Coaching for Civic Leadership Zach Moo Young

A few years ago, Coach Josh Meyer and his team, the NCAA Division 2 Men’s college basketball team at Saint Michael's College in Vermont, made headlines. During the 2017-2018 season, before games as the national anthem played, the team took a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality, and oppression in all forms.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. His students have graduated from what he calls their life lessons 101 curriculum, with a degree that is grounded in leadership, community, critical thinking and contextual awareness.

After 20-years as a coach and teacher, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to catch Josh during a time of reflection on his coaching career, the coaching profession, sports, and social justice.
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More on Josh:

Josh earned his master of education degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he worked with Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot and Coach Tommy Amaker to produce the "coach as teacher" project, which explores teaching and learning in co-curricular environments. Social justice, restorative practices and mindfulness guide Josh's approach to leadership, and he is also the author of an incisive piece for Inside Higher Ed called, “Why Coaching for Social Justice Matters”

Most recently, Josh has been doing equity related work for the city of Burlington, Vermont as the Restorative Practices Coordinator for the Burlington School District, and is excited to join All Heart Inspirations, a business started by his partner, Ferene, that creates heart-centered spaces through storytelling, workshops, community engagements, culinary food and more.

*Cover photo by James Buck

Lindsay Kagawa Colas joined Wasserman in 2009 and is currently Executive Vice President, Talent and The Collective. With a focus on representing cultural conversation influencers, Colas oversees the careers of many influential Olympic medalists, including WNBA players Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird, Brittney Griner, and Maya Moore, swimmer Simone Manuel, beach volleyball player April Ross, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and Paralympian, Scout Bassett (Track and Field). Colas is widely considered to be a pioneer in the representation space, having negotiated the first ever Inclusion Rider into an athlete contract and the first maternity protection language into a major shoe and apparel deal. She is the most dominant agent ever in the WNBA, representing five of the last six #1 overall draft picks, the starting five on the 2016 Olympic team, half the 2018 WNBA All-Star team and eight of the last nine WNBA MVPs. 

Prior to Wasserman, Colas worked for BDA Sports Management, helping to manage premier NBA talent and founded both the Women's Elite Division and the agency's charitable giving arm, BDAgiving.

Colas received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Master of Arts in Sociology from Stanford where she was an All-District 8 performer and two-year captain of the women's volleyball team, which during her tenure, appeared in two National Championship matches and won an NCAA title in 1997. She was a Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 Award winner in 2018 and lives in Portland, OR with her husband and two sons.  

Follow her at @KagawaColas.

In Part 2 of my conversation with Clark Kellogg and Everett Glenn, we talk about their work outside of sport including their philanthropy, starting and serving community organizations, their views on the sports industry, and their advice to aspiring sports leaders.

I feel very fortunate to know each of these two leaders and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Everett Glenn, and Clark Kellogg.

Jen Fry is a native of Arizona, was a Division II volleyball player, who then coached in college for over 15 years, including stints at Elon University, the University of Illinois (2011 National Runner-Up), Washington State University, and Norfolk State University.  

Today, Jen is a social justice educator, assisting college athletics administrations, staff, coaches, and athletes – training them through an antiracist lens on issues of race, inclusion, intersectionality, diversity, and equity.

She is also currently working on her PhD in Geography at Michigan State University.

I really appreciated the opportunity to get to know Jen. I love everything she had to say, and really grateful that she contributed to this project.

I’d been following her for a while on Twitter, which I highly recommend. You can find her at @JenFryTalks.

Thanks for listening!

This episode will be a little different today because we have two guests, offering us a glimpse into a very special Athlete and Agent relationship, which turned into so much more.

We broke this conversation into two parts. In part one, we’ll talk about what it was like for them each growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. Their athletic careers, their leadership, and their powerful example they demonstrate as an athlete and agent relationship.

Then in part two, we’ll talk about their work outside of sport including their philanthropy, starting and serving community organizations, their views on the sports industry, and their advice to rising sports leaders.

I feel very fortunate to know each of these two leaders and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Everett Glenn and Clark Kellogg.

David Thorpe is someone who has been inspiring me for years, without even knowing it. He is a writer, coach, teacher, thinker, and mentor to some of your favorite NBA players and coaches. He is someone who cares very much about the big picture. Thorpe spent 10 years as ESPN’s Lead NBA analyst, and in 2017 he published his first book, “Basketball is Jazz: Stories and Lessons From a Basketball Lifer.” drawing on his time coaching and training high school and NBA players. In Basketball is Jazz, he offers readers a glimpse into how the game is best taught, played, coached, and enjoyed. Most recently you can find him at TrueHoop.com. We talked about how David has designed his life, his coaching philosophy, how he builds relationships with his players off the court, and his interest and engagement in politics.