Payne elected USA Ultimate Board of Directors President
USA Ultimate
Posted: January 20, 2011 05:19 PM
Boulder, Colo. (January 19, 2011)—Mike Payne (Oakland, Calif.) was elected President of the USA Ultimate Board of Directors last weekend at the organization’s annual January board meeting.
Payne, who previously served as board president from 2006-2008, was one of four officers elected. Gwen Ambler (Seattle, Wash.) was re-elected as Vice President, while Henry Thorne (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Colin McIntyre (Ann Arbor, Mich.) were elected Treasurer and Secretary respectively.
Additionally, Audrius Barzdukas (Los Angeles, Calif.) was re-elected to the Executive Committee in a non-officer capacity.
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| Mike Payne |
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Gwen Ambler |
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Henry Thorne |
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Colin McIntyre |
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Audrius Barzdukas |
"It’s an incredible honor to play a leadership role with USA Ultimate in 2011," said Payne. "This organization is driving positive change and growth for our sport, and we have a fantastic full-time staff in Boulder plus hundreds of volunteers nationwide doing a lot of the heavy lifting. This is my seventh year on the board and I’ve never seen a stronger group. We have six regional and three at-large representatives who are Ultimate players and represent the membership, however we have also added three board members who bring experience from high-level careers in sports governance, marketing and administration. These directors are helping us grow in new ways, helping us to become more professional in how we manage the organization’s resources and be more sophisticated in the way we communicate and present ourselves to potential corporate partners. We are now only two years away from completing USA Ultimate’s first strategic plan, and very soon the board and staff will begin the process to write the next plan which will drive our activities through 2018. Coincidentally and fittingly, 2018 will also mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of the sport!"
"I am excited to have the support and help of what I truly believe is a really strong Executive Committee," commented USA Ultimate CEO Dr. Tom Crawford. "They possess the perfect combination of passion and expertise within the sport of Ultimate, as well as the business acumen and experience to guide us at this critical time. It’s actually hard to describe how psyched I am heading into 2011."
A full summary of last weekend’s board meeting in the post-meeting minutes will soon be available at usaultimate.org.