MOTT FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Investment Operations Analyst
Garner previously served as a program officer with the Foundation's Education program, managing a grant portfolio of education and out-of-school-time initiatives. Prior to joining the Foundation, she designed and implemented research-based practices and out-of-school-time quality improvement systems for state education agencies and national youth-serving organizations at the Forum of Youth Investment.
Charles Stewart Mott was an automotive pioneer, community leader and philanthropist who cared about innovation, a just society and the strength of communities. Today, Mott Foundation employees in four offices in the U.S., England and South Africa continue his work on a global scale. By supporting nonprofits dedicated to civil society, education, the environment and our hometown of Flint, we aim to strengthen what Mr. Mott called "the capacity for accomplishment."
Job Titles:
- Managing Investment Director
Cheryl Garneau started her career with Deloitte & Touche in Detroit, moving to Chrysler in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where she began focusing on investment management. She joined the staff of Mott's Investment Office in 2008. A Michigan native, she is a graduate of three of the state's finest colleges: she earned a bachelor's in business administration from Michigan State University in East Lansing; a law degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; and a master's in business administration from Wayne State University in Detroit. One of the great incentives for her work, she says, is knowing that the decisions she makes as a managing investment director ultimately provide the Foundation with the resources needed to continue the good work it does in communities across the globe. Married with one child, she volunteers at her son's school whenever she can, and enjoys time with her family more than any other leisure pursuit.
Job Titles:
- Facilities Maintenance Technician
Job Titles:
- Project and Events Manager
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Investments and Chief Investment Officer
Jay Flaherty is the Foundation's vice president of Investments and chief investment officer. The Illinois native joined Mott in 2007, after working for eight years in similar capacities at Richards & Tierney and Ennis Knupp & Associates, investment advisory firms in Chicago. He also held positions as financial analyst and reliability statistician for agricultural and computer technology firms in Wisconsin and Illinois. When he joined Mott, Flaherty managed the Foundation's hedge fund portfolio and led risk management activities. He later assumed responsibilities for private equities and asset allocation strategy. He was named chief investment officer in 2013. Flaherty earned his bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. He also obtained two master's degrees: one in mathematics from Northwestern University and another in business administration, with a focus on finance and accounting, from the University of Chicago's Booth Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer and Trustee Meeting Coordinator / Executive Office
- Program Officer and Trustee Meeting Coordinator / Flint Area
Jennifer Liversedge joined the Mott Foundation after working for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just outside of Washington, D.C., and for the automotive industry in Southeast Michigan. She earned two bachelor's degrees: one in business administration and finance from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and one in mechanical engineering from GMI Engineering and Management Institute - now Kettering University - in Flint, Michigan. She also earned her master's in education online through the University of Phoenix to support her personal interest of helping adults earn their GED certification. Liversedge now supports the Foundation's Flint-based education grantmaking and coordinates quarterly meetings of the Foundation's board of trustees.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant / Administrative Group
Job Titles:
- Managing Investment Director
Job Titles:
- Program Officer
- Projects Coordinator
Joseph Martin is a program officer responsible for grantmaking related to restoring community vitality in the Flint area. In addition, Martin is a loaned executive with the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation, a nonprofit, mixed-use real estate development company supporting the revitalization of downtown Flint. At URC, Martin has shared his experience and expertise to lead major Flint development projects, such as the Mott Community College Culinary Arts Institute, Marketplace Apartments and Genesee Health System's Center for Children's Integrated Services.
Prior to joining Mott in 2015, Martin worked at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in Lansing with a focus on mixed-use housing development. He is graduate of Michigan State University in East Lansing, where he earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He is married and the father of two children.
Karen Aldridge-Eason is the first foundation liaison to a governor's office in the United States, a position she accepted in 2003 as a loaned executive from the Foundation. Established through a joint agreement between Michigan foundations and the governor's office, Aldridge-Eason assumed responsibility for the development of the new position, charged with bringing together state policymakers, foundation leaders and elected officials to explore and identify solutions to issues affecting Michigan's children and their families. Aldridge-Eason joined Mott in 1993 as a program officer for the Flint Area team, becoming program director the following year. A graduate of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she received a bachelor's degree in education, she also earned a master's in public administration from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. In addition to serving as an administrator for a mission boarding school in Liberia, West Africa, she also held several governmental positions prior to becoming part of Mott's staff. She served as budget director for the city of Flint and director of the Office of Health and Human Services within the Michigan Department of Management and Budget.
Job Titles:
- Managing Investment Director
Ken Austin is a managing investment director who focuses on hedge funds, private credit and asset allocation, while also supporting Mott's overall portfolio management activities. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration while majoring in finance and Asian studies. While enrolled at WMU, Austin studied for a year at Nanjing University in China. He went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.
A Michigan native, Austin came to the Foundation in 2012 from Indus Capital Partners in New York City, where he worked as an investment analyst. He previously served as a financial analyst at Capital One Financial and as an investment analyst at Millgate Capital, where he became a partner.
Austin is married, has three children and loves traveling, barbequing, reading and basketball.
Job Titles:
- Office Assistant
- Receptionist
Job Titles:
- Program Officer / Environment
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant / Education
Job Titles:
- Investment Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Executive Assistant to the President / CEO and Board of Trustees
Job Titles:
- South Africa Office Manager
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant / Administrative Group
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Administration, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary / Treasurer
Job Titles:
- Associate Program Officer / Environment
Job Titles:
- Vice President - Programs
Job Titles:
- Program Officer / Environment
Job Titles:
- Program Director / Environment
Job Titles:
- Executive in Residence and Program Officer