Elizabeth Cuthbert

Finance Manager

I was raised in the Maryland panhandle region of central Appalachia, where I found myself the default babysitter for neighborhood kids. As the oldest of 3 siblings, nurturing and caring for the newly earthbound felt natural and incredibly special, and I eventually started a local babysitting “business” with photocopied flyers featuring my parent's landline number and some clip art. I later moved to Baltimore, where I earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Art and Art History from Goucher College. After graduation, I was lucky to begin working as an assistant guide at the Baltimore Montessori preschool, where I first witnessed the transformative power of child-led learning in early childhood classrooms. This experience was genuinely life-altering and propelled me toward positions as a lead pre-k and kindergarten teacher at other progressive centers in the Pacific Northwest, Maryland, and New York. Although I’ve followed many different paths since teaching, including stints as a floral designer, property manager, and nanny, I’ve always found myself pulled towards spaces of learning –continuing to believe deeply in the Montessori philosophy and finding its applications in the workplace, team leadership, and personal development.

After relocating to Brooklyn, NY, where I studied interior design at Parsons School of Design, I began working as an office manager for a fledgling architecture firm, which helped me uncover my aptitude for operations and finance management. This pivot led to an almost decade-long career that’s been centered around helping rapidly expanding organizations transition from start-up stages to organized, sustainable structures. Landing in the Catskills felt like returning home, and I’ve happily supported several developing nonprofits as an operations director in the Hudson Valley region since coming here

in 2018. As a finance manager, I achieve a certain peace in balancing numbers and making sense of data sets. As an artist and craftsperson, I achieve the same zen through the pace and process of collage, candle making, and embroidery. As a teacher and human being, I do my best to create shared spaces for empowerment, curiosity, respect and wonder. Outside the office, I love foraging with my dog, traveling with my partner, having a laugh with pals, making an absolute mess in the kitchen, and working with wax in my studio. I am extremely grateful to be brought back to the Montessori community and look forward to supporting CMS in growth!