FORMER
LEADERSHIP
PAST PRESIDENTS
ELLA CANAVAN | 2023-2024
Current Role: Coordinator, Corporate Partnerships - Austin FC
Graduation Year: 2024 | Major: Sport Management, Minor: Law, Justice, and Social Change
Favorite Michigan Memory: Storming South U with all of my best friends after winning the national championship and getting to travel with SBA
Advice to current SBA: Take a chance on yourself. I encourage you to go after every opportunity that excites you, even if it’s a little scary. Your time at Michigan will be over before you know it, so bet on yourself and see who you become. Remember, the most important part of your journey as a student are the people around you — friends, classmates, coworkers, professors. Find those who will challenge and support you through it all.
HANNAH SHAPIRO | 2022-2023
Current Role: Analyst, Global Sponsorship and Experiential Marketing - Visa
Graduation Year: 2023 | Major: Sport Management, Minor: Business
Favorite Michigan Memory: Traveling to London and Paris with SBA and every Michigan football game ever!
Advice to current SBA: I know this is easier said than done, but try not to stress too much and to put things into perspective. If you work hard and do what you love, everything will work out. Take advantage of your time at Michigan because 4 years goes by faster than you think.
ETHAN TIPPING | 2020-2022
Current Role: Associate, Integrated Media Planner - OMD Worldwide
Graduation Year: 2022 | Major: Sport Management and Communication & Media, Minor: Business
Favorite Michigan Memory: Rushing the field after Michigan's big win over Ohio State and graduating in person with all of my friends and classmates.
Advice to current SBA: During my time at Michigan, I was incredibly busy bouncing from commitment to commitment while still making time to have fun with friends. The best advice I can give you is to let yourself be bored every once in a while. Sometimes our greatest ideas and adventures start with twiddling our thumbs. Make sure you don't rush to social media or other sources of entertainment when there is a lull in your day; that's how SBAJ came to be!
ALEX PORTE | 2019-2020
Current Role: Partner Management, National Basketball Association (NBA), New York NY
Graduation Year: 2020 | Major(s): Sport Management and Communication & Media
Favorite Michigan Memory: Working on the field for every football game for three years, rushing South U during the 2018 National Championship basketball run, and spending every day with my best friends.
Advice to current SBA: Find something outside of class that you can take ownership of, and put your energy into making a difference! You can always make time for things and people you care about.
KATHARINE BOHLMANN | 2017-2019
Current Role: Director, Business Solutions/Partnership Strategy, Miami Dolphins & Hard Rock Stadium - Miami, FL
Graduation Year: 2019 | Major: Sport Management | Minors: Business and Spanish
Favorite Michigan Memory: Getting to work with Michigan Football in PR for four years!
Advice to current SBA: The University of Michigan and the Michigan Sport Business Association provide you with so many resources and opportunities to succeed as you enter the sport industry. Take advantage of every opportunity to meet your peers, network with alums and industry professionals, learn from your professors and colleagues, and gain experience in various industry sectors. You never know what opportunity might arise! Michigan is truly the best network in sports -- Forever Go Blue!
SAMUEL LOWENTHAL | Winter 2017
Current Role: Manager, Partnership Development, New York City Football Club - New York, Ny
Graduation Year: 2017 | Major: Sport Management
Favorite Michigan Memory: As part of a two-week "internship" with the Fox Sports 1 Opening Drive, four other Michigan students and I traveled in a bus dressed up as Coach Harbaugh. We stopped in 11 cities, going to baseball games and appearing on local news stations to promote the Michigan vs. Utah game in Salt Lake City, where the tour concluded (Coach Harbaugh's first game on September 3rd, 2015).
Advice to current SBA: Utilize the Michigan network! Especially in Sports Business, Michigan has one of the most extensive networks of any school in the country. If there is a specific company you want to work at, there is a high probability that there will be a Michigan grad (and many times an SBA grad) working at that company. If you reach out to them via LinkedIn or otherwise and emphasize the Michigan connection, more times than not, that person will be willing to help in any way possible.
JORDAN GERTZMAN | 2015-2017
Current Role: Executive Recruiting Associate, Creative Artists Agency
Graduation Year: 2018 | Major: Sport Management and Business
Favorite Michigan Memory: Interviewing Jeff Gordon for an SBA event on the Robertson Auditorium stage in Ross.
Advice to current SBA: Get involved early, connect with older students in leadership roles, and take advantage of the alum network!
JAKE GOLDBERG | Fall 2015
Graduation Year: 2015 | Major: Sport Management
Advice to current SBA: With year-round programming focused on immersing its members in the world of sports business, SBA provided countless opportunities for me to learn about different career paths in sports and the trends moving the industry forward.
RYAN ROUNICK | 2014-2015
Current Role: MBA Candidate at University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business - Ann Arbor
Graduation Year: 2015 | Major: Sport Management
Favorite Michigan Memory: Too many count... however, one of my favorite memories is Michigan football's first-ever night game in history when U-M defeated Notre Dame 35-31.
Advice to current SBA: Continue to network (if you haven't started, it's never too late) and build connections with your peers and executives in the industry. Maintaining these relationships will be essential to your future success. But most importantly, have fun and enjoy school!
HARRISON FORMAN | 2013-2014
Current Role: Platform Partnerships, LeagueApps - New York City, NY | Executive Producer, UpDating - New York City, NY
Graduation Year: 2014 | Major: Sport Management and Entrepreneurship
Favorite Michigan Memory: Graduation ceremony in the Big House. I was fortunate to represent the School of Kinesiology in the locker room & on the main platform with the keynote speakers. They threw me up on the big screen a few times with my family & friends able to sit in a special section. It was an incredible moment and, after reflecting a few years later, it remains one of my life's most extraordinary moments.
Advice to current SBA: Find your baby! Find that one passion/legacy you can leave behind as a student that no one can take away from you,, and you'll come back five years later and still see it! Maximize your time as a student for networking! Saying "I am a student at Michigan" is one of the most powerful statements in business. All business leaders, CEOs, entrepreneurs love to give back, and you'd be surprised what a cold email to a person you admire will lead to (especially if they also went to Michigan). Just go for it! Diversify your on-campus experience. Meet student leaders from other departments and schools, engineers, designers, marketers, and financiers -- sometimes; you have to get outside of the bubble of your major to gain a fresh perspective on your major & career trek.
DEXTER MASON | 2011-2013
Current Role: President, Founders Junior Council (FJC) &
Director of the Strive Initiative/Head of Social Impact & DEI Strategy - Detroit, MI
Graduation Year: 2013 | Major: Sport Management
Favorite Michigan Memory: Men's013 Final Four run for Michigan Men’s Basketball team.
Advice to current SBA: Create genuine relationships with your classmates!
RYAN KNAPP | 2010-2011
Current Role: Associate Director, Projects at Wasserman - Charleston, SC
Graduation Year: 2011 | Major: Sport Management
FavoriThere'sigan Memory: Too many to name. There's nothing better than a Fall Football SaturdayDon'tnn Arbor.
Advice to current SBA: Don't get so caught up only meeting with the most senior folks. The most important network is that of your peers. Those people I still chat with today and lean on for advice.
DANIEL SCHACHNE | 2009-2010
Current Role: Head of Strategy, Jordan Brand at Nike, Inc. - Portland, OR
Graduation Year: 2010 | Major: Sport Management
Favorite Michigan Memory: Picking one favorite Michigan memory is so hard! Obviously, football games are a highlight. But, what I loved about my experience was just the incredible people I met and built relationships with. Whether that was with the staff, faculty, classmates, or close friends, I will treasure those relationships and what they contributed to my incredible experience at Michigan.
Advice to current SBA: Leverage SBA to better understand what you want to do when you graduate. The club allows you to surround yourself with individuals with similar goals and does an incredible job connecting you to alums across the sportdon'tustry. Leverage these events, and don't be afraid to reach out to alums. We are here to help and are a great resource!
RACHEL LARY | 2008-2009
Current Role: Senior Director of Consulting Strategy, Seismic - London, UK
Graduation Year: 2009 | Major: Sport Management and Marketing
Favorite MichiganWomen's: I was a part of the Michigan Women's Lacrosse team all four years of college, so over the course of that time, we created many memories together, but my favorite one was "aving the opportunity to hol" up the “GO BLUE, M CLUB SUPPORTS YOU” banner as thdidn'tball team ran onto the field. I didn't realize how special of an expit'snce it was then, but looking back itI'verobably one of the coolest things I've done.
Advice to current SBA: As difficult and uncomfortable as it may feel, embrace uncertainty and be ok with not It'sing what your next step might be. It's ok not to have the answers or have a set plan because, naturally everything is constantly changing. The syou'llyou can embrace this, the sooner you'll be ready to take on the next thing.
KELLEN EPSTEIN | 2007-2008
Current Role: Senior Major Gifts Officer, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy UofM - Ann Arbor, MI
Graduation Year: 2008 | Major: Sport Management
Favorite Michigan Memory: Front-row football seats our senior year. And traveling to away games!
Advice to current SBA: Get involved early and draw on the alum community as much as possible! There are so many alums out there who still care so much about SBA and would love to stay involved.
SCOTT TSUCHIYAMA | 2006-2007
Current Role: VP of Design, EVERFI - Nashville, TN
Graduation Year: 2007 | Major: Sport Management
AARON SEABRON | 2005-2006
Current Role: Vice President, US Sports Adidas - Portland OR
Graduation Year: 2006 | Major: Sport Management and Communications
Favorite Michigan Memory: Football games.
Advice to current SBA: Enjoy the moment and the time you ait'sn. You value it so much more when it's gone.
TODD HEYDEN | SBA Founder | 2003-2005
Current Role: Chief Executive Officer, Avance Health - Chicago IL
Graduation Year: 2005 | Major: Sport Management and Communications
Favorite Michigan Memory: Founding the SBA (not a joke).
Advice to curren" S"A: Follow your dDon't. Never take "no" for an answer. Don't let colleges and curriculums dictate what you want or think you should do.
PAST VICE PRESIDENTS
ZACHARY BETRON AND ELLA CANAVAN | 2022-2023
LEAH COLTHORP AND LAUREN LEVY | 2021-2022
LEAH COLTHORP AND DAMON LEJA | 2020-2021
GABBY DYREK AND ALEXA ALONSO | 2019-2020
MATT SHAPIRO AND GABBY DYREK | 2018-2019
JUSTIN BERGMAN | 2017-2018
TREVOR RUTLEDGE | Winter 2017
SAM LOWENTHAL | Fall 2016
ALLY FUTTERMAN | Winter 2016
JORDAN GERTZMAN | Fall 2015
OSTAP RAPEYKO | 2014-2015
ERICA BLOOM | 2013-2014
SARA MCMALL | 2012-2013
AMANDA SCHUTTE | 2010-2011
RYAN KNAPP | 2009-2010
DANIEL SCHACHNE | 2008-2009