Finance Committee

Lance Klassen

Chair

Lance works for the State of Colorado, and has been in the accounting department for over 14 years, and is currently a Payroll Manager for the Colorado Department of Human Services.  Lance has also been a small business owner for over 16 years with rentals in a few states.  Lance grew up on a farm in Minnesota and moved to Colorado in 2007 and enjoys spending time with his family, finding free events on the weekends, playing basketball, and cheering for the Vikings (and all other MN sports)!  Lance and his wife, Sara, have two boys at BFA (grades 2nd & 4th).

Jake Thorkildsen

Vice Chair

Jake earned his BBA in Finance from the University of North Texas in 2008. Most of his career has been spent in real estate finance or other financial planning roles – he currently works with a private equity real estate investment firm in Denver, focused on multifamily investing and asset management. He and his wife, Kaily, live in Highlands Ranch with their two daughters. Outside of work and enjoying family time, Jake’s hobbies include mountain biking, dirt biking, or playing soccer.

Brendon Cussio

Secretary

Liz Elder

Liz is a Financial Analyst at Wind Crest, a CCRC retirement community in Highlands Ranch.  She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an Emphasis in Marketing from University of Northern Colorado and a Master’s of Science in Accountancy from University of Phoenix.  Liz started in various Sales positions after college and has been in financial roles for 15+ years.  Originally from Kansas, Liz moved to Colorado in elementary school.  Outside of work, Liz enjoys time with her family (husband, Eric, and daughter, Paige, a 4^th grader at BFA), road trips, movies, crafting and reading.

Kyle Schlenker

Drew Wunderlich

Halsley Hoff 

Business Manager

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Halsley loves being part of the Ben Franklin Academy family. She was involved with our PTO from the beginning initially serving as the Fundraising Coordinator and then as Secretary. She joined the BFA staff in November of 2012 working as the Business Assistant. In March 2015, she moved into the role of Business Manager.

She is a Colorado native and graduated from Fort Lewis College with a degree in Computer Science. Prior to BFA she worked as the Clinic/Grants & Contracts Manager at the Barbara Davis Center. In her free time, she enjoys watching her daughters play basketball, taking lots of pictures, and getting out to enjoy the beautiful Colorado outdoors with her family. Halsley also enjoys creating items for her Etsy shop – ColoCraftyMom.

Her oldest daughter was part of the first Kindergarten class at BFA that graduated in May 2020. Her youngest daughter began in BFA’s preschool and is excited to be in 8th grade this year.

Faculty Favorites

Adam Lucero

Treasurer

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Adam Lucero is the Treasurer of the BFA Board. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Construction Management from Colorado State University. Mr. Lucero has spent the last fourteen years working in the oil and gas construction industry, as well as the building construction industry. Currently, he manages the preconstruction group for Kiewit working on projects around the nation. Prior to joining the Board, he served on the BFA Board Nomination Committee. Adam represents the Board on the Finance Committee and the Facility Committee.