SquashSmarts Staff

Stephen Gregg Executive Director since May 2004 215-895-4963 e-mail

Steve joined SquashSmarts in May 2004 after spending four years at the United States Squash Racquets Association as its first Director of Junior Development. Prior to the USSRA, Steve gained valuable coaching, administrative and leadership experience as a teaching pro and NCCA Division I college athlete at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. “I consider myself fortunate to lead a program whose mission provides opportunities for children to become passionate about sports and education.” A four-year varsity squash player at Trinity, Steve is a founding director of the National Urban Squash Association, a former member of the USSRA Junior Committee and an active member the Philadelphia Squash Association, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia and various other civic organizations. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Steve’s credentials include: - U.S. Squash Racquets Association, Director of Junior Development - Bala Cynwyd, PA - New York Racquet & Tennis Club, Teaching Professional - New York, NY - U.S. National Skill Level Champion, Squash - 5.0 Division - New Haven Lawn Club, Head Squash Professional - New Haven, CT - Self-contained cross-country bicycling expedition - Virginia to Oregon - Trinity College - Hartford, CT - The Taft School - Watertown, CT

Jeanie Shanahan Executive Assistant & Office Manager since July 2007 215-221-6860 e-mail

Jeanie Shanahan joined SquashSmarts in July 2007 after working for the United States Squash Racquets Association for six years as the Office Assistant and Office Manager. The USSRA introduced her to the game of squash. “I am honored to work with the students of SquashSmarts and interact and help with the growth of the SquashSmarts community” With a city wide high school dropout rate of over 50%, Jeanie feels strongly that “SquashSmarts will enhance the high school and college student graduation rates and help the students develop into solid citizens and community leaders in Philadelphia.” Jeanie resides in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, is a mother of five children and has five grandchildren.

Katie Bicknese Program Director West Philadelphia since November 2007 215-895-4964 e-mail

Katie joined SquashSmarts in November of 2007 after spending two years with City Year Greater Philadelphia where she first served as a corps member at Overbrook High School in West Philadelphia providing classroom assistance and running after-school programs. She then worked in the Development Department raising money so that the next group of young idealists could continue to make a difference in Philadelphia’s communities. Katie discovered her passion for community involvement at Penn State where she served hundreds of hours with Alpha Phi Omega, a national co-educational service fraternity. Of all the community work she's done, Katie is most thrilled when she sees a student's face light up after learning something challenging. "After-school programming is what made me enjoy my childhood and find a place for myself. Nothing makes me happier than being able to give such an incredible opportunity to today's youth." Originally from Pittsburgh but most recently from Chester County, Katie's credentials include: - Development Associate and Corps Member for City Year, Philadelphia, PA - Community Service Instructor for Summer Study, University Park, PA - Member of Alpha Phi Omega National Co-Educational Service Fraternity - Penn State University, University Park, PA

Dana Sanders Development Director since July 2009 215-221-6860 e-mail

Dana joint SquashSmarts in July 2009. Prior to SquashSmarts, Dana spent six years with Comcast at their corporate headquarters, most recently as Senior Federal Contract Compliance Analyst for the entire enterprise. He was responsible for responding to U.S. Department of Labor Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ audit requests and related requirements, including preparing and submitting annual reports and filings. His underlying passion for technology led him to create several solutions for Comcast, including a system redesign that saved Comcast over $100,000 annually and reduced turnaround from 90 days to 24 hours. A native Philadelphian, Dana is an alumnus of the Community Scholars Program of Germantown Friends School, which provides students with financial assistance to attend the private Quaker school. This opportunity gave Dana the access and focus he needed to attend Emerson College in 1989. “Being a community scholar at GFS taught me the value of service and giving back through works and deeds.” Dana’s energetic personality and strength as a writer and organizer will serve him well in his new development role at SquashSmarts. - Comcast, Senior Federal Contract Compliance Analyst, Philadelphia, PA - Member of Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) - Member of National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) - Member of Epsilon Omega Psi Community Service Fraternity - Emerson College, Boston, MA - Germantown Friends School, Philadelphia, PA

Brett Camarda Squash Director West Philadelphia since August 2009 215-895-4964 e-mail

Brett joined SquashSmarts in August 2009. He began playing squash at the Merion Cricket Club and the Episcopal Academy while growing up in Haverford, PA. Brett graduated from St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH and was a 4-year varsity starter and senior co-captain at Brown University where he graduated with a degree in East Asian Studies. Brett was first introduced to SquashSmarts in 2007 when he spent the summer interning at the organization. He spent the following summer teaching at the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in order to gain valuable teaching and coaching experience. “I am unbelievably excited to be able to re-join the SquashSmarts family and continue to work with students – both familiar and new!”

Jessica Kaszycki Academic Director North Philadelphia since August 2010 215-221-6860 e-mail

Jessica joined SquashSmarts in 2010 after spending a year and half working with women and children of the Hispanic community in Wilmington, DE. Jessica graduated from Widener University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish. During her experience at Widener, Jessica discovered her passion for working with children and community involvement. Jessica taught English oral communication classes while studying in Spain in 2008 and was the student leader of an international alternative student break in 2009. During that time Jessica was responsible of fundraising and helping to lead a group of students to Argentina for a 10 day community service project. “Of all the community involvement I have done, I really feel like working with middle and high school students; it is where you can make the biggest impression and the most immediate difference. I’m very excited to be a part of the SquashSmarts team and to have the opportunity to work with the great kids in our program.” - Member and Co-President of Alpha Mu Gamma, National Foreign Language Honor Society - Secretary and Treasurer of the Honors Program of General Education - Mental Health Aide/Student Mentor for Delaware Guidance, DE - Big Brother Big Sister, Chester County, PA - Widener University, PA - Universidad de Leon, Spain

Brittany Hebden Squash Director North Philadelphia since September 2010 215-221-6860 e-mail

Britt joined SquashSmarts in 2010. As a native Philadelphian, she played squash at the CHASS club and at William Penn Charter School and went on to play four years of varsity squash for the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a degree from the Annenberg School of Communications. She was a highly ranked player in America and competitive world wide. Britt started volunteering for SquashSmarts while in high school and continued her relationships with the program through university. “SquashSmarts is an amazing program and it is so rewarding to be here everyday for the students!” - Big Brother/Big Sister Mentor - Penn Student Athletic Advisory Committee - United States Junior Open Champion - All Ivy Squash Team Championship - Comcast Corporation Government Intern - Destination Maternity Corporation Marketing Intern

The Grad Squad

Heather Green Allison Hart Kento Yasuhara

SquashSmarts and Drexel University’s Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program are partnering on a visionary study that will help SquashSmarts engage its students and improve the effectiveness of its academic curriculum. Initiated in June 2006, a graduate team (aka “The Grad Squad”) consisting of PhD doctoral and masters candidates from Drexel University’s Psychology program is helping SquashSmarts focus on two critical aspects of its after school programming, specifically: 1. Developing a longitudinal study of SquashSmarts’ demographics and student population. Dating back to the program's inception, the study will survey participants and paint a broad but in depth picture of the teenage audience SquashSmarts has recruited and worked with since its beginnings in 2001; 2. Examining both the immediate and the long-term impacts of SquashSmarts’ academic model on each class of students. The goal is to provide insightful feedback on how SquashSmarts staff member can enhance, replicate and improve the academic standards, methods and overall programming. The Grad Squad is supervised by Dr. Kirk Heilbrun, a member of SquashSmarts’ Board of Directors and the head of Drexel University’s Department of Psychology. In June 2007, a year after the study launched, the Eckerd Family Foundation announced a three-year $141,000 grant in support of The Grad Squad’s evaluation study. The mission of the Eckerd Family Foundation involves promoting meaningful and lasting change in the lives of vulnerable youth and their families. Their support will further enable the Grad Squad to measure the progress of SquashSmarts participants in the areas of academic performance, academic achievement skills, academic engagement, social competence and self-esteem over a three-year period. The project will also involve the assessment of comparison participants who will be recruited from the SquashSmarts’ partners schools and the surrounding community. Both SquashSmarts and non-SquashSmarts participants will be given the same pre and post-test measures. Comparing SquashSmarts participants with this control group will help the Grad Squad gauge the impact of the SquashSmarts program on its participants as well as suggest target outcome variables that other programs might consider.