CURRENT OFFICERS AND
BOARD MEMBERS
Meg Seng, CAA (President)
Joan Cowdery, PhD (Secretary)
Jeanine DeLay (Treasurer)
Jane Bennett, CMAA (Honorary Board Member)
Ann Carney
Eve Claar
Suzanne Heinzman, CAA
Peg Talburtt, PhD
Deb VanKuiken, CMAA

The women who launched TASL-and those who now guide and sustain the organization-are longtime advocates, innovators and participants in the world of female athletics. Current officers and board members are listed below.

TASL'S Founders, Officers and Board Members

Front row, left to right: Meg Seng, Joan Cowdery and Gina Mazzolini.
Top row, left to right: Jeanine DeLay, Beth Pascoe, Suzy Heinzman, Jane Bennett.
Not pictured: Lara Slee, Cathy Susan and Audrey White.

Meg Seng, CAA - President

Meg Seng brings to her leadership position at TASL decades of experience in competitive athletics, both as participant and coach. A multi-sport scholarship athlete at Indiana University, she excelled in volleyball and softball. As a sports educator, she has spent more than 20 years teaching and coaching, the last 17 of them at Greenhills School in Ann Arbor, where she currently serves as Director of Athletics. A co-founder of TASL, Seng has developed several leadership and mentoring programs for students and adults and continues to provide leadership opportunities for girls and women throughout the state of Michigan. She received the 2004 Pathfinder Award from the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. In 2005, the Girl Scouts of Huron Valley honored her with their Leaders and Best Award.

Joan Cowdery, PhD - Secretary

A former Ohio State basketball captain and professional triathlete, Joan Cowdery has over 20 years of experience in competitive and instructional sports-including swimming, running and mountain biking. She received her doctorate in Health Education and Health Promotion jointly from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health. In 2001, she became a co-founder of TASL and has continued to help guide the organization. Currently, Cowdery is a faculty member in the School of Health Promotion and Human Performance at Eastern Michigan University.

Jeanine DeLay - Treasurer

TASL is the second grassroots nonprofit organization Jeanine DeLay has helped to found. The first was Aquademics, an educational and competitive aquatics program organized in 1988 for youth of color in Washtenaw County. In 1994 and again in 1999, this program received awards for achievements on behalf of young people. DeLay also developed the sport ethics course now taught in the Division of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan, where she taught for a decade as a lecturer in the Department of Sport Management. Her dedication to TASL is based on her experiences as a pre-Title IX athlete and high school swimming coach, and as a longtime advocate of fair play and social justice-on and off the playing field.

Jane Bennett - Honorary Board Member

Jane Bennett co-founded TASL in 2001, while serving as Athletic Director of Huron High School in Ann Arbor, and was principal speaker at the Academy's first Women's Sport Summit in 2005. She is currently Principal of Hellgate High School in Missoula, Montana. Among many honors, Bennett was the first woman to be elected to the presidency of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators' Association. She has also earned numerous awards for her contributions to high school athletics. In 1995, she was inducted into the Michigan Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Two years later, she received the State Award of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators' Association. In 2000, that same organization honored her with its Thomas E. Frederick Award of Excellence.

Margaret A. Talburtt, PhD

Margaret A. Talburtt, Ph.D, became Executive Director of The James A. and Faith Knight Foundation in 2004. Between 1996-2003, Peg was the President/CEO of the Michigan Women's Foundation. Previously, she co-founded and was a Partner at Formative Evaluation Research Associates (FERA) where she directed many projects related to philanthropy, education innovations, gender, and program evaluation. She also serves on the boards of the Washtenaw Community College Women's Council and Comerica Bank in Ann Arbor. Peg was selected by Crain's Detroit Business as one of its "100 Most Influential Women in Southeast Michigan" and by Corp! Magazine as one of "Michigan's 95 Most Powerful Women." Other awards include selection as the Distinguished Leadership Honoree in Philanthropic Service by the Michigan Business & Professional Association, 2000 Saturn Women at Their Best Award and also the Women of Distinction Award from the Huron Valley Girl Scout Council. She was honored to be a speaker at The White House Conference on Philanthropy in October 1999.

Deb VanKuiken, CMAA

Deb VanKuiken, CMAA, is the Director of Athletics for the Holly Area School District. She has been an athletic administrator since 1994. Prior to that she taught math and coached tennis, volleyball and softball. Deb earned both her Bachelor of Education and Masters of Educational Administration at Central Michigan University, where she also played field hockey.

Deb is active in the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators' Association (MIAAA). She is currently in the midst of a five-year commitment on the executive board, serving as MIAAA president during the 2007-08 school years. While first vice president she organized the summer workshop in which participants developed a DVD containing vital information for critical incident planning. She is also the chairperson of the Constitution Committee and a member of the Public Relations Committee. In 2004, Deb earned her Certified Master Athletic Administrator (CMAA) credential.

Ann Carney

Ann graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing.

Nursing has facilitated Ann's life involvement in providing and advocating for the health needs of children and adults. From Public Health Nursing in Oakland County, to staff and head nursing at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, and in her current role as School Nurse for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Ann has significant experience and special expertise in coordinating programs and services for youth. She served on the Healthy Schools Task Force for the Ann Arbor Schools, which most recently created district-wide guidelines for healthy nutrition in school settings. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honorary and Delta Kappa Gamma, an Educational Honorary Organization.

Ann has three grown children who played numerous sports in high school in Ann Arbor and in college. The youngest child, a daughter, plays Division III college tennis. Ann's participation in and contributions to her children's teams have given her a great appreciation for the importance of ensuring fairness in men's and women's athletics.

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Since 2001, TASL has promoted women in coaching and sport leadership through a dynamic combination of action learning programs, internships, mentoring, conferences, and advocacy.

The Academy for Sport Leadership
PO Box 131226
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48113-1226
Phone: (734) 205-4022
E-mail: info@sportleadership.net

TASL is recognized by the IRS as a not-for-profit 501c(3) corporation.