Leadership

Cameron Smith is the CEO and Co-Founder at Bennett Day School, a future-focused PreK-12 educational organization, in the innovative Fulton Market district of Chicago.

Cameron was first inspired as a parent to create Bennett in 2014 for families in Chicago. Today, over 300 students at Bennett from 55 zip codes grow as learners, problem solvers, and critical thinkers with purpose in their lives. Bennett delivers happy, accomplished, and engaged students, families, and faculty via a world-class, dynamic project-based learning program that delivers exceptional outcomes. Bennett also shares resources beyond its own campus with other like-minded educators and schools via the Bennett Labs Collaborative in order to positively impact the lives of as many school children, teachers, and families as possible.

Named a Crain’s Chicago Notable Entrepreneur in 2019, Cameron was previously a Vice President at CHS Capital in Chicago where he focused on investing in education services companies. At CHS, he served on the board of Royall, the leading provider of strategic enrollment marketing services to colleges and universities. He has served on the board of ten organizations also including Premier Early Childhood Education Partners, New York Kids Club, Namaste Charter School in Chicago as Treasurer & Investment Committee Chair, and the Neighborhood Parents Network of Chicago. He is also a member of the Chicago Chapter of Conscious Capitalism.

Cameron holds a B.S. Degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; a Certificate in Space Resources from the Colorado School of Mines given his love of outer space; as well as J.D. and M.B.A. Degrees from Northwestern University. The son of a locomotive engineer and elementary school teacher, Cameron grew up in the Detroit area and lives in the Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago with his wife Erica and their two boys.

Martin received a B.A. in History at the University of Illinois-Chicago and an M.A. in History of Counterterrorism and Counterinsurgency at DePaul University. For five years, he served as an educator and technology developer at Evanston Township High School. He then worked as a history teacher, technology staff developer and curriculum team leader at Francis W. Parker School. He was charged with creating a new 9th and 10th grade World History curriculum from scratch which included authoring a text for the course. In 2011, he became the director of the Parker Summer School for Teaching and Learning, an experimental summer school built around the philosophies of progressive education. At Parker, he helped design the TIDES program, a concrete effort to maximize the tools (technology, design, entrepreneurial skills) of the 21st century to provide students with learning experiences that make them impactful, socially conscious leaders in a globalizing world. In addition, he coordinated a redesign of learning spaces at Parker, helped develop the long- and short-term technology plans, oversaw a 1:1 Middle School iPad program, a 2:1 Upper School laptop/iPad program, and the development of mobile and stationary technology centers throughout the building.

Martin has presented at numerous conferences, sits on the board of South by Southwest EDU, and was recognized by the National Association of Independent Schools as a ”Teacher of the Future.”

Stephanie studied History and Political Science at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, which is also where she is from. She then spent two years teaching English in San Luis Potosi, Mexico where she developed her love of education and achieved her goal of becoming fluent in Spanish. After returning to the U.S., Stephanie earned a Master of Arts in Teaching at Marian University in Indianapolis.

Stephanie spent seven years teaching in both public and private schools in Indianapolis. In 2013, when she and her husband moved to Chicago, she decided to step out of the classroom and took the role of Director of Admissions at Josephinum Academy of the Sacred Heart in Wicker Park. After four years of working in that wonderful community, she decided to take on a new challenge and accepted the position of Director of Enrollment at Bennett Day. She is thrilled to work in such a collaborative community where the mission of the school is truly lived. In her spare time, Stephanie loves to cook, travel, read, and watch sports.

Peggy has been working as a Director of Finance and Operations in private and public K-12 education for 9 years. She worked at Urban Prairie Waldorf School and oversaw their growth from 50 to 150 students. Most recently she worked at Chicago Tech Academy High School, a project-based learning school. Prior to working education, she was a General Manager and VP of Operations in the spa industry overseeing 9 day spa locations in the Midwest and West. Peggy is originally from Denver and attended Colorado State University with a BA in History. After college, she began her career in hospitality and had the opportunity to move throughout the US from Arizona to Aspen to Mississippi and eventually a year in Saudi Arabia after which she and her husband settled down in Chicago. They have two teenage children Isabelle, 17 and Lewis, 14. When Peggy is not at work she enjoys cooking, traveling and spending time with their dog, Addy and cat, Milosh.