BOARD

Coach Gumbs is founder and CEO of Empower ME Academy. Coach Gumbs played D1 at University of San Francisco and pro-ball prior to starting EMA in 2013.
Read his story.
Coach Gumbs on Way of Champions Podcast (1+ million listeners)
USFCA Article—Bigger Than Basketball

Pete helps early stage companies raise capital and grow. Pete was the CEO of Phylagen, VP Strategy at Terravia, and Director of Development at StreetSquash, and currently runs PBK Advisors, which advises/invests in early stage entrepreneurs in climate tech and youth sports.

Victor is currently CEO at Stockpile as well as Owner of Victor Wang Studios in San Francisco. He has a BS in Business Marketing from the University of Southern California.

A love of sports and community service guides Mr. Haas in his longstanding involvement in business, philanthropic and educational organizations. He draws on all of that experience in his Board Member role at Empower ME Academy. When the Haas, Jr. family owned the Oakland A’s, Mr. Haas was the club’s executive vice president (1980-87), chief operating officer (1988-89), and then CEO and chairman (1993-95). He has served on the board of directors of Levi Strauss & Co. and as a member of the company’s Corporate Ethics and Social Responsibility Committee. Mr. Haas is a board member of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), an organization that believes in the power of sports to help young people grow into healthy, resilient and confident adults. Mr. Haas formerly served as Board President of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. He also has served on the boards of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, San Francisco Urban School and Marin Country Day School. He currently serves as Board President of the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr Fund.

Michelle worked for more than 20 years as a health care administrator, including more than 10 years at an executive level, integrating mental health and primary medical care into substance use treatment programs. She was driven in part by ensuring that everyone deserves high quality, individualized, comprehensive, whole person care. This drive of Michelle’s is transferable into her passion to help non-profits thrive. Michelle has a long and robust history of serving on non profit boards, from Jewish camps, to schools, to health care consortia. Michelle grew up playing sports and met her wife playing sports. Michelle’s two teenagers play sports, and had participated in EMA programs for years. Michelle understands the importance of non profit companies providing excellent services to anyone who needs access to them.
Strive not to be a success, but to be of value. --Albert Einstein

San Francisco born George Frederick”Crunchy” Gund IV is the President of Gund Real Estate Group, trustee of the George Gund Foundation, and “conductor” at Blue Marble Acres, a “Farmlab” in West Marin. Beyond his professional roles, George finds solace and purpose as a nature photographer. Although he comes from a hockey family, George was one of Coach Gumbs’ first baketball training students in 2014.

Keaton is an Analyst for the Publisher Team at Hearst Autos in San Francisco. He previously worked as a Data Analyst at Healthline.com and studied systems engineering and economics at Washington University in St. Louis.

David has started three companies over his career, including a 22-year-old San Francisco non-profit, and now has his brand, strategy, and product consulting company whose clients have included Amazon, Nokia, Best Buy, P&G, Howard Schultz, IDEO, and SYPartners.

Paul Burke is a filmmaker and the founder of Eponymous Films, whose focus is scouting locations for films and commercials throughout Northern CA. Having played basketball under many different coaches, as well as having been a coach himself, he knows intimately that good coaching can make all the difference for developing players.

Tala Banatao grew up in the Bay Area, the youngest of three children. Her parents are Filipino immigrants who instilled in their children the value of education. Tala earned a BA at University of California where she was a double major in Political Science and Mass Communications. While at Cal, she also played on the varsity volleyball team. Later she went on to earn a degree in International Manufacturing and Product Development from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. After working in the fashion industry at the corporate level, she later developed her own children’s clothing line. Still heavily involved in the world of youth sports, Tala currently serves on the Leadership Council for the Positive Coaching Alliance. At her alma mater, she serves as an advisor to Cal Athletics and is on the The Bancroft Library Council. Tala and her family were recognized as Builders of Berkeley in 2019. Tala and her husband Thomas Growney stay busy raising three student athletes - Owen, Austin, and Lucas, a junior at Arizona State University who is on the varsity baseball team. They are rabid Bay Area sports fans and enjoy catching a game when they’re not watching their kids play.

Jacques was previously GC of Calm, the meditation, sleep and relaxation app. Jacques was previously the Head of Corporate Affairs at Stripe, where he provided legal support equity and debt fundraising, corporate development, governance, equity compensation, real estate, workplace and insurance matters. Prior to Stripe, Jacques was a Director at BlackRock and a corporate attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.