Coaching for Civic Leadership

A few years ago, Coach Josh Meyer and his team, the NCAA Division 2 Men’s college basketball team at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, made headlines.  During the 2017-2018 season, before games as the national anthem played, the team took a knee in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality, and oppression in all forms.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg. His students have graduated from what he calls their life lessons 101 curriculum, with a degree that is grounded in leadership, community, critical thinking and contextual awareness.

After 20-years as a coach and teacher, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to catch Josh during a time of reflection on his coaching career, the coaching profession, sports, and social justice.  

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More on Josh:

Josh earned his Master’s in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he worked with Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot and Coach Tommy Amaker to produce the "Coach as Teacher” project, which explores teaching and learning in co-curricular environments. Social justice, restorative practices and mindfulness guide Josh's approach to leadership, and he is also the author of an incisive piece for Inside Higher Ed called, “Why Coaching for Social Justice Matters.”

Most recently, Josh has been doing equity related work for the city of Burlington, Vermont as the Restorative Practices Coordinator for the Burlington School District, and is excited to join All Heart Inspirations, a business started by his partner, Ferene, that creates heart-centered spaces through storytelling, workshops, community engagements, culinary food and more.

If you prefer to use a podcast player not listed here, feel free to copy and paste the RSS feed into your player: http://www.coachingforcivicleadership.com/podcast?format=rss

Lindsay Kagawa Colas joined Wasserman in 2009 and is currently Executive Vice President, Talent and The Collective. With a focus on representing cultural conversation influencers, Colas oversees the careers of many influential Olympic medalists, including WNBA players Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Sue Bird, Brittney Griner, and Maya Moore, swimmer Simone Manuel, beach volleyball player April Ross, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad and Paralympian, Scout Bassett (Track and Field). Colas is widely considered to be a pioneer in the representation space, having negotiated the first ever Inclusion Rider into an athlete contract and the first maternity protection language into a major shoe and apparel deal. She is the most dominant agent ever in the WNBA, representing five of the last six #1 overall draft picks, the starting five on the 2016 Olympic team, half the 2018 WNBA All-Star team and eight of the last nine WNBA MVPs. 

Prior to Wasserman, Colas worked for BDA Sports Management, helping to manage premier NBA talent and founded both the Women's Elite Division and the agency's charitable giving arm, BDAgiving.

Colas received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Master of Arts in Sociology from Stanford where she was an All-District 8 performer and two-year captain of the women's volleyball team, which during her tenure, appeared in two National Championship matches and won an NCAA title in 1997. She was a Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 Award winner in 2018 and lives in Portland, OR with her husband and two sons.  

Follow her at @KagawaColas.

If you prefer to use a podcast player not listed here, feel free to copy and paste the RSS feed into your player: http://www.coachingforcivicleadership.com/podcast?format=rss

Clark Kellogg was a standout basketball player and student at Ohio State University, and went on to be the 8th player selected in the 1982 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game before chronic knee issues led him to pivot into broadcasting and serving as Vice President of Player Relations for the Pacers. He’s done radio and TV broadcasting for the Indiana Pacers, ESPN, and CBS Sports to name a few. Personally, I grew up hearing Clark’s voice broadcasting college basketball games and also on NBA 2k video games.

But what impresses me most is his work outside of sports. Clark is one of the most philanthropic individuals you’ll find, and it’s not every day that a former college basketball player goes on to serve his alma mater on the board of trustees.

Everett Glenn is a pioneering sports attorney and currently the President of ESP Education & Leadership Institute (Institute), a non-profit organization equipping young black and brown student-athletes, in particular those from under-resourced communities and schools, with the tools to adopt an academic, sport, and life balance.

Before establishing the Institute, Everett managed the careers of a host of professional athletes. in 1983 when he negotiated the richest contract in NFL history for a rookie wide receiver, and the first lifetime income contract in NFL history. During his sports career, Everett represented 14 NBA and NFL 1st round draft selections (including Clark Kellogg) and 4 Hall of Fame inductees. In the process, Everett became the first Black agent/attorney to represent multiple 1st round draft picks in the same NFL draft (twice) and remains the only agent/attorney of any ethnicity to represent multiple 1st round picks in the NBA and NFL in the same draft year (twice).

Everett is a 1974 graduate of Oberlin College (which is my alma mater and how we met), and received his law degree from Case-Western Reserve University.

This conversation offers us a glimpse into a very special athlete and agent relationship, which turned into so much more.

We broke this conversation into two parts. In part one, we talked about what it was like for them each growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as their athletic careers, their leadership, and their powerful example they demonstrate as an athlete and agent relationship.

In part two, we talk about Clark and Everett’s work outside of sport including their philanthropy, starting and serving community organizations, their views on the sports industry, and their advice to future sports leaders.

I feel very fortunate to know each of these two leaders and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Everett Glenn and Clark Kellogg.

If you prefer to use a podcast player not listed here, feel free to copy and paste the RSS feed into your player: http://www.coachingforcivicleadership.com/podcast?format=rss

Jen Fry is a native of Arizona, was a Division II volleyball player, who then coached in college for over 15 years, including stints at Elon University, the University of Illinois (2011 National Runner-Up), Washington State University, and Norfolk State University.  

Today, Jen is a social justice educator, assisting college athletics administrations, staff, coaches, and athletes – training them through an antiracist lens on issues of race, inclusion, intersectionality, diversity, and equity.

She is also currently working on her PhD in Geography at Michigan State University.

I really appreciated the opportunity to get to know Jen. I love everything she had to say, and really grateful that she contributed to this project.

I’d been following her for a while on Twitter, which I highly recommend. You can find her at @JenFryTalks.

Thanks for listening!

Clark Kellogg was a standout basketball player and student at Ohio State University, and went on to be the 8th player selected in the 1982 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds per game before chronic knee issues led him to pivot into broadcasting and serving as Vice President of Player Relations for the Pacers. He’s done radio and TV broadcasting for the Indiana Pacers, ESPN, and CBS Sports to name a few. Personally, I grew up hearing Clark’s voice broadcasting college basketball games and also on NBA 2k video games.

But what impresses me most is his work outside of sports. Clark is one of the most philanthropic individuals you’ll find, and it’s not every day that a former college basketball player goes on to serve his alma mater on the board of trustees.

Everett Glenn is a pioneering sports attorney and currently the President of ESP Education & Leadership Institute (Institute), a non-profit organization equipping young black and brown student-athletes, in particular those from under-resourced communities and schools, with the tools to adopt an academic, sport, and life balance.

Before establishing the Institute, Everett managed the careers of a host of professional athletes. in 1983 when he negotiated the richest contract in NFL history for a rookie wide receiver, and the first lifetime income contract in NFL history. During his sports career, Everett represented 14 NBA and NFL 1st round draft selections (including Clark Kellogg) and 4 Hall of Fame inductees. In the process, Everett became the first Black agent/attorney to represent multiple 1st round draft picks in the same NFL draft (twice) and remains the only agent/attorney of any ethnicity to represent multiple 1st round picks in the NBA and NFL in the same draft year (twice).

Everett is a 1974 graduate of Oberlin College (which is my alma mater and how we met), and received his law degree from Case-Western Reserve University.

The conversation offers us a glimpse into a very special athlete and agent relationship, which turned into so much more.

We broke this conversation into two parts. In part one, we talked about what it was like for them each growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as their athletic careers, their leadership, and their powerful example they demonstrate as an athlete and agent relationship.

Then in part two, we talk about Clark and Everett’s work outside of sport including their philanthropy, starting and serving community organizations, their views on the sports industry, and their advice to future sports leaders.

I feel very fortunate to know each of these two leaders and I hope you enjoy this conversation with Everett Glenn and Clark Kellogg.

If you prefer to use a podcast player not listed here, feel free to copy and paste the RSS feed into your player: http://www.coachingforcivicleadership.com/podcast?format=rss

David Thorpe is someone who has been inspiring me for years, without even knowing it. He is a writer, coach, teacher, thinker, and mentor to some of your favorite NBA players and coaches. He is someone who cares very much about the big picture. Thorpe spent 10 years as ESPN’s Lead NBA analyst, and in 2017 he published his first book, “Basketball is Jazz: Stories and Lessons From a Basketball Lifer.” drawing on his time coaching and training high school and NBA players. In Basketball is Jazz, he offers readers a glimpse into how the game is best taught, played, coached, and enjoyed. Most recently you can find him at TrueHoop.com. We talked about how David has designed his life, his coaching philosophy, how he builds relationships with his players off the court, and his interest and engagement in politics.

If you prefer to use a podcast player not listed here, feel free to copy and paste the RSS feed into your player: http://www.coachingforcivicleadership.com/podcast?format=rss