Meet The Board
Elizabeth Benavides
CEO
Liz was born and raised in Scotland where she began working with children. After working in her native homeland for several years she was then offered a position in Germany where she began her International career working for military personnel, from there Liz worked in several other countries for several different families from various backgrounds including Saudi Arabia where she had the honor to work for the Saudi Arabian Royal family.
Brenda Jacobs
Brenda is a Native American of the Lumbee Tribe of NC. She was born and raised in Robeson County and still resides there today. Brenda studied Business Management at The University of North at Pembroke (UNCP) where she received her BS in December 2005. Brenda is a Sunday School Teacher at her church. She also serves on the Robeson County Christina Women Job Core Executive Board. "Children’s cultural identity is learned through language, storytelling, relationships, and traditions. You can tell a child and teach a child. Until the child becomes involved, he or she will never learn."
Jeffrey Reed
Jeff Reed, two-time Super Bowl champion and former placekicker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, grew his roots and found his love for sports in Charlotte, North Carolina. He played in Super Bowl XL in Detroit and Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, both of which the Steelers walked away from with a world championship ring. Reed has a passion for people, with a large focus on children, as he is a huge part of the culture and community locally and around the world.
Joshua Sweeney
Joshua has always had a presence in the non-profit field. From the age of 12, Joshua has devoted many hours to any cause he came across which drove him to develop skills in nonprofit consulting. With this knowledge, he began assisting local nonprofit organizations in his close network that then branched out to larger networks which finally gave him the idea to start his own organization to be able to help nonprofit entities on a larger scale.
Honorary Board Members
Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal
A member of the Saudi Arabian royal family, Khaled was born in California and spent his youth in Riyadh under the mentorship of his father, philanthropist HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, Chairman and CEO of Kingdom Holding Company. Khaledbin Alwaleed has been an active board member of children connecting the world since the beginning.
Kevin Vickers
Kevin Vickers, a North Carolina native, has been an educator since 1989. Kevin graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC. Kevin has been with Children Connecting The World since its original creation and has continued supporting the organizations mission.