VERA BENNETT
Chief Financial Officer

As CFO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Vera is responsible for fiscal oversight and regulatory compliance for the new community foundation, including investing and managing the community foundation's $1.9 billion in assets. She oversees a $15 million operating budget and a projected $190 million in annual grant disbursements through the unrestricted endowment, 15 supporting foundations and more than 1,400 philanthropic funds.

Vera served as the longtime CFO and interim CEO in 2006 for Peninsula Community Foundation, where she oversaw the investment and management of the foundation's assets. Before joining Peninsula Community Foundation in 1991, Vera spent 20 years in finance and accounting positions. She served for 10 years as the finance officer at Kainos Home & Training Center, an organization assisting developmentally disabled adults in Redwood City, and served for five years as treasurer of the board of directors at Kainos prior to joining the staff. Bennett also served for three years as a volunteer on the finance committee of the Global Fund for Women. Vera graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California where she received her bachelor’s of science degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. A native of San Mateo County, Bennett has two grown children and lives in Redwood City with her husband.