Who We Are

Our Leadership

Kim Laughton - President

Kim has held a variety of leadership, strategy, and general management positions at Schwab Charitable and Charles Schwab & Co. since 1995. Prior to that, she was Vice President for Citibank-Asia/Pacific and a Consultant for Bain & Company. She is on the board of her local educational foundation board and serves as head of its investment committee, and also volunteers with a number of local community organizations. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Business School.
Liz Hilton – Vice President of Marketing & Business Development
Liz led brand and advisor-segment marketing initiatives for Schwab Institutional Services for more than four years before joining Schwab Charitable. Prior to her tenure at Schwab, Liz spent 20 years in marketing, strategy, sales, relationship management and organization development positions, including global sales and marketing for The NutraSweet Company, and business development for the Sustainable Development sector of Monsanto Company. She is an active alumna of Kenyon College, hosting local events in the Bay Area and supporting its Center for the Study of American Democracy.
Susan H. Heldman - Vice President & Controller

Susan (Susy) Heldman has held leadership and controller positions at major nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area since 1993. Prior to moving to the Bay Area she was employed in controller positions in the oil and gas industry in Southern California. Susy serves in numerous volunteer positions, including for the Alumni Class Leadership for Mount Holyoke College, and on the boards of the Northern California Club and the Calvary Presbyterian Foundation. Susy also serves on the Finance Committee for the Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College. Susy enjoys using her vacation time to volunteer abroad, with recent experiences in Argentina and Thailand.
Barbara Benware -Vice President of Investment Oversight & Risk Management
Barbara spent eighteen years as an executive in wealth management prior to joining Schwab Charitable, most recently as Vice President of Planning & Investments and Chief Compliance Officer for Union Square Investment Company, an SEC-registered investment advisory firm. Earlier in her career, Barbara held management roles in Finance, Business and Product Planning in the telecommunications industry.
Chris Yaros - Director of Operations

Chris held a variety of leadership positions in Operations at Charles Schwab & Co. for thirteen years before joining Schwab Charitable in 2006. In his current role, he is responsible for the timely and accurate distribution of grants to charities as well as the delivery of exceptional service to the donors and their financial advisors. Since joining the organization, Chris has led several key initiatives to increase efficiencies and keep the first-class service delivery in place. Chris serves on the Board of the Shih-Yu Lang Central YMCA in San Francisco and also sits on the Member Services Committee of the Embarcadero YMCA.
LesLee Burnett - Director of Project Management

LesLee oversees project and program development at Schwab Charitable, including enhancements to the online Donor Center and employee systems. She brings over fifteen years of experience in the nonprofit sector to Schwab Charitable, including employee volunteer program management and disaster volunteer coordination.

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