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Meet the Team

Home About Meet the Team

Stephen Benford

Co-founder, Trustee, & Executive Director, Abbie’s Father

Stephen has over twenty-five years experience as a Finance and Operations leader. Stephen’s analytic thinking makes him the backbone of the foundation’s operations.

A leader and a loving father, Stephen has worked closely with the scientists from Wyss Institute to develop life-saving technology for the early detection and treatment of anaphylaxis: “We believe the problem can be solved through early detection, a familiar approach in medicine but one that is wholly absent from anaphylaxis treatment.”

Amy Benford

Co-founder, Trustee, Abbie’s Mother

Amy has over twenty years experience as a public school educator, specializing in elementary education and technology integration. Amy leads our efforts to educate children about the severity of anaphylaxis. She co-created the Foundation’s “I’m Aware and I Care” curriculum module.

Amy has sixteen years of experience managing food allergies and anaphylaxis risk in the family setting. Amy leads the Foundation’s Awareness initiatives, and drives our social media presence.

David Benford

Trustee, Abbie’s Brother

David is pursuing his undergraduate degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with majors in Psychology and Sociology, and minors in Education and Social Work. During his summers, David follows his mother’s footsteps by working as Assistant Head Counselor for Hopkinton Parks and Recreation.

Growing up in a caring family, David is passionate about social causes and he is highly involved with local community activities.

Kate Braunstein

Trustee

Kate is pursuing her undergraduate degree at Elon University in Strategic Communications and Professional Sales. She led the redesign of the Foundation’s website in 2016 as an intern at a Boston-based PR firm. Kate’s focus is on streamlining communications and outreach for the Foundation.

Patrick Doering

Trustee

With twenty-five years of experience, Pat has extensive experience in  start-up environments, and he is also an inventor holding over 20 patents. His background is in technology and management, principally in research and development.

Pat’s focus is on helping the Foundation achieve its research goals.

Kathy Rocha

Trustee

Kathy has over 30 years experience as an executive in the high tech computer networking industry, with strengths in improving operations, and building and leading high performance teams. In addition, she is an Angel investor and has non-profit Board experience.

Kathy provides general advisory support to the Foundation.

Randy McDonald

Trustee

Randy is President and CEO of Tristar Design, a Hopkinton-based electronic, software, mechanical and industrial design firm located in Hopkinton, MA and has several personal connections to anaphylaxis risk. As a board member, Randy will support the Foundation’s Research goal and provide general management guidance as we scale the Foundation.

Mission Statement

Our mission is simple:

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The KeepSmilin4Abbie Foundation® is a 501(c)(3) under the United States Internal Revenue code.​