The Team Behind the Mission

A group of experienced practitioners committed to making financial transparency practical, scalable, and real.

Meet The Team

Suzanne Smith

Suzanne Smith, Founder and CEO of Accountable Partners, is advancing Grassroots FinTech -bringing financial inclusion to the organizations doing the work on the ground. With nearly 30 years in international development across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, she identified a consistent barrier: community-based organizations were often excluded from funding not due to lack of capability, but because they lacked the financial infrastructure to demonstrate accountability.
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That insight led to the creation of Accountable Partners and Lychee, a platform designed to make financial transparency simple, real-time, and scalable. By equipping grassroots organizations with accessible tools and giving donors clear visibility into fund usage, her work is helping unlock more effective, localized funding and establish a new standard for accountability in global development.

Rus Ackner

Rus Ackner is a marketing strategist and advisor with 25+ years of experience driving growth through positioning, performance, and executive execution. As founder of Torch Group, he has built and refined marketing engines across SaaS, fintech, healthcare, and professional services, serving as a CMO, fractional leader, and strategic advisor. Known for his clarity, candor, and ability to cut through noise, his approach blends rigor with creativity - grounded in a human-first mindset that prioritizes what actually drives results.

Maria Sibley

Maria, owner of Balanced Bookkeeping LLC, serves as technical advisor, bringing over 20 years of cross-industry experience in finance and operations. She specializes in helping small businesses and community organizations use clear, practical accounting systems to make better decisions. Her “On Time Operational Bookkeeping” approach focuses on simplicity and real-world usability, ensuring financial management supports—rather than hinders—mission-driven work. Her emphasis on accessibility and insight aligns directly with the goal of empowering organizations through straightforward, effective financial tools.

Calvin Strope

Calvin is focused on expanding access to high-quality education through technology and learning science. With a background in Mathematics from the Colorado School of Mines, he brings both technical expertise and a deep interest in how people learn. He has developed tools to help individuals better manage student debt and now advises on translating in-person training into scalable e-learning experiences, leading technical implementation and applying best practices in digital education.

Get Involved

Help Build a New Chapter of Financial Inclusion

Grassroots organizations around the world are doing critical work in their communities, yet many still operate outside the financial systems that fund global development.

Accountable Partners is building the infrastructure to change that.

If you are a donor, partner organization, foundation, or community leader interested in supporting this work, we welcome a conversation.

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