Elayne Bennett

Elayne Bennett developed the Best Friends program in 1987, and due to the overwhelming demand for a boys’ program, she launched Best Men in 2000. She earned her B.A. and M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Mrs. Bennett serves as the President and Founder of the Best Friends Foundation. In addition to teaching the Foundation’s youth development curriculum and training educators throughout the country, Mrs. Bennett serves as a spokeswoman on issues of adolescent behavior and development.Mrs. Bennett was honored with the prestigious Jefferson Award for National Public Service, the John Carroll Society Award, the William E. Simon Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award. She is a member of the Ethics, Religion, and Public Policy task force of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She is the wife of William J. Bennett and the mother of two sons.