to understand and apply complex, technical concepts to their work. Christine spent nine years at ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit that promotes healthier communities through laws and policies. She provided training and technical assistance to local and state leaders across the country on crafting strong public health policy and on strategies to increase access to healthy foods. As a member of senior leadership of the organization, Christine led a staff-wide process to articulate and refine the organization’s core strategy, supported a staff-driven initiative to define equity within the organization, and played a major role in changing hiring and development practices to increase staff racial and ethnic diversity. Christine has a degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MPP from University of California, Berkeley.   

Samantha Graff, co-founder and principal of Onside Partners, provides strategic guidance to leaders of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations promoting social justice, environmental sustainability, and public health. She was instrumental in the formation and success of the Digital Trust Foundation, a privacy foundation created in a high-profile litigation settlement involving Facebook. She played a key role in launching two ambitious national collaboratives in the environmental field. Previously, Samantha served for a decade as legal research director at ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit that promotes healthier communities through law and policy. Samantha was also a fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, a federal law clerk for the Chief Judge of the Northern District of California, and a case writer at Harvard Business School. In her volunteer time, Samantha co-founded and now serves on the advisory board of Flip the Vote, a pro-democracy initiative that raised over $7 million in 2020 for strategically selected grassroots organizations in BIPOC communities working to expand voter registration and mobilization. Samantha graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University and received her JD from Yale Law School. 

Heather Wooten is a principal at Onside Partners, where she partners with leaders to make lasting change. After working for over a decade at the intersection of health equity and built environment policy, she believes in the power of good governance to create healthy, sustainable, and economically vibrant communities for all. Heather’s expertise includes policy research, analysis, and drafting; development of innovative tools that make the policymaking process accessible to all; community and stakeholder capacity building through coaching, technical assistance, and training. She is the recipient of the 2014 William R. and June Dale Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning from Cal Poly Pomona for her work in food systems planning. Heather graduated from the University of Minnesota and received her master’s degree in city planning from UC Berkeley.  

Ang Hadwin is an affiliate of Onside Partners, where they conduct deep research and analysis to inform public policy and philanthropic strategy. Ang is a planner, researcher, organizer, and educator who has spent the last two decades working to advance equity and increase opportunity in urban centers from the Bronx to Oakland. As a Program Manager at HOPE Collaborative, Ang managed a multi-stakeholder table of local government and community leaders to pilot innovative interventions as a catalyst for systems change. As a Healthy Planning Fellow at ChangeLab Solutions, Ang honed their research and analysis skills developing reports on innovative policy and program strategies to promote health and equity. Ang holds a Master of City Planning degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an AB in Biology & Environmental Science from Bryn Mawr College.   

Robert Ogilvie is an affiliate of Onside Partners and the Founder of Ogilvie Labs. Throughout his career, Robert has helped local and regional governments and their corporate and non-profit partners build more effective institutional capacity to act in the public good; engage and mobilize local leadership to advocate for policies to make healthier and more economically-vibrant places; draft innovative public policies; and develop the resources necessary to implement these policies. Prior to founding Ogilvie Labs, Robert was the founder of SPUR’s Oakland office where he brought people from across the political spectrum to develop solutions to the big problems that Oakland faces. Before SPUR, Robert was vice president for strategic engagement at ChangeLab Solutions, where he led an interdisciplinary team of lawyers, planners, and policy experts to advance equitable laws and policies to ensure healthy lives for all.  Robert has served as a faculty member in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley; as a consultant to city and county governments, nonprofit organizations and neighborhood activists; and as director of volunteers at the Partnership for the Homeless in New York City. Robert has a PhD in Political Science from Columbia University.   

Andrea Somerville, founder of Somerville Consulting Firm (SCF), works exclusively with nonprofits, foundations, and social impact businesses to improve their efficacy and impact. Andrea is skilled in strategic thinking and planning and helps her clients create strategies that bridge the gap between vision and goals and develop plans that bring those strategies to life. SCF provides a range of support, including helping organizations design and implement fundraising strategies and capital campaigns, refine organizational strategic direction, launch new program initiatives, and build high-functioning, effective boards. Prior to launching SCF, Andrea was a Development Director for several large nonprofits with robust funding programs. Her career in the nonprofit sector followed a two-year sabbatical spent traveling extensively throughout South America, where Andrea volunteered and learned Spanish. Her sabbatical followed a career as a litigation attorney representing Fortune 500 corporations in business and employment disputes, as well as providing legal advice and counseling. Andrea received a degree in business from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and received her JD from The George Washington University Law School.  

Benjamin D. Winig is the Founder of ThinkForward Strategies, a national consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He provides strategic advice and counsel to local government agencies, community-based organizations, think tanks, and philanthropies. Previously, Ben served as Vice President of Law & Policy at ChangeLab Solutions, where he oversaw the organization’s legal interventions nationwide. Before joining ChangeLab Solutions, Ben practiced municipal law at a private law firm in California. He served as general counsel and assistant city attorney for several public agencies throughout the Bay Area. Ben is a skilled trainer, facilitator, and consensus builder, and has been a featured speaker at numerous conferences around the country. Ben graduated from the University of Michigan, with distinction, and received his law degree and master’s in public affairs from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.