Foundation Board of Directors

Mark Peterson currently serves as corporate vice president and general counsel of Edwards Lifesciences. He is a former longtime partner with O’Melveny & Myers LLP, an international law firm, where he focused on corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and corporate governance matters.

Peterson began his legal career in 1991 with O’Melveny and later served as general counsel and chief legal officer for three different companies from 1997 to 2011. He returned to O’Melveny in 2011 as a partner and remained there until 2025.

In addition to serving on the USA Volleyball Foundation board, Peterson has served as a board member for the public company Meade Instruments, as well as the South Coast Repertory Theater, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, the Forum for Corporate Directors, and the UCI Audit Committee Roundtable. He is also an adjunct professor in the MBA program at UC Irvine. Peterson earned a BS in accounting from BYU in 1988 and a JD from Cal in 1991.

Marin Gjaja is the chief strategy officer at Ford Motor Company and currently serves as vice chair of the USA Volleyball Foundation. He is a former chairman of the board for the First Point Volleyball Foundation and previously served as chief operating officer of Ford Model e, Ford’s electric vehicle division, where he was accountable for leading all aspects of the business, including profit and loss.

Gjaja is also a former senior partner and managing director with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Chicago, where he led BCG’s system of offices in the U.S. Midwest and served on the North America Leadership Team.

A 1991 graduate of Princeton University, he played both football and volleyball and was a three-time volleyball All-American. Gjaja has 35 years of experience as a player and coach, including roles with Adversity, Chicago Bounce, Boston University men’s volleyball, and Seaside Volleyball Club.

Scott Fortune is a former equity research analyst with ROTH Capital Partners, an investment banking firm that raised more than $60 billion for small-cap companies and completed more than 350 merger, acquisition, and advisory assignments.

Before his time with ROTH, he worked as a portfolio manager and research analyst for Magee Thomson Investment Partners and also contributed to the international fund at Duncan-Hurst Capital Management. Earlier in his career, Fortune was the founder and vice president of finance at the start-up firm nTrusted.

Before transitioning to finance and investment, Fortune played professional volleyball for 10 years. A three-time Olympian with the U.S. Men’s National Team, he earned a gold medal in 1988 and a bronze in 1992, and he served as captain of the 1992 Olympic team.

Since 1988, he has contributed to USA Volleyball in various committee roles, including the Finance & Budget, Audit, and Nominating & Governance Committees, serving for a total of 16 years. He also represented volleyball on the USOC Athlete Advisory Council for four years. Fortune holds an MBA from the University of San Diego and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Stanford University.

Bruce Lincoln is the former president and treasurer of the First Point Volleyball Foundation and the new vice chair of the USA Volleyball Foundation. He also serves as president of Innervizion Surf Company. Lincoln is a director and chair of the Audit Committee at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

Previously, he was director of real estate at LFM Inc., where he managed a commercial real estate portfolio in Arizona and Hawaii and oversaw corporate accounting. He has also held various accounting and financial management positions at Arizona Public Service Company. Lincoln and his wife, Christy, have four children, three of whom played volleyball.

Wade Garard is the chief advancement officer for USA Volleyball and president of the USA Volleyball Foundation. He is the former CEO and co-founder of the First Point Volleyball Foundation. Prior to that, he owned CRG Fundraising Counsel, where he planned, organized and managed 42 capital campaigns for colleges, athletic departments, and Greek organizations over the course of two and a half decades. Garard also served as executive cirector of the Phi Kappa Psi Foundation, an educational foundation with 20 employees and $38 million in assets.

Stacie Kearns is the chief financial officer for USA Volleyball and serves as treasurer of the USA Volleyball Foundation. Before joining USA Volleyball, she worked as the controller at Imperial Casino Hotel. Kearns is a graduate of the UNLV Lee Business School.

Rachael Stafford serves as general counsel for USA Volleyball and as secretary of the USA Volleyball Foundation. She is the former general counsel of USA Archery and previously worked as a staff attorney at Casbr.

Bill Andrew is a philanthropist and executive producer at WonderWorld Wide. He served as executive producer of the Netflix hit films Christmas Chronicles and Christmas Chronicles II. He is affiliated with the Andrew Family Corporation and the Andrew Family Foundation and is also a limited partner with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Doug Beal played on the U.S. Men’s National Team from 1970 to 1976 and served as the team’s head coach from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1994 to 2004. He led the team to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in 1984. He also coached Mediolanum in Milan for two seasons, winning the FIVB Championship in 1990. Beal has been inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the Harold T. Friermood Award, USA Volleyball’s highest honor. From 2005 to 2016, he served as CEO of USA Volleyball.

Kenneth Bethune is the managing partner of Coastal Bend Distilling Company, a craft distillery based in Beeville, Texas, which produces Live Oak Vodka and Lucky Star Gin and sources Col. Fannin’s Kentucky Whiskey. He also serves as a managing partner at Bethune, Dye & Enright PLLC and is general counsel for BBB Oil & Gas, LTD. Bethune is a First Point board member and a shareholder of Sutton United F.C.

His past roles in education and athletics include serving as athletic director at Coastal Bend College, assistant volleyball coach at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School, club director of Oklahoma Velocity Volleyball Club, and head volleyball coach at Mount St. Mary Catholic High School.

Brook Billings is the founder of Billings Beach Homes and is recognized as one of Strand Hill Properties’ top brokers in Southern California. His professional network includes commercial and private real estate investment groups, personal financial planners, and one of South Bay’s leading private mortgage companies.

An Olympian, he was a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2002 to 2009. He played professionally for 14 years in 10 different countries before recently retiring from competition.

Don Brewster is the deputy general counsel at Pennymac Financial Services, Inc., where he is responsible for a wide range of regulatory matters related to consumer financial services and both state and federal relations impacting mortgage origination and lending operations. With 30 years of experience in the housing finance industry, Brewster has held roles in risk management, compliance, general real estate, and marketing. He is also a First Point board member.

Brewster holds a B.A. from Stanford University, where he was a varsity volleyball athlete, and earned his law degree from the University of Minnesota.

Howard Buff is the chairman and founder of Revive Health, a company dedicated to providing simple, affordable and accessible healthcare. He is also chairman, CEO and Managing Partner of BuffCo Holdings, Inc. and served as founder, CEO, and vice chairman of Citra Health Solutions from 2012 to 2020.

Prior to that, Buff held senior executive roles at UnitedHealth Group from 2003 to 2012. Over more than two decades, he has led across multiple areas of healthcare and financial services with organizations including UnitedHealth Group, Paychex, and Insperity. At Paychex, he held executive positions in operations, sales, product and innovation, marketing, strategy and business development, finance, and technology services. His final roles at Paychex included president of Paychex Insurance Company and senior executive of Paychex Business Solutions and Retirement Services. At Insperity, he had senior executive responsibility for health and welfare, property and casualty, retirement services, and human resources.

Buff and his wife, Kim, are dedicated to improving outcomes for children with cancer and are strong supporters of Momcology, a national nonprofit founded by Kim. Momcology provides peer support and community for families affected by childhood cancer through both online and in-person programming.

Mitchell Casteel is the CEO of Tournaments, Inc. and a board member of First Point. His coaching career began as an assistant coach at the University of Texas, followed by a head coaching position at Baylor University. He later became the club director of Houston Juniors Volleyball Club, where he established the organization as one of the premier volleyball clubs in the nation. Casteel also pioneered the first full-time junior volleyball training center in Texas. More recently, he has served as a volunteer assistant coach at Cal State Bakersfield.

Sarah Conklin is a creative professional and former Division I athlete who has been a leading advocate for the development of boys volleyball in North Carolina. She is the founder and director of the North Carolina Boys Volleyball Association (NCBVA), serves as the Boys Representative on the Carolina Region USA Volleyball Board, and has been a coach for more than 17 years. Conklin is one of the key figures driving the expansion of high school boys volleyball both within North Carolina and across the country.

Inspired by the impact the sport has had on her own sons, she is passionate about creating access for athletes nationwide. She also serves on the Dottie Rose Board, which works to close the gender gap in technology for young women. Additionally, Conklin is an entrepreneur and podcaster in commercial real estate and CRE technology. She co-chairs the First Point National Committee to Grow High School Boys Volleyball.

Colleen Craig is the owner and general manager of the Atlanta Vibe franchise in the Pro Volleyball Federation and formerly served on the board of First Point Volleyball Foundation. She is the co-founder and CEO of Rally Volleyball. A former Division I volleyball player and dual-sport athlete at Cornell University, Craig also holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. Most recently, she was the founder and COO of the global hedge fund Ardea Capital Management. Previously, she served as head of strategy for Soros Fund Management and as partner and CFO at ApolloMD, one of the largest healthcare companies in the United States.

Kathy DeBoer is the chair of the LOVB Foundation and served as the executive director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) from 2006 to 2023. During her tenure, AVCA membership grew from 3,200 to 8,800 members. She was instrumental in securing a $150,000 seed grant for First Point Volleyball Foundation and led efforts to add beach volleyball as an NCAA emerging sport, which eventually became an NCAA championship sport. DeBoer holds a bachelor’s degree in humanities from Michigan State University, where she played both volleyball and basketball. She has 23 years of experience as a coach and administrator in intercollegiate athletics.

Mark Edwards is the founder and former managing director of Bioscience Advisors, which served the biopharma industry with an alliance database from 2011 to 2024. He previously worked as a senior partner at Deloitte from 2008 to 2010 and was the founder and managing director of Recombinant Capital from 1988 to 2008, a consulting and database firm that was later acquired by Deloitte.

A lifelong volleyball player, Edwards has played indoor, grass and sand volleyball for over 40 years and coached boys high school volleyball for 10 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science in 1979 and an MBA in 1983, both from Stanford University. He serves on the boards of the Scripps Research Institute, AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, and ProLynx.

Felonta Evans is a member of the USA Volleyball Foundation board of directors and currently serves as a local banking president in the Dallas-Fort Worth market for Prosperity Bank, a $33 billion regional bank headquartered in Houston, Texas.

A former collegiate basketball player at Grambling State University, Evans earned his degree in accounting and has had a 26-year progressive career in the banking industry. At Prosperity Bank, his responsibilities include staff management, community involvement and growing the bank’s consumer, small business and mid-sized business portfolios.

Prior to Prosperity, Evans worked at both regional and local banks and spent 12 years at JP Morgan Chase, where he won three Presidential Sales Awards and was part of the first National RM Leadership Council.

Mark Fishman is the founder and chairman of Building Brilliant Futures and Beach Nation, the official beach education partner for much of the volleyball world. He was also a board member of First Point Volleyball Foundation. Fishman has 38 years of experience in the investment management industry and currently manages his family office.

Most recently, he served as CEO and CIO of Aesir Capital Management, an equity and fixed-income investment platform managing approximately $1.2 billion. He has spent the past decade coaching professional beach volleyball players such as Reid Priddy, Theo Brunner, Casey Patterson, Stafford Slick, Todd Rogers and Amanda Dowdy. Fishman has also been a club founder and assistant commissioner.

Dave Gentile is the chair of USA Volleyball and serves as an ex officio member of the USA Volleyball Foundation Executive Committee. He is a senior executive, business advisor and national healthcare industry consultant with a track record of creating strategic vision, sustainable growth and shareholder value. Gentile is the managing partner of LifeCare Strategic Services, LLC and serves on the board of Ocean State Healthcare. His previous roles include senior advisor at HealthScape Advisors, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, and COO of Trisource.

Kelly Goodsel is the former CEO and owner of Viking Plastics and a member of the ownership group VPI Acquisition, LLC. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees in plastic engineering and sales and marketing from Ferris State University, as well as an MBA from Temple University. Goodsel has coached high school volleyball at Corry High School in Pennsylvania, where he led the team to a state championship in 2016 and to the state title game again in 2024.

He and his spouse, Pat Goodsel—who also played volleyball at St. Cloud State—have four children, all of whom played college volleyball. Together, they run Volleytots and middle school volleyball camps in Corry, Pennsylvania. Goodsel was also one of the three founding officers of First Point Volleyball, alongside John Speraw and Wade Garard.

Mick Haley spent 17 years as head coach of the USC women’s volleyball team, becoming the winningest coach in program history. He was recognized as the AVCA National Coach of the Year, Volleyball Magazine National Coach of the Year, and twice as PAC-12 Conference Coach of the Year. Prior to USC, Haley spent 17 years as head women’s coach at the University of Texas, where he won two national championships. He began his coaching career with the men’s program at Kellogg Community College. Haley is a member of multiple halls of fame, including the AVCA and Ball State Halls of Fame.

Don Hutchinson is one of two owners of Indy Ignite, the new professional women’s volleyball team in Indianapolis, Indiana, which played its inaugural match on January 11, 2025, as part of the Pro Volleyball Federation. He is the managing director of institutional advisory services at Goelzer Investment Management. Over the past 30 years, Hutchinson has held various leadership roles and has been active in the central Indiana business community. He has also been involved in volleyball for more than 25 years as both a player and coach.

Edward Keller is the co-founder and CEO at Smart Science Education, Inc., an innovated online education solution delivering real science labs over the internet.

Keller is currently coaching U.S. beach volleyball teams on the Volleyball World Beach Tour. He has played in several AVP tournaments and is known as a devoted beach volleyball superfan, traveling the world to attend Beach Pro Tour and AVP events.

Keller holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Brown University.

Glen Lietzke is the founder of Austin Juniors Volleyball Club, which has produced more than 500 college volleyball players and operates three multi-million-dollar facilities. He created well-known events such as the 3rd Coast Volleyball Championships, the Lone Star Classic, and the Tour of Texas Power League. The Mizuno Lone Star Classic has become the largest qualifier in the country, with 1,600 teams and 15,000 participants. Lietzke previously served as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and as an assistant coach for the University of Texas women’s volleyball team. He was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Stew McDole is in his 38th season as head coach of the Graceland University women’s volleyball program, where he has accumulated more than 900 career wins. A 1965 graduate of Graceland, he later earned both a master’s and a doctorate in leisure studies from Indiana University. McDole served two years as director of athletics at Graceland and chaired the board of governors of the Heart of America Athletic Conference during that time.

He served as a USA Volleyball board member for 10 years, corporate treasurer for 15 years, and executive vice president for four years. He was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1986. McDole also served for 18 years on the board of directors of the American Volleyball Coaches Association as the NAIA representative and was a member of the AVCA executive committee.

Edwin Moses is one of the most accomplished athletes of our generation. An Olympic champion, sports administrator, diplomat and businessman, Moses is widely respected for his contributions both on and off the track. A physicist by training from Morehouse College, he is known for applying science to perfect his performance in the 400-meter hurdles. He won Olympic gold in 1976 and 1984 and went unbeaten from 1977 to 1987, winning 122 consecutive races. Moses became a leading force behind the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and served as chairman of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. His son, Julian, played volleyball at Lewis University and professionally in Spain.

Lisa Mullen is the CEO and managing partner of Drov Technologies, a leader in smart truck and trailer movement technology. The company is developing AirBoxOne, which dynamically adjusts trailer tire pressure based on load. Mullen became involved with Drov when a group of investors acquired the company and decided to completely re-engineer its products. She is an early investor in LOVB and a former chair of the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra.

Mullen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. She is married to Greg Mullen, who owns a wealth management firm, and they have two daughters who play club volleyball in Oklahoma.

Jenn Palilonis is the director of the Center for Emerging Media Design and Development at Ball State University. She holds a Ph.D. in human-computer interaction from the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing. Palilonis led the team that developed First Point Volleyball Foundation’s nationwide storytelling campaign and is the author of two books: A Practical Guide to Graphics Reporting and The Multimedia Journalist. She received the National Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year Award in 2013.

Her spouse, Jim Palilonis, is head coach of the Northern Kentucky men’s volleyball team. She was also one of the founding board members of First Point Volleyball Foundation.

Gordan Redzic is the former chief product and technology officer at OnMed and former CTO of CareScout, a division of GenWorth. He is also an owner and partner of VolleyballMag.com. Redzic previously served as CTO of daVinci Payments and as vice president of product development at Sleep Number from 2014 to 2018. Earlier in his career, he was director of product management at Paylocity.

Redzic holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago, where he founded and served as president of the club volleyball team. He also earned a master’s degree in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he also played on the club volleyball team. Redzic coaches both of his sons, who play club volleyball, in middle and high school.

Izell Reese is the chief executive officer of RCX Sports and the executive director of NFL FLAG. A seven-year NFL veteran, Reese is driven to make youth sports more accessible and inclusive by partnering with the nation’s largest sports leagues – NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and MLS – to empower youth athletes of all backgrounds to “Play with the Pros.”

Reese’s impact has been most prolific in the flag football arena, where he was recently named a 2023 NFL FLAG Global Ambassador and has grown participation to more than 600,000 youth nationwide. His passion also extends to the local level, where he has been instrumental in paying it forward to the next generation of athletes in his hometown by spearheading grassroots initiatives.

Andy Reitinger is the chief executive officer and president of VSTAR, a sports event planning company. He is also the president of Club Sports of North Texas, Inc., a nonprofit youth sports organization. Reitinger has served on various boards and committees, including the USA Volleyball Board of Directors, where he was the former chair of the USA Volleyball Governance Committee. He is also the current chair of the Regional Volleyball Association Assembly as well as the current commissioner and president of the North Texas Region of USA Volleyball.

Reitinger has been married to his wife, Vicki, for 32 years, and they have three children. He lives in New Hope, Texas, where he serves on the town council as mayor.

Cecile Reynaud is the vice president for volleyball operations at Pro Volleyball Federation.

Dr. Reynaud spent 26 seasons as head coach at Florida State University until her retirement in 2001, yet remained a coaching mentor for many outside of the Seminole program. She has lent her skills to USA Volleyball on many occasions, serving as a member of USA Volleyball’s Coaching Accreditation Program teaching cadre and on USA Volleyball’s Board of Directors for more than 19 years, including from 2020–2022 when she served as chair.

She is a member of the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame and received the organization’s highest honor, the Frier Award, in 2016. Reynaud also served as president of the American Volleyball Coaches Association from 1989-1990.

Kenny Rogers spearheads First Point’s initiatives to grow boys high school volleyball. He is the former CEO of Fulfillment Fund, a nonprofit focused on making college a reality for students growing up in under-resourced communities. He also served as executive director of the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Rogers graduated from Princeton University after being a two-time Ivy League MVP and earned a master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He co-chairs First Point’s National Committee to Grow High School Boys Volleyball.

Danielle Scott is the head of pro talent acquisition at League One Volleyball and serves as president of the Louisiana chapter of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Alumni Association. She is also a member of USA Volleyball’s Athlete Advisory Council.

Scott played an incredible 19 seasons for the U.S. Women’s National Team and sustained excellence at the highest level. She is the only indoor volleyball player – male or female – from the Americas to have participated in five Olympic Games and one of only six in the world. Scott’s career also included four FIVB World Cup appearances, three FIVB World Championships selections, and 11 FIVB World Grand Prix tournaments.

She has been inducted into multiple halls of fame, including the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016 and the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Josh Silverman is the chief executive officer of Etsy, where he leads the company in building a platform that empowers creative entrepreneurs around the world. He has two decades of leadership experience, including growing consumer technology companies and scaling global marketplaces.

Silverman is a former board member of the First Point Volleyball Foundation. He previously served as president of consumer products and services at American Express, CEO of Skype, CEO of Shopping.com, and held various executive roles at eBay. He co-founded Evite, Inc., where he also served as CEO. He is currently on the board of directors of Shake Shack.

John Speraw is the president and chief executive officer of USA Volleyball. He served as head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2013 to 2024 and was head coach of UCLA men’s volleyball from 2012 to 2024.

He led the Men’s National Team to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and a gold medal at the 2015 FIVB World Cup. Speraw joined the U.S. Men’s staff in 2007 under head coach Hugh McCutcheon, and in 2008 the team won gold at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

As head coach at UCLA, he led the Bruins to two NCAA national championships in 2023 and 2024. Previously, he was the head coach at UC Irvine, where he won three national championships. He has been part of 11 NCAA men’s championship teams.

Speraw was also the co-founder of the First Point Volleyball Foundation.

Megan Sweeney currently works for a private family on their philanthropic efforts in the greater Los Angeles area. Her primary focus is partnering with public and charter schools, as well as nonprofits that support underserved communities across Los Angeles.

Prior to this role, she spent a decade working in independent schools in the Bay Area, most notably at Crystal Springs Uplands School, where she held a variety of roles including chief of staff, director of development, and director of parent engagement.

Sweeney holds a bachelor’s degree in sports management with a finance focus from Loyola University Chicago.

David Vacarro is a founding partner and chief operating officer at Fernbridge Capital Management. Previously, he was a trader at Viking Global Investments, a New York-based multi-billion dollar hedge fund, and vice president at Goldman Sachs.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth University and holds both a J.D. and MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Business.

While at Dartmouth, Vacarro played football and also helped establish men’s volleyball as a Division I sport.

Corey Warner is the chief executive officer of Lake Jem Farms, a sod farm based in Florida. Lake Jem Farms grows and installs sod and builds sports fields and landscaping projects. Warner created American Athletic Club, which began as a baseball club and has since evolved into a girls volleyball program. He is also a board member of the Warner Family Foundation.