Executive Leadership Team
Brent E. Christopher
President and Chief Executive Officer
 Brent Christopher joined Communities Foundation of Texas as president and CEO in August 2005. Previously, he held leadership roles for fund raising and administration at a university and at an academic pediatric medical center. At heart, however, Brent considers himself a "reformed" lawyer, having started his career by representing clients in legal professional liability and product liability litigation. He graduated from the University of Texas Law School after earning a master's degree in politics at the University of Nottingham, England, and a bachelor of business administration degree in public administration and economics from Baylor University.
Elizabeth W. Bull
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
 As CFO, Beth Bull oversees financial and administrative operations. She joined CFT in August 2008 after a 26-year career with Texas Instruments, Inc., a global semiconductor company, where she served as vice president and treasurer. Her broad financial background and significant corporate management experience enabled her to assume key responsibilities for CFT’s already respected financial operations and investment program, while also overseeing human resources, facilities, and information technology. Beth is very involved in the Dallas community and is committed to supporting effective philanthropy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from DePauw University and a master’s degree in finance and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jeverley R. Cook, Ph.D.
Executive Director, W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation
 J. Cook has one of the longest tenures with Communities Foundation of Texas, having joined the foundation in 1992. He served many years as vice president of grants and through that position was instrumental in the establishment of grantmaking practices for the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation. Now, J. continues to provide regulatory compliance expertise to the foundation, but focuses more exclusively on the growing portfolio of Caruth Foundation grants within three designated areas of interest: education, public safety and medical research/health care. J. especially enjoys working on the potentially transformational investments that are intended for these grants, and over the years has led such Caruth Foundation initiatives as the groundbreaking $15 million investment in public safety through the Dallas Police Department. He wants to capitalize on the ability of the Caruth Foundation to collaborate with others in order to achieve the strongest impact. J. is a former Fulbright Scholar and German Academic Exchange Fellow. He studied at the Universities of Vienna, Munich and Mainz and received a Ph.D. in German language and literature from Johns Hopkins University.
John Fitzpatrick
Executive Director, Educate Texas
 A former school board member, chamber of commerce executive, middle school teacher and coach, John Fitzpatrick serves as the Executive Director of Educate Texas (formerly Texas High School Project). A unique public-private initiative, Educate Texas is dedicated to all Texas students graduating high school college ready, career ready and life ready. Before taking the helm at Educate Texas, Mr. Fitzpatrick served as Executive Director of the Capital Area Training Foundation, now Skillpoint Alliance and a non-profit organization working to build relationships between industry, education, and communities to benefit Central Texans. Mr. Fitzpatrick received a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Sarah Cotton Nelson
Chief Philanthropy Officer
Sarah Cotton Nelson serves as CFT’s Chief Philanthropy Officer. Prior to joining CFT, Ms. Nelson spent 12 years as a research methodologist with the RAND Corporation. In her last position with RAND, she served as director of programs for the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute, an initiative created after Hurricane Katrina to support thoughtful public policies for health care, education and housing. Her other professional roles include developing a youth intervention program in inner city Los Angeles; directing grants and research for the Dallas Women’s Foundation; and recommending changes in policy within the legalization process for nonprofit organizations in El Salvador following the end of their civil war. She is a 2003 American Marshall Memorial Fellow and a 1997 graduate fellow at Pontifícia Universidad Católica in Chile. She earned her bachelor’s degree in international development and Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley.
Susan Swan Smith
Chief Relationship Officer
 Susan Swan Smith serves Communities Foundation of Texas as Chief Relationship Officer. As CRO, she leads the staff members who are on the front lines of cultivating new donor relationships, stewarding existing donor relationships, and communicating the CFT story. Prior to joining CFT, Susan served six years as Assistant Head for Development & External Affairs at The Hockaday School, the largest independent girls’ school in the nation. Susan was recruited to Hockaday from SMU where she oversaw the operations of the SMU development department as Assistant Vice President for Development & External Affairs Operations. Susan earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University in economics and a master’s degree in educational leadership at George Washington University.
George Tang
Chief Operating Officer, Educate Texas
 As Chief Operating Officer for Educate Texas (formerly the Texas High School Project), George ensures the organization's day-to-day operations align with its mission of preparing all Texas students to graduate from high school ready for college, career and life. Prior to joining Educate Texas, George co-founded Rosetta, an advertising agency fueled by its analytical approach to creating marketing strategies. He was responsible for external client cultivation and management at Rosetta, along with internal infrastructure development. After returning to Dallas from the East Coast in 2009, George began to focus on the significant gaps and challenges in our education system. Educate Texas allows him a data-driven platform to marry his entrepreneurial passion with his desire to help all students achieve solid foundations for their futures. George earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from New York University.
|
Finance and Administration
Finance and Administration
Beth Bull
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Sonja Eldridge
Executive Assistant to the President/CEO and CFO
Accounting & Finance
Kristine Thomas
Vice President, Accounting
Phillip Adams
Senior Accounts Payable Administrator
Donna Langdon
Disbursement Administrator
Bobby Lewellen
Accounting Manager
Karen Mercado
Accounting Assistant
Administration
D'Etta Hughes
Human Resources Director
Ann Marie Warrick
Human Resources Associate
Christina Gibson
Receptionist
Facilities
Liz Moyer
Facilities Director
Philip Brown
Facilities Assistant
Maggie Crain
Caruth Homeplace Administrator/
Facilities Assistant
Jerry Jones
Facilities Assistant
Lisa Stabler
Meeting Coordinator
Information Technology
Matt Allen
Information Technology Director
Charles Daniel
Network Administrator
Ryan Moreno
Helpdesk Support Technician
Investments
J. Steven Orr
Vice President, Investments
Karen Mercado
Accounting Assistant
|