Andrew Benton

Background

About Andrew Benton

I believe leadership is about building people, not positions. When I stepped into Cornerstone Family Ministries 17 years ago, I was the only employee. Today we are a team of 11, supported by a strong board, serving more than 400 students every year. What began as a small neighborhood effort has become a place where kids discover their gifts, families find support, and a community grows stronger together. I thrive on helping people see what is possible and then walking with them until it becomes reality. That has meant recruiting and mentoring staff who feel ownership of the mission. It has meant working with board members to dream big and then put structure behind those dreams. It has meant bringing together schools, churches, and local partners who might not otherwise sit at the same table, and finding common ground so we can move forward together. Along the way, we grew our budget from to raised more than $6.5 million, and launched Luminary Productions, a social enterprise A/V company that sustains our programs and trains students. But the real story isn’t in the numbers. It’s in students who are discovering their God-given purpose and calling. It’s in the leaders who have grown within our staff. It’s in the partners and supporters who now carry the mission as their own. For me, leadership is about creating cultures and structures that last. It is about building consensus, cultivating trust, and helping people and organizations live out their purpose in ways that make communities stronger for generations to come.