global governing board
Brian Kriftcher
Global board chair
Following a successful nearly 20-year professional career on Wall Street at renowned firms including Cantor Fitzgerald, NeubergerBerman, S.A.C. Captial Advisors, and Satellite Asset Management, Brian retired from the investment world in late 2006 in order to dedicate himself to his long-time passions for coaching, teaching, and broader community/public service work.
Brian has deep dived into his philanthropic involvements with the same rigor and passion that he gave to his former business career. For nearly 20 years, Brian has served as a PeacePlayers Global Board of Directors member, including two separate long-term stints as its Global Chair. Brian also serves on the Board of Directors separately of Peace Players United States. In 2008, Brian founded the Stamford Peace Youth Foundation, which uses high-level basketball instruction, competition and training, as well as academic support, to help local elementary, middle and high school students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds realize their full potential on and off the court in his adopted hometown of Stamford, Connecticut. Currently,
Brian is in his 5th year as head coach of the boys Varsity basketball program at Notre Dame Prep (a high school of Sacred Heart University) in Fairfield, Connecticut, one of the state’s premier programs.
Professionally, Brian is a Managing Member of Collegiate Quarters Management LLC, an
owner, operator and manager of student housing real estate throughout the United States.
Brian lives in Stamford, Connecticut with his wife Jeannie, and their three daughters, Hannah (26), Charlotte (25) and Sophie (22).
john vaske
global board vice chair
John Vaske is Vice Chairman of Ducera Partners and brings to the firm over 35 years of experience as a global finance and operating executive. Mr. Vaske’s experience includes nearly three decades of global advisory leadership, with particular focus on the Industrials and Natural Resources verticals.
Most recently, Mr. Vaske served as the Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Business Network (FBN), the North American agri-tech company. Prior to joining FBN, John was Head Americas for Temasek, the $280 billion AUM global investment firm. While at Temasek, he oversaw a team of 55 investors and represented the firm on multiple boards.
Previously, Mr. Vaske was a Partner at Goldman Sachs. He joined the firm in New York in 1988, relocating to Tokyo from 1989 to 1991 to help start Goldman Sachs’ M&A practice in Japan. After returning to New York in 1991, he executed on dealmaking across multiple industries, ultimately focusing on the Agriculture and Chemicals sectors. Mr. Vaske relocated to London in 2005 to lead the European Natural Resources Group and returned to New York in 2010 as Co-Head of the firm’s first global industry vertical, Global Natural Resources. He capped his 28-year career at Goldman Sachs as Co-Chairman of Global M&A in 2015.
Mr. Vaske serves as a director, and former Chairman, on the board of PeacePlayers International and as a member of the Athletic Leadership and Basketball Alumni Committees of Columbia University. He received his BA in Economics from Columbia University in 1988 and was a 2016 recipient of the John Jay Award, which honors Columbia College alumni for distinguished professional achievement.
john beatson
global board treasurer
John Beatson is a Managing Director at Sepio Capital, serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer of the Firm, as well as lead portfolio manager of Sepio Capital Income Fund, Sepio Capital Real Estate Funds, Bushido Capital Partners LLC, and Bushido Capital US Equity ETF (SMRI). Before Sepio Capital, John was a principal & investment committee member at Marshfield Associates, a private investment firm based in Washington D.C., from 2005-2018. Previously, he was an associate at Goldman Sachs in the Global Investment Research division. John graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Economics.
avery akkineni
A pioneer in digital marketing and innovation, Avery Akkineni spearheads brand strategy, content, events, and communications as Chief Marketing Officer at VaynerX, also serving as the Managing Director for VaynerMedia LATAM.
In six years at VaynerX, Avery has catalyzed exponential growth by launching new companies and leading international expansion. She built VaynerMedia APAC from the ground up to over 150 employees in two years, opened key Asia Pacific markets like Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, and Tokyo. During her tenure, VaynerMedia APAC was awarded Marketing Interactive’s Agency of the Year.
In 2021, Avery founded Vayner3, an innovation consultancy focused on emerging technologies like AI and Web3. Under her leadership, Vayner3 achieved significant industry acclaim, and she was named an Ad Age Web3 Trailblazer, and an AI Thought Leader by Business Insider. Her proven ability to identify and leverage leading-edge channels to drive growth for Vayner and her brand partners has landed Avery recognition on advisory boards of top platforms including Salesforce’s AI Council, Meta’s Creative Council, and Tracer.
Based in Miami, FL overseeing VaynerX’s regional LatAM presence, Avery continues to push boundaries in marketing. She is a sought-after speaker on modern marketing and digital innovation, who empowers teams and companies to embrace new opportunities.
chad ford
Chad Ford is an:
An international conflict mediator.
A college professor.
An executive board member for PeacePlayers.
While many people know him for his work at ESPN, being a basketball analyst and writer was actually his side-gig for most of the last two decades. Chad’s peacebuilding work is what defines him.
After completing a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law School in 2000, Chad was poised to begin his career as a conflict mediator and facilitator.
However, Chad sold a small internet start-up, Sportstalk.com, that he co-founded while in graduate school to ESPN right after he graduated and spent the next four years working full-time with ESPN as a senior editor and writer covering the NBA and NBA Draft. The experience of covering NBA games was a lifelong dream, but Chad yearned to do something more impactful with his conflict resolution skills. In 2005 he left his full-time work with ESPN to become the Director of the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding at BYU-Hawaii.
In Hawaii, Chad created a major and certificate program in intercultural peacebuilding, mediation and facilitation. Chad and his wife Amanda, an LCSW who teaches courses in family conflict transformation and mindfulness, have worked with thousands of students from over 90 countries in the world. Chad’s work has earned him Professor of the Year honors at BYU-Hawaii and made Intercultural Peacebuilding one of the most popular programs on campus.
In August of 2024, Chad began his next journey, taking a faculty position at Utah State University where he will work with a team of faculty to launch the Heravi Peace Institute. His work there will primarily focus on religious conflict and reconciliation, political polarization, and creating community conflict resolution resources.
Chad’s work has frequently taken him out of the classroom and into conflict zones around the world. He’s made over 50 trips to the Middle East and has worked on numerous other conflicts around the world as both a mediator and a facilitator for non-profit, religious, corporate and government organizations.
Chad has served as a senior consultant, speaker and facilitator working with governments, NGOs, professional sports teams and corporations like Nike and the US Olympic team. He’s developed trainings and curriculum on conflict resolution that are being used all over the world.
He’s been able to combine his expertise on both sports and conflict by serving as an executive board member of the non-profit peacebuilding organization PeacePlayers. His work has included designing the peacebuilding curriculum used by PeacePlayers in the Middle East, training thousands of coaches, staff and participants in workshops.
Chad’s book, Dangerous Love: Transforming Fear and Conflict at Home, at Work, and in the World weaves his experiences from those five lives into a deeply personal exploration of how we transform fear and conflict. Chad’s work with young people in the classroom, athletes on the basketball court, struggling families in the living room, executives in the boardroom, and divided communities in some of the most challenging conflicts in the world gives him a unique perspective and voice to the conflicts that plague our families, our organizations and the world.
laura gentile
Laura Gentile served as Executive Vice President, Marketing, ESPN for the past five years. In that role, Laura drove Marketing’s strategic priorities, creative output, budgeting process, fan segmentation, and media planning. She was responsible for marketing across all touchpoints with sports fans, inclusive of ESPN sub-brands, platforms, shows, and events.
Laura was responsible for the health of the ESPN Brand, crafting award-winning campaigns, notably “There’s No Place Like Sports” and “This is SportsCenter,” that revitalized the Brand. Laura helped develop the leadership marketing, advertising and promotions for key partners including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, WNBA and F1, and business priorities such as the ESPN App, Fantasy Football, and ESPN+, ESPN’s first streaming service. She was instrumental in fostering a culture that embraced creative excellence and valued new audience growth, engaging youth, women, Hispanic and black audiences throughout the ESPN ecosystem.
jim Lambright
Jim is Professor of Practice at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, with a focus on the intersection of international business, finance, and government policy. He also advises start-ups. Previous leadership roles include:
– Chairman & President of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, where he oversaw a $60 billion credit portfolio supporting U.S. exports to over 150 countries. He transformed it into a self-sustaining bank free of the government budgeting process.
– Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), where he built the team and programs to execute over 600 investments designed to prevent the collapse of the financial system. He led the 2008 rescue financings of AIG, Citi, B of A, GM, and Chrysler.
– Sr. Vice President-Corporate Development of Sempra Energy, where he led strategy and M&A for the Fortune 500 utility and gas infrastructure company.
– COO/CFO/Board member of Sapphire Energy, a VC-backed renewable fuels company.
Jim began his career in finance after earning degrees from Harvard Law School and Stanford University.
brian levenson
Brian Levenson is the founder of Strong Skills, which provides executive coaching and mental performance coaching, speaking, and consulting to elite organizations, performers, and leaders. He has been fortunate to work with CEOs, professional athletes, and with teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLS, Division 1 athletic departments, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Homeland Security, Hilton, Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and many other organizations.
The core of Brian’s work is his Accelerator program, which helps 30 diverse executives improve their leadership and mindset.
He also has a weekly podcast, Intentional Performers, where he has interviewed over 340 elite high performers. His book, Shift Your Mind, was released in October 2020 and in 2023 he released a 152-page free workbook with tools, exercises, and activities to help people and organizations thrive.
Brian currently lives in Bethesda, MD, with his wife and two kids.
Specialties: Shift Your Mind, Framework, Focused Habits, Resilience, Positive Psychology, Teamwork, Leadership, Mental Performance
Education: BA, Syracuse University (Major in Sociology, Minor in African American Studies). MA, John F. Kennedy University in Sport Psychology
Certifications: Leadership Coaching Certificate at Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership, PCC Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Hogan Leadership Assessment, Leadership Circle 360 Assessment
Philanthropy: Board Member at PeacePlayers International, National Young Leadership Cabinet at Jewish Federation of North America, Supporter of DC Scores, Children Deserve a Chance, DC Soul and others
trevor Ringland
Trevor Ringland MBE LL.B, is a Lawyer who was born in Northern Ireland in 1959. He is married to Colleen and they have three children and three grandchildren. A lover of sports, in rugby he represented Queen’s University Belfast, Ballymena, Ulster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He has been involved in community relations work through various organisations, including PeacePlayers-NI, the One Small Step Campaign, Community Sports Network, the British-Irish Association, Co-operation Ireland and the Ireland Funds. He has a strong interest in constructive politics and was a founder member of the pro Union Group, Re-Union, which promoted a positive vision for Unionism and was a former member of the East Belfast Ulster Unionist Association and Co-Chair of the NI Conservative Party He co-authored a pamphlet “The Long Peace. A future vision for Unionism” with Mick Fealty and David Steven and was a member of the Policing Board for Northern Ireland, the Sports Council, the British Council in Northern Ireland and a Trustee of the RUC (GC) Foundation. He is a member of Knock Presbyterian Church.
He was awarded the MBE in recognition of his cross-community work and accepted the ESPYS’s Arthur Ashe Award in recognition of the work of PeacePlayers. He was also appointed as the UK Government Special Envoy to the United States on Northern Ireland.
Darryl Shazier
Darryl is an accomplished executive leader with experience in HR Technology and Recruitment focused on increasing representation in the workplace. Over the past 6 years, Darryl has established himself as a trusted leader in the diversity, equity and inclusion space known for his thought leadership and ability to drive change.
Currently serving as the Chief Revenue Officer at Jopwell, Darryl leads the go-to-market and service delivery team, where he has successfully set the strategy and created the integration plan for the operations following a recent acquisition by True, a global talent management company. His approach is characterized as client-oriented, agile and empathetic which has consistently delivered value to both clients and stakeholders.
Darryl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bucknell University and a Master’s degree from the Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has also held positions on the US Board for Sport Changes Life Foundation and formerly worked at Goldman Sachs, while also serving as a basketball coach in his local community.
Darryl lives in Pound Ridge, New York with his wife and two kids.
Arn Tellem
Arn Tellem is Vice Chairman of the Detroit Pistons basketball franchise. Mr. Tellem, who reports to owner Tom Gores, joined the organization in August 2015 following a distinguished career as one of the top player agents in professional sports.
As a representative of ownership, Mr. Tellem has broad responsibility for business and basketball strategy, planning and development, and strengthening the connection between the Pistons and the community. He is responsible for league-related initiatives as one of the team’s Alternate Governors on the NBA Board of Governors. In 2017 he served as Mr. Gores’ point man and chief negotiator in the successful bid to bring the franchise back to the city to play after a 39-year absence. Two years later, Mr. Tellem oversaw the organization’s complete move to downtown Detroit with both the basketball and business arms of the company occupying the newly constructed, state-of-the-art, Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center. In 2021, he executed another key piece of Mr. Gores’ vision for Detroit and the Pistons franchise as the Motor City Cruise made their NBA G League debut at a sparkling state-of-the-art new arena on the campus of Wayne State University.
Mr. Gores describes Mr. Tellem as “one of the most accomplished and respected sports executives in the world,” and says he “shares my belief that sports can be a catalyst for change in the community.”
As Mr. Gores continues using the Pistons organization as a catalyst in Detroit’s resurgence, he and Tellem have worked to grow the organization’s relationship with Henry Ford Health and in February 2023, the partners joined Michigan State University to announce a sweeping new community development and investment of $3 billion over the next decade turning Detroit’s New Center neighborhood into a vibrant, walkable community with state-of-the-art health care, residential, commercial, retail and recreational components.
The development will be anchored by a major expansion of Henry Ford Hospital that brings a brand new one-million-square-foot plus facility and patient tower. It also includes a new, cutting-edge medical research facility for Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences, part of Henry Ford Health’s 30-year partnership with Michigan State University.
Transforming the section of New Center which currently houses the headquarters for both Henry Ford Health and the Detroit Pistons – the partners plan to create a destination to work, live and play that’s infused with mixed-income living spaces, retail options, and green space.
A graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, Mr. Tellem said the opportunity to contribute to the region’s revitalization was a key factor in his decision to join the Pistons.
To that end, Mr. Tellem has spearheaded several community partnerships that earned the organization national recognition. Committed to making an impact in the city of Detroit and the metro region, the club’s community relations efforts were recognized nationally by ESPN as a finalist for the ESPN 2016 Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year Award. Mr. Tellem, Mr. Gores and the Detroit Pistons Foundation have made significant commitments to and forged strengthened relationships with S.A.Y. Detroit Play Center, Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan, the Detroit Police Athletic League, City Year, Grow Detroit’s Young Talent, the Bing Youth Institute/BINGO Mentoring Program, Forgotten Harvest, HAVEN and the Jalen Rose Youth Academy. The main objective: to involve players, coaches and administrators during yearly events with each organization. The Pistons maintain a wide range of community programs through NBA Cares, addressing health and fitness, education, military, special needs, Black History and green initiatives. NBA Cares programs and participants have provided more than 5 million hours of hands-on service and created more than 1,300 places where kids and families can live, learn or play in communities around the world.
As part of a social justice focused initiative in collaboration with Pistons players and the entire organization, Mr. Tellem is executing another game-changing community initiative developed at the direction of Mr. Gores – the construction of a new, $20 million community center in the Cody-Rouge area on Detroit’s west side. That project includes a partnership with the City of Detroit and is expected to be completed by the close of 2024 or in early 2025.
A long-time board member of PeacePlayers International and Seeds of Peace, Mr. Tellem lends his time and supports the organization’s efforts to bring together children from conflict regions to promote tolerance and understanding. Using basketball to bridge barriers, PeacePlayers International operates year-round programs in South Africa, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Israel and the West Bank. As the Pistons look to unite Detroiters and advance social justice initiatives, Mr. Tellem brought PeacePlayers to Detroit and instituted a localized program connecting youth, community leaders and law enforcement to build bridges and share ideas on creating stronger relationships in the community.
Mr. Tellem has represented more than 500 professional athletes in his career, including numerous former Detroit Pistons. He joined PSE following nine years at Wasserman Media Group, where he served as Vice Chairman and oversaw the Team Sports Division. In 1989, he founded Los Angeles-based Tellem & Associates, which was acquired in 1999 by SFX Entertainment, the world’s largest producer and marketer of live entertainment. Mr. Tellem served as Chief Executive Officer of SFX Sports until he joined Wasserman.
Mr. Tellem began representing professional baseball and basketball players in the early 1980s. Before that, he was a partner at the law firm Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, where he specialized in sports law and commercial litigation. Mr. Tellem also served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers between 1982 and 1988.
In 2006, Sports Business Journal named Mr. Tellem the Most Influential Agent in Sports and The Sporting News named him “Most Influential Sports Agent.” In 2004 and 2005, he was the only NBA player agent named as one of The Sporting News’ “50 Most Influential People in Sports Business.” Mr. Tellem was recognized as the industry’s top agent by the magazine in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2008, Sports Business Journal ranked him second among sports agents. Two years later Business Insider named Mr. Tellem one of the world’s four “best” sports agents. In 2013, Forbes ranked him the third most powerful agent in sports; and first in basketball.
A member of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California, Mr. Tellem served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School of Law and is frequently invited to lecture on issues related to sports law and business. He received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in 1976 and his J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1979.
From 2009 to 2010 Mr. Tellem wrote a semi-weekly sports column for The Huffington Post. He has also written for Sports Illustrated, the Op-ed page of the New York Times, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News and the Japan Times.
Active in the Detroit business and philanthropic community, served as chairman of the 2022 Mackinac Policy Conference hosted each year by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. The conference brings Michigan leaders from business and politics for four days of keynote speeches and ideation on advancing prosperity throughout the state.
Mr. Tellem is married to Nancy Tellem, the former entertainment and digital media president of Microsoft and a onetime president of CBS Television Studios, formerly CBS Paramount Television. She is a founder of BasBlue, a non-profit space in midtown Detroit dedicated to women’s needs and fostering a diverse, authentic, and inclusive community. They have three grown sons: Michael, Matt and Eric.
jim Fitzpatrick
Northern Ireland Board CHair
Jim Fitzpatrick is an award-winning independent broadcaster, producer and journalist with a specialist interest in economics and politics.
He is currently Consulting Editor at The Irish News in Belfast, Northern Ireland’s leading daily newspaper.
His investigations work in recent years for non-profit organisations such as OCCRP (Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) and openDemocracy have focused on
transparency issues and the intersection of money and politics.
A former Editor of Economics and Business for the BBC in Ireland, he previously fronted much of the BBC NI’s political coverage as the presenter of The Politics Show, Stormont programming and party conferences. He also led major investigations for BBC’s current affairs.
He has interviewed many senior politicians and leaders from Ireland, the UK, Europe and US.
MElcolm Ruffin
United States Board CHair
Melcolm Ruffin is an accomplished sports and
entertainment executive, currently serving as
Co-Founder and President of the Sports and
Entertainment Equity Network (SEEN). Founded in 2015, SEEN is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to closing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) gap in the sports and entertainment industry. SEEN has grown into a community of over 5,000 Black and brown professionals and allies, hosted more than 100 events and continuously created opportunities for diverse talent through the organization’s three pillars – Advancement, Community Building and Giving Back.
Prior to focusing exclusively on SEEN, Melcolm served as Vice President of Content Strategy and Business Development at The SpringHill Co., a media and production company owned by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. In this role, he developed and oversaw all original digital content for the Uninterrupted and SpringHill media brands. Before joining SpringHill, Melcolm was Head of Athlete Content Strategy at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he focused on telling sports clients’ stories across digital media, TV, and film. Melcolm began his career at the National Basketball Association (NBA) league headquarters in New York City, where he played a key role in growing the business of the NBA G League, the official minor league of the NBA.
Since 2023, Melcolm has served as Board Chair for PeacePlayers United States. This non-profit uses the game of basketball to build peaceful and thriving communities. PeacePlayers US provides year-round programming for youth ages 8-18, leveraging the game of basketball as a tool to teach conflict resolution, leadership development, and civic engagement. Through a partnership with Nike, PeacePlayers US was founded in 2017 as an extension of PeacePlayers International’s two-decade legacy of addressing conflict and inequality in the regions of South Africa, the Middle and East and Norther Ireland. The domestic operations of PeacePlayers US have an added emphasis on racial equity and engaging young girls in the impact markets of Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles.
Melcolm holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School, earned in 2020, and a degree in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass). His career achievements include being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30: Sports list. Melcolm’s commitment to sports – both on and off the court – originate from his upbringing outside of Chicago in Maywood, Illinois, and he currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife Sean.
Karen Doubilet
Middle east board chair
Karen Doubilet currently serves as PeacePlayers Middle East’s board chair after 17 years with the organization. As Global Executive Director, Karen oversaw operations in five countries and led a global movement of young leaders using sport to promote peace and equity. Prior to that, she spent 13 years as Managing Director of PeacePlayers Middle East, reaching over 30,000 Palestinian and Israeli youth through sport in one of the world’s most challenging conflict zones.
Throughout her time at PeacePlayers, Karen witnessed the transformative power of sport firsthand. She watched children, who entered the program at just six or seven years old, grow into community leaders—shaping not only their neighborhoods but inspiring a generation of young people across the world. These relationships, forged across deep divides, have withstood violence and war, proving the unifying power of sport.
An expert in inter-group relations, Karen has extensive experience in cross-cultural facilitation and program evaluation. She led a groundbreaking study on sport and inter-group relations and launched the first accredited Coaching for Conflict Transformation certification at PeacePlayers Middle East.
Before joining PeacePlayers, Karen worked for several peace-building organizations, including Peace Child Israel, War Child Holland, and the Peres Center for Peace. Her academic background includes a Master’s degree from Bar Ilan University’s Conflict Management and Negotiation program, where she also completed her PhD coursework. Karen is a certified mediator and Arbinger Institute facilitator and has published several articles and book chapters.
Now back in her hometown of Toronto, after nearly 25 years in Israel, Karen is committed to leveraging her vast experience to support the next generation of young leaders who are building bridges and transforming their communities through sport. Her journey with PeacePlayers continues to inspire her, as she watches the global movement grow and sees young people across the world unite to create a peaceful and equitable future.
