Collin is Director of Operations at DiscNY, a 501(c)3 nonprofit disc organization operating in the greater NYC area which also serves as USA Ultimate’s state-based organization for New York State (NY Ultimate). Before becoming a full-time organizer in 2018, Collin served on local disc organization boards, organized leagues and tournaments, coached college and high school programs, and played plenty of club ultimate – all for no money. He still does all of that – and more – sometimes for money. Collin lives and plays in the Long Island Ultimate community and wishes all ultimate could be played on sand.

Jeff has been playing and organizing ultimate for over 25 years. Over the last three years, he has been working to start the middle school level of play in Colorado, while also coaching a middle school team. Right now, Colorado’s Front Range has approximately 15 middle schools with established teams, and the number continues to grow. Jeff is also a board member of Altitude Youth Ultimate/Colorado Ultimate and serves as co-events director.

Colin (she/her) is the Adult Event Manager at DiscNW, a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Seattle, Wash. DiscNW is the main organizer for adult and youth leagues and tournaments in and around the Puget Sound Region. Colin has been playing ultimate since 2008, when she got her start through a DiscNW hat league. The sport has been a major part of her life over the past 14 years, from DiscNW team leagues, mixed club, masters club and grand masters club. Prior to joining DiscNW, Colin spent the 11 years working as a pastry chef in various Seattle restaurants. She is very happy to be able to put her love of organization and logistics to work serving the Northwest ultimate community.

Daron Byerly is the first board chair of the newly formed not-for-profit Vermont Ultimate, co-founder of Green Mountain Disc Alliance, Club Sectional Coordinator for West New England mixed and women’s divisions, and a USAU-certified tournament director. He is the co-coach of University of Vermont Ruckus and enjoys playing with and sometimes against longtime friends at the Masters Championships on the beach and on grass.

After completing a PhD in sociology at the University of Notre Dame, Jay moved to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 1972 and began doing research on sports, culture and society, with much attention given to the play, games and sport participation of young people. In particular, he has studied the ways that young people make sense of their physical activities and integrate them into their lives, and how adults might use the perspectives of young people to organize sport programs. Coakley was the founding editor of the Sociology of Sport Journal, and his book, Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies, now in its 13th edition (2021), is the most widely used text in the world. It has been adapted for students in Canada, UK/Europe, Australia and Southern Africa, and translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish. Coakley is an internationally respected scholar, author and journal editor and has received many teaching, service and professional awards. Additionally, he continues to work with many advisory and policy-making groups to make sport participation a source of enjoyment and development for young people and to make sports more accessible, humane and participant-centered for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

Libby is a recent transplant to Fort Collins, Colo., from the Philadelphia/NJ ultimate scene, but she spent most of her adult life in the Austin ultimate community after starting out as a youth player in Houston, Texas. She is currently serving on the Altitude Youth Ultimate and Fort Collins Ultimate Boards, but has been coaching and organizing ultimate for approximately 15 years and has worn many hats in different communities, including youth director, summer camp director, state championship tournament director, etc. She is an advocate for growing the number of girl-matching players (and spoke on this topic at the 2020 USAU Convention) and has been a long-time girls’ outreach coordinator for the Girls’ Ultimate Movement. Partnering with community members and other organizations has been essential to her ability to run successful programming. When away from the ultimate field, she works as a pediatric speech-language pathologist, and her partner, Michael, is also an ultimate player.

Denise has been involved in organizing youth ultimate events for Triangle Ultimate since 2014. In 2022, she became the organization’s operations director.

Hether is a self-proclaimed governance geek who provides coaching for nonprofit and cooperative boards. She supports boards with governance, leadership development, retreat facilitation and equity work, and offers a variety of board education trainings, both virtually and in person. She is a longtime board member and board chair of People’s Food Co-op in Kalamazoo, and Can-Do Kalamazoo (a business incubator) where she continues to learn and grow as a director. She has worked with Kalamazoo Ultimate Youth Ultimate League and other local nonprofits and provides ongoing support for five cooperative grocery boards throughout the country. Hether also has a deep appreciation for ultimate; she enjoys both playing and watching!

Jade is a Colorado native who has been immersed in all aspects of HR throughout her professional career. She’s experienced in employee relations, labor relations, full-cycle recruiting, DEI, payroll, benefit administration, performance management and change management. Jade has worked within defense, medical, logistics and National Governing Body (NGB) communities within Colorado Springs. Jade is passionate about partnering with organizations to foster DEI, engagement, retention, and mental well-being at work.

Piers has dedicated his career to using the science of psychology to help people unlock their full potential, perform under pressure, and thrive through adversity. Piers has over a decade of experience supporting individuals and teams in high-risk occupations (military, first responders, and healthcare professionals), elite and collegiate athletes and coaches, and corporate leaders and teams. In addition to his personal practice, Piers works as a Mindset Coach for Finding mastery – teaming-up with Olympians and world-renowned psychologist Dr. Michael Gervais to help people find their best. A Colorado native, Piers spent 11 years living and working on the west coast from Southern California to Seattle, Wash., before returning to his home state where he currently lives with his family.

Bernie is the head of HR at USA Volleyball and has over 15 years of progressive HR experience. She’s experienced in employee relations, labor relations, performance management, benefits, compensation, recruitment, safety and DEI. She’s served in numerous industries, including wealth management and health care, and she served 25 years in the Air National Guard. Bernie has served in HR roles in both the U.S. and
Canada.

Her passions are hiking, skiing and, of course, her family (Bruce and fur baby, Chunk).

Jayme has more than 15 years of experience in communications, with roles in the U.S. Olympic Movement, higher education, healthcare and print journalism. In 2021, Jayme launched Brevitas Communications, where she works as a consultant and contractor for several clients, including The Broadmoor, USA Pickleball, the Colorado Springs Airport, Windstar Studios and USA Triathlon. During a 12-year span at USA Triathlon, she served as the Director of Communications and editor-in-chief of USA Triathlon Magazine and oversaw print and digital communications, public relations, email marketing, social media, digital platforms, content and creative services. Outside of work, Jayme enjoys trail running, gardening, reading and adventures with her husband and two young children, Declan (6) and Cassidy (4). Her website is brevitascommunications.com.

Brian is a member of the Ultimate Hall of Fame and has served as legal counsel for several sports organizations over the years. He graduated from Bucknell University in 1977 with a degree in history and obtained his law degree from Fordham University School of Law in New York in 1989. Brian began his career with the law firm of Holland & Hart in 1989, where he was an associate for six years. He joined Flynn McKenna & Wright in the spring of 1995 and became a partner there in 1996.

In 2004, Brian opened his own firm, The Law Offices of Brian T. Murphy, specializing in real estate and business law. Brian serves his community through pro bono work and volunteer activities. He has provided legal services for the Colorado Springs Friends Meeting, Manitou Art Center, USA Ultimate, and other non-profit organizations. He served on the board of the Colorado Springs Symphony, Opera Theatre of the Rockies, the Manitou Art Center, and the Colorado Springs Ultimate Network. He also served on the Historic Preservation Commission for Manitou Springs, chairing for 3 years.

Ross is currently the Youth Director for Triangle Ultimate in the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area of North Carolina.  He started playing ultimate competitively in 2012 at Western Michigan University and moved to North Carolina in 2016.  He has been involved in the Triangle’s ultimate scene ever since, as a player, coach and captain during each season.

Mike is AYU’s Senior Operations Manager and is responsible for managing the logistics for AYU’s youth programs, along with assisting in delivering quality tournaments, developing resources and new programs, and expanding our effectiveness in serving the Colorado Ultimate community. Mike was introduced to ultimate in high school, and it has been a huge part of his life ever since. Mike played four years at the collegiate level with the University of Wyoming, helping to build the small program from the ground up. After returning to Colorado, Mike was recruited to coach at his alma mater, Monarch High School. Since then, Mike has been heavily involved in the youth ultimate scene in Colorado. Mike began working and volunteering with AYU in various roles before joining the team full time and is excited to be a part of an organization that has so many amazing, dedicated and experienced individuals driving it.

Tim is Executive Director of WAFC, a 501(c)3 nonprofit disc organization operating in the Washington, D.C. region. Since assuming his position in 2015, he has directly or indirectly managed all aspects of WAFC operations and programming. In addition to promoting ultimate in the D.C. area, Tim is passionate about providing support and advocacy for ultimate’s national community of local organizers. He recently served on USA Ultimate’s Spirit of the Game Working Group for a two year period from 2020-21. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife and two children, ages 8 and 5. After initially discovering ultimate at a summer nerd camp in the mid-1990s, he is officially grandmasters eligible.

Joe started out life with little ambition; he mostly spent the days eating and sleeping. Five years later, he decided to start with his education plan by entering the public school system. Then, at the ripe old age of 12, he discovered ultimate, and his life was never the same again.

He started playing in various pickup games around Utah and never let “high level” scare him off. During the summer after high school, he averaged 40-60 hours a week of playing. Yes, he was truly insane and obsessed. Later in life, he began coaching and has spent the last 10+ years at the youth and high school levels. He now continues to feed the ultimate obsession through regular trips as an observer / AUDL referee, USAU West Regional Youth Director, Utah Ultimate President, tournament director, and any other way his wife will let him be involved!

Jason is an accomplished professional, with more than 25 years of experience specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion, community outreach, program management, strategic planning and public relations. He has a proven ability to think strategically & creatively around DE&I, with applications for HR, businesses, and employees. He is a results-driven visionary with a stellar record of success developing and executing diversity strategies and programs that engage multiple stakeholders and drive business goals. Jason has had consistent success leading diversity and inclusion programs at all organization levels; he is recognized as a motivator and mentor, with an outstanding record of achievement in the business, startup, nonprofit, sport, and educational sectors. He has a demonstrated ability to work with cross-functional teams in a global environment providing financial management, analytics, and reporting for large organizations.

Jason has developed, consulted, trained and led award-winning diversity programs in multiple industries, including with the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, CES, SHRM and Meta. He has been quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, FOX News, and CNN and was awarded the inaugural DE&I Legacy Award from the Denver Business Journal. Jason is known for his practical, outcome-based approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Jason’s book, Diversity and Inclusion Matters: Tactics and Tools to Inspire Equity and Game-Changing Performance is a handbook for DE&I professionals, CEOs and HR executives that provides a clear strategy and tools for a successful DE&I program. Jason is the co-founder of CAPE Inclusion, a minority-owned DE&I software solutions company, that was founded based on the CAPE method.

Miza played her first ultimate game a few weeks after her son was born. Ever since then, she has been involved in the ultimate community as a player, parent and organizer. Her now-teen kids are also now playing ultimate with the Kalamazoo community youth teams. She currently serves as the vice president of Kalamazoo United Youth Ultimate and is a member of the Operation Committee.