Meet Our Team

Harrie Bakst is the founding partner of WCPG, one of the leading philanthropic advisory companies in world. Bakst co-founded the company after surviving cancer, and has grown the company to a staff of 6 people.  With Harrie’s leadership and vision, WCPG was named by Fast Company in 2014 as  a Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Sports.
 
Harrie leads the corporate consulting division of  the company with clients such as Unilever, Fotografiska, NeueHouse, among others.  Additionally, Harrie heads up the sports department of the company and manages current client relationships with Pelé, Taste of the NFL, The USTA Foundation, James Blake, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Cycle for Survival,  Hackensack University Medical Center / New York Giants Tackle Kids Cancer, among others.  Over the years, Harrie has also represented and worked with some of the top names in sports and their respective foundations / philanthropic endeavors including: Pelé,Victor Cruz, Cam Newton, Cole Hamels, Mark Teixeria, CC Sabathia, Paul Pierce, Curtis Granderson, Tiki Barber, Alex Rodriquez and Meb Keflezighi, and corporate brands such as New Balance, Tag Heuer, Adidas, and Cola Cola Company.

Michael Balaoing, Esq. drives leaders to define who they are, what they stand for, and how to lift others as you rise. He is Founder and CEO of Candlelion LLC, a global consulting firm that advises the world’s largest companies, iconic brands, startups, investors, philanthropists, next-gen entrepreneurs, nonprofits and foundations. For 25 years, he has been an expert in strategic communications, leadership development, philanthropy and corporate responsibility. He has personally coached and trained more than 30,000 people across 100 companies and 500 nonprofits. Trained as a public interest attorney, he has been adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins University and New York University.

He has awarded over $500 million in grants and played key leadership roles in philanthropy: Council on Foundations (Board Secretary), Liberty Hill Foundation (Board Chairperson), California Volunteers (Chairperson), Philippine Development Foundation (Board Secretary), Women’s Philanthropy Institute (Advisory Council). As Senior Vice President at the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) for a decade, he reached millions of people on issues of education, health, military families, and youth. Michael has advised Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Award winners like George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Katie Couric, and the Black Eyed Peas; global media corporations such as Disney, Sony, Time/Warner, Fox and News Corp; and well-known initiatives like Stand Up To Cancer with Major League Baseball.

Born in Manila and raised in Los Angeles, Michael enrolled at Princeton University at age 16 and has taught students, faculty, and staff at a dozen campuses from Harvard and MIT to historically black colleges and universities. With a BA in International Relations from Princeton and JD from UCLA, his career and volunteer service have taken him to 300 cities, 50 countries, 45 U.S. states, and 6 continents.

With over 30 years in education working in both K-12 public education and the non-profit sector, Katherine Bihr EdD is the Co-Founder of Academic Solutions group, a consulting agency that provides strategy and coaching to educators worldwide.

Dr. Bihr’s expertise ranges from program development, leadership, and creating sustainable, equitable learning environments for youth. As the Vice President of Programs and Education for the TGR  Foundation, Bihr provided direction to the personnel, programs and operations that led to the development of the TGR Learning Lab and the Earl Woods Scholar Program while managing a multi-million dollar budget. Through this work, she realized the importance of sharing this work with
educators to improve organizational and student performance by designing TGR EDU: Create, a professional learning program and TGR EDU: Explore, a digital resource designed for educators to use with students. Prior to joining TGR Foundation, she was the principal of Vista View Middle School in Fountain Valley, CA.

Bihr was the 2019 Chair of the STEM Funders Network, a national organization providing resources and
professional learning to help teachers, parents and out-of-school providers better inspire and prepare youth in (STEM). She also serves on the board of directors for Project Tomorrow, which supports the innovative uses of science, math and technology resources in K-12 schools and communities; advises a variety of business leaders through an EdTech accelerator; and, provides coaching to non-profit leaders working in the sports and entertainment field. In addition, Dr. Bihr serves as adjunct faculty for the
Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

Lisa Borges serves as the Executive Director of the TB12 Foundation where she started in a consulting role in 2020.  As CEO and Founder of Anchor Foundation Consulting, Lisa also works with several nonprofit startups helping them build infrastructure and achieve long term sustainability. 

Prior to Anchor Foundation Consulting, Lisa served as Executive Director of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for over eighteen years where she was responsible for the overall leadership and strategic development of the organization.  

Serving on several nonprofit boards in a leadership capacity, Lisa has also been a guest speaker or presenter for multiple conferences, workshops and college level courses.  
 

Lisa earned a JD from New England School of Law and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Clark University.  

In addition, Lisa founded the Celebrity & Athlete Foundation Forum in Boston to build a network and share best practices in this specialized charitable community.

Over more than two decades in the non-profit field, Kristine Burton has been dedicated to enhancing the lives of young people who need it most. Currently, she serves as President and Chief Executive Officer for Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley in New York.  Kristine is responsible for all aspects of the non-profit charity, including all strategic, operational, fundraising and programming efforts, as well as board management and administrative matters.  

Prior to joining Make-A-Wish Hudson Valley in January 2022, Kristine served as the Vice President of Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams Foundation.  Under her leadership, Garden of Dreams grew to impact more than over 400,000 ill and underserved young people from the New York metropolitan area and included a diverse collection of signature events and programs. These include the Garden of Dreams Talent Show at Radio City Music Hall, the Inspire Scholarship program, which funds college tuitions for deserving students, and a capital grants program which provided over $8 million to refurbish and enhance dozens of community centers and hospitals in the tri-state area.  In addition, Kristine oversaw the successful development of several high-profile fundraising initiatives, including high profile comedy shows, concerts and fundraisers with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers.

Kristine began her role with MSG in 2001 as manager of public relations with MSG Network. She joined the corporate area in 2003 to help direct programming for the Cheering for Children Foundation, which was transformed into the Garden of Dreams Foundation in 2006.  

Prior to MSG, Ms. Burton spent over seven years with Special Olympics New York. In her last role as Director of Program, she worked with children and adults with intellectual disabilities, directing year-round training and athletic programs, including producing the largest one-day competition in New York City for over 1,000 athletes.

Ms. Burton is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo with a B.A. in Communications and minor in Public Relations.  She received a certificate from George Washington University School of Business in Sports Philanthropy in 2014 and currently serves as a faculty member with the Sports and Entertainment Impact Collective (SEIC) program.  

Dawna Callahan has been involved with adaptive sport professionally for 20+ years. Most recently she founded, All In Sport Consulting, a national adapted sport consulting group. Prior to starting her business, Dawna was the Director of Programs with the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF). Within the United States Olympic Committee, Paralympic Division, Dawna held positions in Sport Outreach and Development and the Paralympic Military Program. With both roles she played a vital role in growing and developing the Paralympic Movement across the United States. Callahan has also worked with national adapted sport organizations, Disabled Sports USA and Adaptive Sports USA.

In 2020, Dawna conceived of and presented the inaugural Adapted Sport Leadership & Business Symposium (LABS), a conference that connects leaders from the adapted sport industry and beyond for progressive sessions and meaningful conversations to advance the adapted sport movement and expand its impact. As a part of LABS, she led the first-ever economic impact study for the adapted sport industry.

At one time an internationally ranked wheelchair racer having competed in marathons across the country, Dawna placed fifth at the Boston Marathon in 2010. She completed her Master’s degree in Recreation Management at San Jose State while also completing graduate studies in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at San Francisco State. Dawna received an Executive Certificate in Sport Philanthropy at George Washington University. She enjoys skiing at Vail where her husband Dave is a ski instructor.

Shannon Fleg is Dine' of the Zuni-Edgewater Clan born for Towering House Clan, originally from Moenave, Arizona. She is a mother of four beautiful children, and a wife to Anthony (physician and author of Writing to Heal) has been a public health educator, facilitator, program planner/evaluator and cultural specialist for more than 20 years in the areas of health equity, health disparities, and issues/concerns effecting Native American Indian/Indigenous populations. Shannon serves as Co-Partnership Director for the Native Health Initiative, a love-funded organization addressing health inequities in the Southwest. She resides with her family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Mark Fraser is an NHL Alumni from Ottawa, Ontario. He played 14 years of professional hockey including six years in the NHL, playing for the New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers. 

Following the Black Lives Matter movement and a rising call for equality in the game of hockey, Mark rejoined the Toronto Maple Leafs as their Player Development lead for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 

Being the first to have such a role with an NHL club, Mark’s responsibilities range from creating ED&I training and education for players and team staff, connecting with equity seeking community partners in hockey, and ideating solutions to eliminate barriers, accelerate development and change lives as he works to change the culture of hockey from within. 

Cindy has extensive experience in fundraising, board training and corporate event production. She is currently a Major Gifts Officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and previously served as the Chief Development Officer for Clarke Schools for Hearing and Listening. 

Cindy has led a consulting firm focused on providing strategic advisement for clients - nonprofit organizations and philanthropic foundations - who have budgets up to $5 million. Smaller organizations compliment her skills, creativity, and expertise. Clients included Reconstructing Judaism, Games for Change and E-school for Girls.

Cindy has held senior development positions with national organizations including the Union of Reform Judaism, Got Your 6, Hadassah, and the Anti-Defamation League. She has also worked with the Beginning with Children Foundation and Hillels of Broward and Palm Beach.

Cindy holds a bachelor’ s degree from the University of Florida where she was a member of Florida Blue Key. Cindy is a former board member of Whole World Theater and A More Perfect Union.

Her professional passions focus on philanthropy and fashion. For over 15 years she has built a personal shopping business, The Cindy Goldberg Experience, with clients around the globe.

Bethany Rubin Henderson is an award-winning nonprofit CEO with over 2 decades of experience converting vision to impact. A visionary entrepreneur who moves fluidly between big picture strategy & micro-details, Bethany's career has criss-crossed the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She has founded multiple impact-oriented organizations and transformed the trajectory and impact of other nonprofits she has led.

Currently, Bethany serves as CEO of Compass, a national nonprofit that inspires, recruits, trains, and supports business professionals to provide in-depth pro bono consulting for community-based organizations. Prior to joining Compass, Bethany unified the affiliates of the youth development network America SCORES around a collective strategic vision and elevated that previously little-known organization into a highly-acclaimed international sports-and-arts-for-youth-development leader. As CEO of founding affiliate DC SCORES, she near-doubled the number of children it served while catapulting its reputation from DC's best-kept secret to DC's community partner of choice. Bethany's other previous endeavors include: helping lay the groundwork for My Brother's Keeper as a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration; founding an acclaimed local government service corps -- City Hall Fellows; trying intellectual property cases as a big firm litigator; and helping the City of New York figure out how to leverage the (then-brand-new) internet for public good.

Bethany's multiple leadership and social impact awards include being named a 2018 Excellence in Chief Executive Leadership honoree by the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, a 2017 Washington Business Journal Nonprofit Director of the Year, a 2012 White House Fellow, and a 2009 Echoing Green Fellow. An established thought leader, she frequently speaks and publishes about social impact topics. She is adjunct faculty at University of Maryland (where she teaches a graduate course on Social Entrepreneurship) and on the faculty of the Sports & Entertainment Impact Collective (where she teaches team management and communication). Bethany earned her JD at Harvard Law School and both her MA and BA (Phi Beta Kappa / summa cum laude) at the University of Pennsylvania. When not traveling the world or exploring rural America in their beater of an RV, Bethany and her husband live just outside Washington, D.C. with their two middle-school-aged daughters and an ever-expanding menagerie of pets.

Danielle Kie-Hopkins is of the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna and Diné from Tuba City, Arizona.  She is a certified pharmacy technician and has been a program leader In public health for many years focusing on health disparities that effect Native American/Indigenous communities. She currently is the logistics program coordinator for the Native Health Initiative's Running Medicine program. She resides with her loving and supportive husband in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Luis is a dynamic social impact leader with a passion for the greater good and bias for action.  He currently serves as Vice President of Community Impact for the Kansas City Royals and previously led global social impact efforts at Electronic Arts (EA).  Prior to EA, Luis led efforts to create Nike’s global social impact team and strategy – which has been recognized as an industry-leading approach and resulted in game-changing impact for communities where Nike employees work, live and play.   

​

Before joining Nike, Luis led corporate responsibility efforts at Walmart in Bentonville, AR.  Previous to that, Luis had the privilege of working at U.S. Embassies abroad and managing foreign aid as a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

Luis is a sport and play enthusiast. While his 5 ft. 8 in. frame and penchant for handballs doomed any hopes of football or soccer glory, he found solace on the tennis court and as an electronic artist – blowing away the competition in Madden and FIFA! These days, outside of work Luis can be found chasing his three kids around - Santiago (9), Camila (7) and Lucho (2) - and getting lapped by his wife Margaret on their (almost) daily runs. 

​

Luis holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, a Master’s of Education degree from Harvard University and a Master’s of Public Policy degree from Duke University. He is a board member for the Oregon-based NGO Adelante Mujeres and the Duke Alumni Association; and serves on faculty for the Sports & Entertainment Impact Collective and is on the advisory council for the NGO Athlete’s Voices.

Jenny’s career-long focus on outcomes for children in the legal system led to her role at the Steve Nash Foundation.  Following a clerkship with the U.S. District Court in Alaska, she served as project attorney to the Alaska Judicial Council, evaluating therapeutic and restorative justice initiatives, and as staff attorney to First Star in Washington, D.C., developing public policy-based initiatives and best practices to address legal issues for children underserved by systems responsible for their care, before joining Steve’s efforts in 2005.  Her past work on child welfare, legal rights for and representation of children in dependency informs her daily work at SNF, which also includes original program development for infants, children, youth and families. Jenny also represents SNF on the Board of Educare Arizona, part of the nation-wide Educare Learning Network.

Raised in Victoria, BC, and Brooklyn, NY, Jenny earned her B.A. at UC Berkeley, and her law degree at the American University Washington College of Law.  She is a member of the NY and MA Bars, and currently lives with her family in Anchorage, Alaska.

Shanell is Director of Community Relations and Executive Director at the D.C. United Foundation where she oversees the organization’s community and social responsibility strategy to help make the DMV a better place for future generations to come. She formerly served as Deputy Director of Sports Partnerships at UNICEF USA where she managed relationships with US sports leagues, teams and professional athletes dedicated to educating, advocating and fundraising to help the world’s most vulnerable children. With over 13 years in the sports philanthropy space, it is her personal mission to create social change and positive impact using sports. Shanell received her Bachelors from Bentley University and Masters from Northeastern University. Shanell also serves on faculty for the Sports & Entertainment Impact Collective and is on the board for the Bentley MOSAIC Alumni Council.

Sue is in her 30th season with the San Francisco Giants, having served as Executive Director of the Giants Community Fund since 1995. Under Sue’s management, the Fund and its Junior Giants Program have been the recipients of national industry awards such as the Major League Baseball Commissioner’s Award for Philanthropic Excellence, the ESPN Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Sports Award.

She has been a featured panelist at conferences, including the Sports Business Journal and Engage for Good, and serves on the selection committee for the Good Tidings Foundation Community Service Scholarship, the NBC Sports Bay Area All-Star Teacher Award and the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation’s Project Innovation grants program.

A Bay Area native and UC Berkeley graduate, she began her non-profit career with the San Francisco Education Fund.

Janice Simsohn Shaw is an adept, high-energy facilitator with 20+ years of experience helping foundation and social change leaders to be better partners, collaborators, listeners, and givers. She is a passionate and vocal advocate for the power of communal learning and action, helping staff teams, boards, coalitions, and other groups gain greater alignment, clarity, connection, and meaning in their work together.  Janice is a deep believer in the benefit of leadership development for the social change sector and has designed and led numerous such cohort-based programs.

Janice is proud to work as a facilitator, coach, and writer with a range of inspiring non-profit organizations, foundations, donor collectives, and social-change focused companies. She is a frequent trainer and speaker on facilitation, helping professionals with varied experience gain competence and confidence in making meetings, workshops, and all sorts of convenings engaging, effective, and enjoyable. Janice also supports nonprofit organizations with key leadership transitions through her work with executive search firm Good Insight. 

In the philanthropic sphere, Janice has designed and facilitated leadership development programs for Next Gen donors and executive directors. Her writing has been published on a range of topics including capacity building, investing in non-profit leaders, program-related investments, facilitation, and multi-generational philanthropy. Earlier in her career, Janice served the environmental field and the Jewish community, working directly for a number of non-profit organizations, and was both a journalist and fact-checker.

Janice studied at Skidmore College and Oxford University, and has benefited greatly from training with the Social Transformation Project, Rockwood, National Outdoor Leadership School, Interaction Institute for Social Change, Race Forward, Scaling Intimacy and the Center for Civic Reflection.

As Senior Director of Institutional Partnerships at Resilia, a technology platform with a human touch that helps nonprofit organizations increase capacity and enables funders that deploy billions of dollars to scale impact, Todd is responsible for overseeing enterprise relationships with foundations across the country. Todd brings more than eighteen (18) years of experience in the sports philanthropy sector, including running his own consulting practice for six years. Previously Vice President and Director of Programs, and current Consultant and Board Member of Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation, Todd also served as Managing Director for Weinstein Carnegie Philanthropic Group, as well as Co-Director of the Sports Philanthropy Executive Certificate at George Washington University School of Business, and Director of Business Development for Pledge It.

A graduate of Amherst College, Todd is a Masters of Education recipient from New York University

Lisa is a passionate social impact leader who has spent the last decade working with Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) to use sport to help youth recognize and reach their potential. Lisa currently serves as the Managing Director of MLSE LaunchPad, a large Sport For Development facility in downtown Toronto focused on combining sport, education and research to address social issues.  Prior to joining MLSE LaunchPad, Lisa worked with MLSE Foundation building purpose-driven partnerships and organizing large scale fundraising events for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and Toronto Argonauts.

Through her experience building strategic social investments and managing multi-sectoral collaborations, Lisa is a skilled leader in fundraising, partnerships and measuring and communicating impact. Lisa has a B.A. from the University of British Columbia, a Post Graduate Certificate in Fundraising Management from Humber College and an Executive Certificate in Sports Philanthropy from George Washington University.  

Amelia Williamson is the principal and chief strategist for AWA consults, a boutique social impact agency whose mission is to build bridges across philanthropy, community, and influence. AWA provides advising, organizational development and strategy building specializing in services for high impact individuals and organizations.  AWA has advised organizations such as the Ballmer Group, Times Up and the Weingart Foundation.

Before launching AWA, Williamson served as the President of the Magic Johnson Foundation whose mission is to provide resources, build participation, and inspire self- sufficiency in underserved communities. In 2014, inspired and supported by Mr. Johnson, Williamson made a commitment to realizing her own entrepreneurial aspirations.

Williamson’s career journey includes management roles for Junior Achievement of Southern California, the Girl Scouts of America and USC’s Center for Civic Culture and Religion where her work spanned across organizational strategy, fundraising, communications, and business development. Throughout her career Williamson has earned a reputation that still corresponds to her today, one that denotes a true professional who is able to maintain a fixed commitment to integrity and holistic excellence. Williamson is a strong advocate for social justice, the development of women and girls and equity in philanthropy.

A strong believer in service, Williamson serves on the executive committee for both the Liberty Hill Foundation and Chrysalis Board of Directors. Williamson is also a Trustee for the California Science Center and on the Board of Councilors for the USC Sol Price School of Policy. In 2018 Williamson was appointed by the Mayor to the Los Angeles oversight commission for measure HHH, a measure to issue $1.2 billion in bonds to fund affordable housing and most recently has been appointed to Measure H, Oversight Commission by Supervisor Holly Mitchell.

Williamson graduated cum laude from Wilberforce University in Ohio and has a bachelor’s degree in mass media communications. She also holds a master’s degree in organizational development with an emphasis in leadership from Antioch University.