Our Team

erin-beth carter

Erin-Beth has been a longtime advocate for a quality education for children and adults. She received her B.G.S. from McNeese State University then completed her M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction. She recently completed her Montessori Infant/Toddler certification from the Center for Guided Montessori Studies.

Since 2008, Erin-Beth has worked in various environments in both the independent and public sectors of education in southwest Louisiana. She has served as a classroom teacher, ontological coaching apprentice, corporate trainer in hospitality and Montessori administrator and assistant guide.

Erin-Beth believes that education is the foundation for personal growth and that exploring how we are called to serve is the door that leads to all other doors in our life. “Learning to be” is the cornerstone of discovering how we will change the world! Erin-Beth loves trips to Texas hill country with family, running to good music and reading with her girls.

Garrett Carter

Garrett, a natural problem solver, spends most of his weekends working on new projects.  From designing and building a sun room for their home to creating numerous pieces of furniture for his daughters, he is always learning by doing.  

He graduated from McNeese State University in Business Management and later completed his MBA. He has excelled in various industries including Oil & Gas, Hospitality & Gaming, and Residential & Commercial Real Estate.  With his wide range of interests, Garrett thrives in cultures where research and development are top priority.

He is always curious! He aims to create experiences for his daughters where they can ask lots of questions and engage in meaningful activities. He says that, “By asking questions, we can unlock doors to new ways of thinking we did not know existed.”

Jeff Sandefer

Jeff Sandefer lives a dual life as an entrepreneur and a Socratic Guide. As an entrepreneur, he founded his first company at age 16 and went on to found or co-found seven successful businesses. As a Socratic teacher at the University of Texas, Jeff’s students five times voted him the school’s Outstanding Teacher and Businessweek named him one of the top Entrepreneurship professors in America.

Jeff went on to co-found the Acton School of Business, an MBA program perennially ranked by the Princeton Review among the best in the nation. In 2012 The Economist honored him as one of the top fifteen Business School professors in the world.

Jeff is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he served for over twenty years on the school’s governing committees. He was a longtime director of the Philanthropy Roundtable and National Review magazine and one of the youngest members ever elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

laura sandefer

Laura lived on both US coasts and in between as a child, then settled into Vanderbilt University for her undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Science. After being awarded the highly competitive Walter Wattles Fellowship at Lloyd’s of London, Laura worked in the aviation insurance industry in New York City.

Deciding to follow her calling into the world of education, Laura returned to Nashville and earned her Master of Education at Peabody College. This led her to her work at the Oklahoma Arts Institute, creating fine arts education programs for teachers and talented high school students.

Laura married Jeff Sandefer and is the happy mother of Sam and Charlie and step-mother to Taite. It is the inspiration of these children that led Laura and Jeff to co-found Acton Academy.

Her greatest hero is her mother who was a Master Teacher. Her wisest mentor is her father who sent her off to college with two words of advice: "Be curious."