Board of Leaders

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

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.

Pam is the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and General Counsel at Grocery Outlet in Emeryville. She has a BA in Government from Cornell University and is licensed to practice law in California and New York.

Courtney offers 20+ years of corporate and entrepreneur management experience. She is committed to making this world a better place by thinking big, taking action and making goals happen. She is currently Operations Manager at OpenChairDDS.

George is a Brazilian-American who started working with Jerome in 2014, back when the company was still called Empower Me training, and there were only a handful of students. He is a big basketball enthusiast and has a strong affinity for the program.

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.

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.

Bill is the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Saint Mary's College of California. His previous experience includes a position as a loan officer, mortgage broker, and global account manager.

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.

Rebecca is Vice President of Organizational Learning and Effectiveness at Bainum Family Foundation and is an energetic leader with experiences in education, nonprofit, and for-profit settings. She has a comprehensive background in leadership coaching, organizational culture and development, and talent management.

Michael has a degree in Economics & Finances and an MBA from The Wharton School. He is currently CEO of rePlanet Holdings, a leading sustainable packaging firm.

Nisba has a BA from Georgetown University and an MD from Ohio State University College of Medicine. She is in private practice as a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist.