Katie Ensign

Vice President for Placemaking and Administration, Jessie Ball duPont Fund

Katie Ensign serves as Vice President for Placemaking and Administration for the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a private foundation located in Jacksonville, Florida. The Fund’s work focuses on equity and placemaking to create communities of belonging for the people and places that Jessie Ball duPont knew and loved. Katie oversees the Fund’s placemaking strategy as well as serving as lead program officer for Jacksonville and Port St. Joe, FL. She also assists the president with administrative duties.

Prior to joining the Fund in 2010, Katie served as President and CEO of Florida Philanthropic Network, and before that, as Vice President of Programs for the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida.Ms. Ensign holds a BA in Psychology from Denison University.

Lymari Benitez, Ph.D.

Pace Center for Girls

Lymari Benitez, Ph.D., joined Pace Center for Girls in June 2015. As the Senior Director of Program Information and Impact, she uses information to support 22 communities in Florida and Georgia to help girls at high risk of involvement with the juvenile justice system change their life trajectory. Before joining Pace, she served as the lead evaluator of the Statewide System of Care Expansion Initiative for Children and Youth supported by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She also worked at Harlem Children’s Zone, a community-based organization dedicated to children’s healthy development in Central Harlem, where she led program evaluation activities. Her education includes a doctorate in environmental psychology from the City University of New York and a master’s degree in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Puerto Rico.

Sabeen Perwaiz

Florida Nonprofit Alliance

Sabeen Perwaiz is President & CEO of Florida Nonprofit Alliance where she strengthens, promotes and advocates on behalf of Florida’s nonprofit sector. During her tenure, FNA released Florida’s first nonprofit economic impact report, individual giving report and nonprofit compensation survey. Prior to joining the organization, Perwaiz was a researcher for Vital Voices Global Partnership, served as Special Projects Manager for Pace Center for Girls, implemented an Early Childhood Education program with Aide et Action in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and led the Earn Up initiative for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce.

Since 2012, Perwaiz has led the all volunteer team for TEDxJacksonville. She is on the board of directors of the United Way of Northeast Florida. Perwaiz serves on the steering committee for Women’s Giving Alliance and is a member of the Jacksonville Women’s Network. She is a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Florida Connect. Perwaiz has been named an Aspen Ideas Scholar, Woman of Influence, 40 under 40 and a National Business Journal Influencer. She has also received a One Jax Humanitarian award. In 2018, Perwaiz was appointed to Florida’s Commission on Community Service.

Perwaiz earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and pre-medicine from City College of New York and her master’s in International Development from the University of Birmingham in the UK. An avid traveler, Perwaiz has visited over 42 countries and hopes to visit at least 100 in her lifetime. She and her husband, Asghar, are proud parents of Raza and Ayah.

Shawana Brooks

6 ft Away Gallery

Shawana Brooks is a curator, gallerist, spoken word poet, memoirist, and public speaker whose art revolves around personal storytelling fused to issues of race, equity, and medical and maternal concerns. She has utilized representation as an amplifier for over five years as a cultural producer through her award-winning curation and artist activism.

She amplifies awareness of Black and other marginalized minority artists (BIPOC) and creates intentional, accessible spaces for public art for visual storytelling to create work that reflects each artist’s artistic interests while connecting to the social issues of under-resourced communities.

Jenny O’Donnell

Jacksonville Care Connect

For the past 20 years, Jenny O’Donnell has served in various capacities managing programs for non-profit organizations locally as well as internationally. She has vast experience in the areas of volunteer a bvnd community engagement as well as launching program start-ups and new initiatives. She has had the opportunity to lead programs within outstanding service organizations such as Habitat for Humanity International, HandsOn Jacksonville, United Way of Northeast Florida, AmeriCorps and Episcopal Children’s Services.

Since November, 2020 she has served as the Administrator for JaxCareConnect, a collaborative initiative that connects uninsured, under-resourced residents of Duval County to health care through a network of free and charitable clinics. She is also a dedicated Guardian Ad Litem volunteer and advocates for children in the dependency court system. When she is not working or volunteering, Jenny enjoys spending her time with family, traveling and exploring new foods!

Dan Folley

City Year Jacksonville

Dan Foley serves as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Planning for City Year Inc. Beginning as an AmeriCorps Member and Student Success Coach supporting middle school students in the Bronx, over the last 13 years, Dan has led City Year in various capacities at its New York, Los Angeles, and Jacksonville locations; most recently as Executive Director & Vice President of City Year Jacksonville. He currently serves on City Year’s National Senior Leadership Team and National Equity Council.

Dan has developed deep roots in the Jacksonville Community through his service as a Leadership Jacksonville Alum, Leadership Florida Alum, Weaver Philanthropic Initiative Alum, steering committee member for Jacksonville’s Urban Education Symposium, member of WJCT’s Community Advisory Board, and former Big Brother through BBBS of Northeast Florida. Dan earned his BS in Biology from Seton Hall University and his Executive Master’s in Public Administration with the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.