Betty Petty is a founder of orthopedic joint implant company, Exactech, which grew from a $400,000 banknote and a prayer to a value of over $40 million when she, her husband Bill, and a bioengineer took the company public in 1996. The founders continued to run the public company, expanding it to distributorships in more than thirty countries by the time it was purchased by private equity in 2018 for over $700 million. In the course of building the company Betty held a number of roles over the years: board member, corporate secretary, vice president of human resources, administration and facility development, and director of marketing and communications.

Betty received her B.A. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and her M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University. She began her career as a teacher of English in high schools and junior colleges in Arkansas, Texas, Minnesota, and Florida. She and Bill have lived in Gainesville, Florida since 1975.

Betty and Bill are parents of three children and are blessed with seven grandchildren. Having long supported local organizations focused on youth development opportunities, they were intrigued by the Zoe Empowers story. In 2019  they visited Rwanda where the children captured their hearts. Witnessing Epiphanie’s vision, strength and execution exceeded the limits of their imaginations. The visit reinforced their commitment to Zoe. They’ve often spoken of how such a program of responsibility and empowerment could be beneficial for the youth of many countries including the United States.