Carrie A. Besnette has been with the Daniels Fund since April 2000. Following the passing of cable pioneer, Bill Daniels, Carrie joined the original team responsible for helping to shape and establish his $1B philanthropic foundation in the Rocky Mountain Region. As Vice President and Scholarship Program Director, she was responsible for designing, building, and implementing the largest single component of the foundation, the Daniels College Prep and Scholarship Program. She also envisioned and instituted the Daniels Opportunity Awards Program, resulting in the distribution of nearly $6M in grants to support non-traditional students. Since its inception, Carrie has served as an officer of the foundation and member of its senior management team responsible for internal operations, strategic planning, and reporting to the CEO and Board of Directors.

In January of 2006, under the title of Vice President for Community Relations and Strategic Partnerships, Carrie accepted the unique invitation and opportunity to serve as a "Loaned Executive" to the Mayor of Denver and to the Metro Denver Sports Commission. During this one-year assignment, she is focused on two emerging community projects - a major college scholarship program to serve Denver's students and families in perpetuity, and an initiative to cultivate and attract top-tier international sporting events to Denver and Colorado.Prior to her employment at the Daniels Fund, Dr. Besnette held the positions of Policy Associate and Assistant Director of State Relations at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), a 15-state intergovernmental agency serving state legislatures and systems of higher education in the West.

From 1990-1997, Carrie was based in California as the Regional Director of Admissions and Alumni Affairs for the University of Arizona. During this time, she completed graduate degree programs in higher education policy, taught several undergraduate and graduate courses, and served as a research associate at UCLA. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments.

After earning an interdisciplinary B.A. in political science, business, and communications from the University of Arizona, Carrie completed M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at UCLA. She has been involved with a variety of professional associations; non-profit organizations; and volunteer, community, and civic initiatives. She currently serves on boards of directors for the National Scholarship Providers Association (past-President), the National Pathways to College Network (Executive Committee), the Denver Metro Chamber Foundation (Chair, 2005-06) and Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Metro Denver Sports Commission (Nominating Chair), and Women for Education (Advisory Board). In 2003, Denver's new Mayor asked her to serve on his transition committee and subsequently on his Justice Center Task Force. Carrie is a program graduate of Leadership Denver, the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training, and the Center for Creative Leadership. She is an invited keynote speaker, adjunct faculty member at the University of Denver, conference panelist, and op-ed author, engaging in and writing about issues such as education policy, college access, leadership, business/non-profit partnerships, and philanthropy.

Her personal interests include travel, politics, and a mix of athletic and outdoor endeavors. Since 1995, Carrie has freelanced as an occasional river guide for Hatch River Expeditions in Grand Canyon National Park. In December 2004, she climbed Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro raising nearly $15K for one of her charitable interests.