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EVENT INFO
How will the business of college athletics continue to evolve, living in an era of student-athlete empowerment and inching closer to a world with super-conferences?
How have agencies and consulting firms continually imparted positive change upon the business and marketing of sports?
How are professional sports teams adapting to ever-changing technology to improve the fan experience while maximizing revenues for their franchises?
Join the Alumni Association and an esteemed panel of sports industry experts for networking and a panel discussion featuring these contemporary trends in the business of sports (and more)!
QUESTIONS?
Contact Hannah Jakob, Director of Alumni Engagement Programming.
Please Note: Photographs and/or video recordings taken at this event may be used in University promotional and other materials.
EVENT MODERATOR AND PANELISTS
Dr. Patrick Rishe '92 (Moderator)
Director, Founder/CEO, Sportsimpacts
Sports Business Contributor, FORBES.com
Patrick Rishe is a Sports Business educator, consultant, and thought-leader. He is the Executive Director of the Sports Business program within the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and a sports commentator whose insights have recently appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box, ESPN's Outside the Lines, Yahoo Finance, CNN and other national publications.
Jake Burns
Chief Strategy and Development Officer
Tepper Sports & Entertainment
Jake Burns is the Chief Strategy and Development Officer at Tepper Sports & Entertainment. Burns focuses on forward-looking, high-level strategic initiatives, encompassing commercial endeavors of significant impact across the enterprise, while also guiding the Business Strategy and Analytics team.
Tanya Downey
Vice President, Brand Consulting
Elevate
Tanya Downey is Vice President, Brand Consulting at Elevate Sports Ventures and a former Commercial Partnerships Consultant. Downey has a diverse work experience in the sports industry and spent a significant amount of time at Major League Soccer, where they held various roles in partnership marketing from 2015 to 2021.
Corrine Holman-Martin
Vice President, Client Consulting + Services
GMR Marketing
Corinne Holman-Martin brings over 19 years of sports marketing and event activation experience for events such as eight Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, NFL Super Bowl and NCAA championships and Toronto International Film Festival. Her work includes brand activation strategy and operation planning for domestic and global events including brand launches and VIP executive hosting.
Gerard Littlejohn '07
Senior Director of Partnerships and Social Impact
GMR Marketing
Gerard Littlejohn is a Senior Director of Partnerships and Social Impact for GMR Marketing. He has helped Google, Xfinity and Cigna weave purpose and culture into their partnerships. In 2023, Gerard was named to the Charlotte Business Journal’s 40 under 40, and QCity Metro’s Power 40 list. He has also been featured in The Athletic, Front Office Sports, and Black Enterprise.
Amy Yakola
Deputy Commissioner - Chief of External Affairs
The ACC
Amy Yakola is the Deputy Commissioner and Chief of External Affairs at the Atlantic Coast Conference. She serves as an interim ACC spokesperson, overseeing promotional efforts to prioritize the ACC and its nearly 10,000 student-athletes, 15 world class institutions, 28 sponsored sports, championships and events across the League. She is also the conference office liaison to the league’s development directors.