About Us
Staff
Executive Team
W. Frank Newton, President and Chief Executive Officer, served as Dean and Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law from 1985 until 2002, when he assumed leadership of the Beaumont Foundation of America. In addition to his services as an attorney and legal educator, Dean Newton helped devise the Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Account Program, which has raised more than $70 million for legal aid programs since 1984. He was named by Texas Lawyer Magazine as one of the 102 most influential Texas lawyers of the century, and the State Bar of Texas annually presents an award in his name to lawyers who provide outstanding pro bono services.
C. Edward Keller, Chief Operating Officer, has more than 28 years of law enforcement experience, eight with the Maryland State Police and the remainder with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which includes experience in operational, investigative, administrative, and managerial assignments throughout the United States.
Sidney H. Cohen, Chief Financial Officer & Executive Director of Investments, has been a certified public accountant for 41 years. He spent 18 years with Andersen LLP, including eight and one-half as a partner, and later joined Pollans & Cohen, a Beaumont-based CPA firm. Mr. Cohen’s experience includes professional firms, publicly traded companies and nonprofit organizations as well as extensive consulting experience. A member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Texas Society of CPAs, he is involved with civic organizations and writes a finance column in a weekly newspaper
Robert W. Craft, General Counsel, a 1983 graduate of the University of Texas with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, received his J.D. in 1989 from the South Texas College of Law. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and admitted to practice before the United States District Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Daryl Ann Borel, Director of Grants, received a Bachelors of Science degree in Mathematics and a Masters in Education from Lamar University. She taught school, served as a public school administrator and is a pioneer in helping educators create learning environments designed to integrate technology in the curriculum. Ms. Borel formerly served under U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige as Assistant Superintendent for Technology and Information Systems in the Houston Independent School District where she directed planning and coordination of technology strategies.
Program Officers
Shirley DeLa Cruz, Senior Program Officer, taught Mathematics and Spanish for 12 years in the Port Arthur and Nederland, Texas school districts. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education and a Masters in Educational Technology Leadership from Lamar University.
Pat Pate Griffith, Program Officer, a native of Beaumont, brings more than 20 years of experience in management, marketing, event coordination and public relations to the Foundation. She formerly served as Public Relations and Marketing Director of Transit Mix Concrete & Materials Company, a subsidiary of Trinity Industries. She has worked in the medical and tourism professions and provided community service through organizations such as the Babe Zaharias Foundation, Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce and Girls’ Haven, Inc.