Meet the Team
Ben Starrett
Executive Director and Founder
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Ben Starrett is the founding executive director of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, created in late-1999. Despite having been a football and rugby player for over 30 years, he graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in politics and economics. Ben is a member of Leadership Florida Class XIX, was a Knight Fellow in Community Building, and serves on the board of the Sustainable Cities Institute. Active in numerous national and local organizations, he lives in South Florida, where he enjoys kayaking, snorkeling, trying to run marathons, and most other aspects of outdoor life. Download full bio
D. Elizabeth Almonte
Executive Assistant
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), (305) 667-6350 ext. 201
Elizabeth works in a variety of areas as office manager, IT coordinator, database manager, and assistant to the executive director. In addition to daily operations, she also provides support to Network projects as they arise. Prior to joining the Network, Elizabeth worked as an executive assistant and customer service specialist. She is a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves, specializing in human resource management and patient administration. Elizabeth graduated with honors from Hawaii Pacific University in Honolulu, earning an associate’s degree in supervisory leadership. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami, Elizabeth is fluent in English and Spanish.
Jennifer Cummings
Administrative Director
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Jennifer works both in programmatic and administrative areas including board relations, human resources, finance and budgeting, logistical planning, green building, and the inclusiveness initiative. Before joining the Network in 2005, she was the executive director of the Kidney Foundation of South Florida, responsible for all areas of nonprofit management including special events, operations, board development, educational programming, community outreach, and communications. Jennifer graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a degree in English and Russian. The daughter of a Peruvian mother and American father who flew for Pan Am, she has traveled extensively and lived abroad. Jennifer enjoys her extended family, reading too much, making things with her hands, and swimming in open water as long as it’s 84 degrees or somewhere foreign. While her favorite animals are feline, she knows the best horse in the world is a Caballo de Paso named Miski in Lima, Peru.
Maureen Lawless
Program Director
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Maureen manages the River Partnership of Community Foundations, coordinates the Network’s research and publications agenda, and organizes fundraising and membership communications. Prior to joining the Network, she spent her early career managing membership and publications at the Georgia Center for Nonprofits. A magna cum laude graduate of Villanova University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Maureen later received a master’s degree from the Georgetown University Public Policy Institute. While there, she was a Jessie Ball duPont Fund Emerging Nonprofit Scholar at the Institute’s Center for the Study of Voluntary Organizations and Service. An avid sports fan, Maureen often bores her colleagues with tales from her beloved Villanova Wildcats, New York Giants, and Boston Red Sox and other useless sports trivia.
Kristopher Smith
Program Director
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), (305) 667-6350 ext. 202
Kris provides staff leadership to the Restoring Prosperity in Older Industrial Cities funder working group. He also manages the Network’s philanthropic leadership development program, PLACES. Prior to joining the Funders’ Network, Kris worked for the South Florida Local Initiatives Support Corporation as a senior program officer, the city of Miami as a neighborhood services administrator, and the Miami Office of the National Conference for Community and Justice. Kris served as a grant reviewer for the Department of Education and was selected for the University of Miami Knight Fellowship in Community Building. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in public science from Bethune Cookman University.
