By Ashley Marshall, USTA Foundation
Turning to the business sector to find ambassadors to help the USTA Foundation continue serving up dreams, the charitable arm of tennis’ national governing body has announced the appointment of seven new board members.
Each board member will serve a three-year term, with two members appointed as directors at large and five serving on the Foundation’s advisory board.
“The USTA Foundation is proud to appoint our newest members to the board of directors,” said USTA Foundation Chairman James Blake. “Each not only brings a wealth of leadership in the business sector, which will help us in generating the support needed to achieve our fund development goals, but also has unique experiences in the sport of tennis and an understanding and appreciation of the work we do in supporting tennis and education programs, under-resourced youth and military service members and their families. We are looking forward to their ideas and support in achieving and maintaining our goals.”
The following individuals have been appointed:
Richard Ader, Director at Large: Ader is the founder of U.S. Realty Advisors, LLC, and has been in the corporate real estate net lease industry since 1968. He serves as chairman of the company and is the chief investment officer. A graduate of the University of Vermont, Ader has previously served as a member of the board of the Women's Sports Foundation and was co-owner of the New York Hamptons, a World TeamTennis Team.
Jamie Majeski, Director at Large: Majeski is the founder and vice chairman of Cydcor, the largest provider of outsourced sales services in North America. Majeski, who founded the Majeski Charitable Foundation to support and develop health and education programs for children in 2002, holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from St. Thomas University and continued his executive education at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
Stephen Butzlaff, Advisory Board Member: Butzlaff is currently serving his second term as USTA council chair for Adult Tennis after previously serving as president of the USTA Midwest Section and as president of the Midwest Youth Tennis & Education Foundation. In his decorated volunteer career, Butzlaff has received the Paul Dean Volunteer of the Year Award from the Chicago Tennis Patrons, the prestigious Mel Bergman Award from the Midwest Section and has been named to the Chicago District Tennis Hall of Fame.
Mark Leschly, Advisory Board Member: Leschly is a managing partner of Rho Capital Partners, a technology venture capital and growth equity firm, and Iconica Partners, a venture capital and growth equity firm investing at the intersection of technology, sports and media. Leschly is a former ATP touring professional selected to the Danish Davis Cup team as well as a former two-time captain and No. 1 singles and doubles player for the Harvard University men’s tennis team. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council of USTA Player Development.
Kevin Martinez, Advisory Board Member: Martinez serves as vice president of corporate citizenship at ESPN. In this role, he oversees all aspects of the company’s citizenship initiatives, including corporate giving, volunteerism, cause marketing and sustainability. He is a two-time recipient of The Cause Marketing Forum’s highest award, “The Halo Award,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Corporate Citizenship Award” and the Association of Cable Communicators’ prestigious “Beacon Award,” to name a few.
Ken Solomon, Advisory Board Member: Solomon is the chairman and chief executive officer of Tennis Channel. Since joining the network in 2005, he has tapped into the tennis community’s grass roots as well as health and fitness appreciation. In 1998, Solomon was named “Humanitarian of the Year” by H.E.L.P. Group, one of the largest and most influential children’s charities in the United States, for which he serves on the board.
Raj R. Vaswani, Advisory Board Member: Vaswani is vice president, law, at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), where he oversees legal support of the company’s commercial customer transactions and programs. An avid tennis player, Vaswani has also served on the Adult Competitions Committee for the Eastern section and has facilitated J&J’s sponsorship of numerous Eastern Tennis Association tennis events including “Battle of the Boroughs,” as well as J&J’s support of NJTL of Trenton, Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program and USTA Foundation’s Wounded Warriors program.