Board of Directors

BFS operates under the stewardship of the Executive Educational Director and in partnership with the parent-run Steering Committee and the Board of Directors, made up of alumni families and community supporters.

The board currently includes six independent Board members and is attended by two current member observers. We strive to include a diverse group of qualified individuals who share a commitment to our values and mission but do not have a prior relationship to BFS.

Jon Benenson

Jon has been a BFS parent for his 3 kids starting in 2011, 2013-2015, and 2017-2020. He served on Steering all 6 years as co-President, Membership Coordinator, and Treasurer.

Currently, Jon is a Consulting Actuary and VP at Segal, advising clients on defined benefit retirement plans. He earned a BA from Hartwick College, ScM and MSE in BioStatistics and Mathematical Sciences from Johns Hopkins University; and credentials of EA, ASA in the actuarial world.

Jon lives in Ditmas Park with his wife and 3 kids who attend schools in Park Slope and Kensington. Jon still enjoys playing amateur soccer all over the city.

Amy Brito

Amy was a BFS parent from 2021-2023, where she was an active member of the BFS community as a class parent. Amy is a technology professional with 18+ years of experience, starting off in engineering and business development at Cisco, and then leading partnership organizations at Amazon Web Services. She currently leads a commerce and agency partnerships team at Stripe, a financial infrastructure company. She earned a degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas in Austin.

Amy has lived in Brooklyn with her husband and children since 2018 and New York since 2012. She is originally from Mauritius but also grew up in Vancouver, Canada and Dallas, Texas. She has volunteered at several non-profits, especially those focused on building better lives for women, children, and diverse communities.

Junie Francois Pswarayi

Junie is a non-profit professional, with 15+ years of experience encompassing work in fundraising, development, finance, operations, and human resources. For 6 years she managed the finance, human resource, and operations functions at Democracy Works, a non-partisan civic tech non-profit, and was integral to the growth of the organization which grew in employee and revenue fivefold from 8 - 42 employees and $1million -$14million in revenue. In 2020, she transitioned to the field of fundraising, where she spearheaded the organization's efforts to widen its reach with communities of color in the field of development through partnership, creating fundraising opportunities and partnerships with ABFE, Marcy Labs, and Empower MyHood.

She’s an alumnus of the University of Maryland College Park, holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Montgomery College, and is currently completing a Certificate in Fundraising from New York University as well as being a part of the first cohort of Good Shepherd Services, Anti-Racism Equity Institute. She served as a parent board member for the 2020-2021 school year and was elected as an independent Board Member in 2021. Her son happily attended BFS for two years, first as a Dragonfly and then Sunshine.

David Heales (Chair)

David serves as the Chair of the BFS Board. He has had two children go through BFS from 2019 to 2023, who between them have been a fixture of each of the BFS classrooms.

David has lived in Park Slope with his wife since moving to Brooklyn from London, UK in 2014. David is a partner at, the international law firm of, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and graduated in law from Oxford University. He has previously served on the boards of trustees of several elementary and middle schools.

Elizabeth Howell

Liz is a proud parent of three Brooklyn Free Space graduates who attended over the period of 2008 - 2018 and was an active member of the BFS community during those years. She served on the Steering Committee for two years as Membership Coordinator, was the chair of the New Members/Admissions committee, and also served on the Community Building and Gala planning committees. In addition, Liz has been an active volunteer in her children’s current schools and with various organizations throughout Brooklyn and NYC. She has professional experience working in non-profits, membership outreach, and public policy.

She earned a BA from Colorado State University and an MA from American University. Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, she has lived in Park Slope with her husband Tim and children since 2003.

Erinn Smart

Erinn is a two-year BFS parent from 2020 to 2022. She is currently the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Dotdash Meredith. She has 18+ years of professional experience in the media, tech, and finance sectors, working for Hearst, IAC, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Lord Abbett LLC. She earned a BA from Barnard College and her MBA from The Wharton School. 

Additionally, Erinn serves as a board member, mentor, and volunteer for the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a not-for-profit that uses the sport of fencing to enrich the lives of children from underserved communities. 

Erinn is a proud Brooklynite and attended her primary school years in Park Slope. She currently lives in Park Slope with her husband and son.