USTA Foundation appoints new members
May 26, 2016
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – The USTA Foundation, the national charitable organization of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), today announced the appointment of seven new members to its board. Each board member will serve a three-year term, with two members appointed as directors at large and five serving on the Foundation’s advisory board.
“The USTA Foundation is proud to appoint our newest members to the board of directors,” said USTA Foundation Chairman James Blake. “As members of the USTA Foundation board, these individuals will serve as ambassadors to promote the Foundation’s mission to utilize tennis and education to help those in need.
“Each not only brings a wealth of leadership in the business sector, which will help us in generating the support needed to achieve our fund development goals, but also has unique experiences in the sport of tennis and an understanding and appreciation of the work we do in supporting tennis and education programs, under-resourced youth and military service members and their families. We are looking forward to their ideas and support in achieving and maintaining our goals.”
The following individuals have been appointed:
Richard Ader, Director at Large: Ader is the founder of U.S. Realty Advisors, LLC, and has been in the corporate real estate net lease industry since 1968. He serves as chairman of the company and is the chief investment officer. Ader is one of the pioneers in the field of corporate sale-leaseback transactions and a leading authority on the subject. He is recognized as an expert in the field of operating real estate and was voted by his peers as Net Lease Executive of the Year in 2011 and 2012.
Prior to forming U.S. Realty Advisors, Ader was chairman of the board and chief executive officer of American Real Estate Partners, a New York Stock Exchange-listed master limited partnership consisting of net lease real estate. He also served as the department head of the real estate division of Integrated Resources, Inc.
Ader is a graduate of the University of Vermont and a member of the board of directors of the UVM Foundation and chairman of the advisory board to the College of Arts and Science. He is also a member of the board of directors, owners and builders division, of the Real Estate Board of New York. Ader is also serves on the board for the Southwestern Vermont Hospital Center.
Ader was a member and co-captain of the U.S. Master Tennis Maccabi Team from 1981 to 1997, taking home the bronze and silver medals, respectively, in 1985 and 1992 at the Maccabi Games. He has previously served as a member of the board of the Women’s Sports Foundation and was co-owner of the New York Hamptons, a World TeamTennis Team.
Jamie Majeski, Director at Large: Majeski is thefounder and vice chairman of Cydcor, the largest provider of outsourced sales services in North America. Cydcor was established as a startup in Long Island, N.Y., in 1994, and over time Majeski’s aggressive leadership has grown the business to more than 470 offices globally in 2015.
Prior to Cydcor, Majeski served as director of business markets at MCI. He has more than 25 years of experience in corporate sales, management and strategic brand marketing, and currently serves on the boards at Penn State University and at St. Thomas University in Miami. In 2002, he founded the Majeski Charitable Foundation to support and develop health and education programs for children.
Majeski holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from St. Thomas University and continued his executive education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Stephen Butzlaff, Advisory Board Member: Butzlaff is currently serving his second term as USTA council chair for Adult Tennis, leading a committee that develops methods to increase tennis participation in the 18 to 40 age sector. He previously served as president of the USTA Midwest Section and as president of the Midwest Youth Tennis & Education Foundation.
Prior to that, Butzlaff served as the USTA Chicago District president, and he has been active with the district since 1998. He also served on the Chicago Tennis Patron Board for eight years, redeveloping the organization and instituting effective fundraising strategies. In 1998, Butzlaff co-founded the Shoreline Tennis Association CTA, located in Waukegan, Ill., with a mission to provide free tennis instruction, equipment, educational skills and high school placement. To date, the program introduced more than 1,400 students under the age of 16 to tennis without incurring any salary or administration costs. Butzlaff and his family have served as Shoreline advisors and instructors since its founding.
In 2013, Butzlaff retired after a 40-year career with the Northern Trust Company. His last assignment as a senior vice president was the managing director of the Highland Park Illinois Financial Center.
In his decorated volunteer career, Butzlaff has received the Paul Dean Volunteer of the Year Award from the Chicago Tennis Patrons, the prestigious Mel Bergman Award from the Midwest Section and been named to the Chicago District Tennis Hall of Fame. His family has also been recognized for its involvement and commitment to the sport of tennis, including receiving the Steve Morgan Family of the Year award from the Chicago Tennis Patrons.
Mark Leschly, Advisory Board Member: Leschly is a managing partner of Rho Capital Partners, a technology venture capital and growth equity firm, and Iconica Partners, a venture capital and growth equity firm investing at the intersection of technology, sports and media.
With 20 years of experience in private equity and venture capital, he is an experienced and seasoned investor firmly committed to finding and optimizing ways to support technology company CEOs and their teams in building compelling high-growth businesses.
Leschly has helped entrepreneurs and companies achieve excellent outcomes by providing strategic, operational and financial guidance as a founder, investor, executive and board member. He has a strong track record in innovation and helping entrepreneurs succeed in building compelling high growth businesses. His impact and successes have ranged broadly from health care to technology – digital media, e-commerce and mobile sectors – to sports, media and entertainment.
Leschly currently serves on the board of the directors of numerous public and private companies across the sports, media, entertainment, health care and technology sectors, as well as the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association. Previously, he was a general partner at Healthcare Ventures, a leading life sciences venture capital firm, and a strategic management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
As a former touring ATP professional tennis player selected to the Danish Davis Cup team, Leschly is a former two-time captain and No. 1 singles and doubles player for the Harvard University men’s tennis team. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council of USTA Player Development. Leschly is also a minority owner for the Los Angeles Football Club, an MLS soccer team, as well as the Oklahoma City Dodgers, a AAA Minor League Baseball team.
Leschly received an M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a B.A. with honors from Harvard.
Kevin Martinez, Advisory Board Member: Martinez serves as vice president of corporate citizenship at ESPN. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the company’s citizenship initiatives, including corporate giving, volunteerism, cause marketing and sustainability. He is responsible for ESPN’s strategic programs that enable both greater access to sports and leadership through sports. He leads ESPN’s sponsorship of the Special Olympics, which has helped nearly 1 million athletes, teammates and coaches join the Unified Sports movement.
Additionally, Martinez manages ESPN’s ongoing collaboration and fundraising efforts with The V Foundation, which has generated more than $25 million for cancer research programs since 2011. He also successfully launched the inaugural Sports Humanitarian of the Year Awards, celebrating and honoring athletes, teams and nonprofits for using the power of sports to make a positive impact on society.
Prior to ESPN, Martinez served as executive director, corporate social responsibility, for KPMG, and as president of The Home Depot Foundation and vice president of its community affairs. In addition, he’s held several roles in the community affairs and community relations sector for major companies and organizations, including Starbucks Coffee Co., Eddie Bauer Co., the King County (Washington) Executive Office and the Seattle Aquarium Society,
Martinez has received many industry awards for his work. He is a two-time recipient of The Cause Marketing Forum’s highest award, “The Halo Award,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Corporate Citizenship Award” and the Association of Cable Communicators’ prestigious “Beacon Award,” to name a few. In 2006, Martinez received the “Large Corporation of the Year Award” from the Corporation for National Community Service through his work with Home Depot.
A native of ‘Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Martinez graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor of arts degree in communications and advertising.
Ken Solomon, Advisory Board Member: Solomon is the chairman and chief executive officer of Tennis Channel. Since joining the network in 2005, he has tapped into the tennis community’s grass roots as well as health and fitness appreciation. He also developed the network’s advertiser and sponsor base and added the majority of tennis’ Top 100 events, including its four majors – the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Prior to Tennis Channel, Solomon held top posts at Universal Television, DreamWorks, Disney and News Corp. He also founded and led Fine Living Network for Scripps Networks, building it from concept to launch in just over a year and developing it into one of the farthest-reaching lifestyle brands in multimedia at the time.
In addition, Solomon is chairman of art-and-culture network Ovation, a 24-hour multiplatform network that offers original and acquired programming focused on art, culture and personal creativity. He is also a member of President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
In 1998, Solomon was named “Humanitarian of the Year” by H.E.L.P. Group, one of the largest and most influential children’s charities in the United States, for which he serves on the board.
Solomon is also a board member of West Los Angeles’ Pacific Hills School and on the advisory board of the L.A. Sports & Entertainment Commission. He also sits on the executive board of Americans for the Arts’ Business Committee.
Raj R. Vaswani, Advisory Board Member: Vaswani is vice president, law, at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), where he oversees legal support of the company’s commercial customer transactions and programs. He also serves as the company’s Diversity and Inclusion champion for the consumer health-care business, working with a team of executives in forming external partnerships and employee engagement initiatives.
Prior to working in health care, Vaswani was vice president, operations and general counsel, of SunGard-Kiodex, a technology provider to the commodities and financial services industry. Prior to that, he specialized in venture capital and intellectual property transactions for the law firm Morrison & Foerster in New York.
An avid tennis player who competes in local and national tournaments for the USTA Eastern section, Vaswani helped his team win the Talbert Cup Men’s 35s intersectional competition in 2011. He has also served on the Adult Competitions Committee for the Eastern section and has facilitated J&J’s sponsorship of numerous Eastern Tennis Association tennis events including “Battle of the Boroughs,” as well as J&J’s support of NJTL of Trenton, Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program and USTA Foundation’s Wounded Warriors Program.
Vaswani is a graduate of Yale College and the NYU School of Law, where he received the Bender graduation prize for outstanding commitment to public service. He lives in New York City with his wife Gerri and daughter Anabel.
To date, the USTA Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in grants and scholarships to hundreds of programs, benefitting thousands of children and adults through tennis, education and health programming, primarily through the NJTL network. This network features more than 500 chapters that reach more than 225,000 youth on an annual basis, providing free or low-cost tennis and education programming to 47 of the largest 50 markets in the U.S. – nurturing future leaders and enabling kids in need to succeed on the court, in the classroom and in life.
USTA Foundation, the national charitable organization of the USTA, brings together the powerful combination of tennis and education to change lives of under-resourced youth. The Foundation utilizes financial grants, scholarship opportunities, curricula, technical assistance and training to make a lasting difference, and it’s with a primary focus is to develop and ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of the National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) network. The NJTL network features more than 500 chapters that reach more than 225,000 youth on an annual basis. The Foundation raises money and public awareness to support these life-changing programs through private donations, corporate sponsorships and foundations, as well as its special fundraisers held throughout the year, including the US Open Opening Night Gala, the US Open Paver program, World Tennis Day and a series of Pro-Ams on both coasts, to name a few. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $22 million in grants and scholarships to more than 270 programs, helping to serve up dreams for thousands of children and adults throughout the country. For more information on USTA Foundation, visit ustafoundation.com. Or stay connected through Facebook at facebook.com/USTAFoundation, and on Twitter at @USTA_Foundation.