Episode 16 of Prodigy Search Presents features Dan Griffis, President, Global Partnerships for the Oak View Group.

A veteran of over 20 years in the sports and entertainment business, Griffis speaks about the key to building relationships, fostering those relationships throughout the years, which has ultimately lead to multiple-billions of dollars in sponsorship revenue.  Despite that tremendous success and unparalleled  leadership, Griffis emphasizes that his career mantra in building relationships is to “make many more deposits than withdrawals.”

Episode 15 of Prodigy Search Presents features Mike Newquist, the Vice President of Event Development, Marketing & Ticketing for the UFC. Additionally, as a result of COVID-19, Mike assumed the additional responsibility of leading all medical procedures and travel logistics for UFC’s Fight Island.

In this episode, Mike discusses how COVID-19 directly affected the UFC, but more specifically, his key areas of focus and top priorities within the organization. He shares incredible statistics surrounding the most recent Connor McGregor fight in January and the attendance records that the UFC broke for three arenas across the country; 2020 was off to a great start for the UFC. Then COVID-19 hit, and the UFC went from breaking arena attendance records to a fan-less fight card in Brazil on March 14. Mike takes a deep dive into the creation, process, and logistics behind a successful July on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. He delves into the data, including the number of flights from countries across the globe and the 18,000+ COVID tests that were conducted over the 6-week time frame. We hope you all enjoy getting a behind the scene “look” at the development of Fight Island and if you’d like to learn more, check out the UFC’s YouTube Series - https://youtu.be/BOOlIXLOQ40.

Episode 14 of Prodigy Search Presents features Dr. Sarah Hillyer, Director at University of Tennessee’s Center for Sport, Peace and Society. In addition to her role at the University, Sarah leads and administers the Global Sports Mentoring Program, a worldwide Initiative of the U.S. Department of State.   

In this episode, Sarah discusses the overall development, creation and launch of the Center in 2012 in addition to the success and recognition it has received over the last eight years. The Center was recognized by then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as the sole cooperative partner of the State Department to create a global initiative designed to empower women, girls, and persons with disabilities through sport. Since 2012, Hillyer and her team have worked alongside more than 1,000 women, men, and youth from 80+ countries, impacting tens of thousands. In 2018, ESPN named the center’s partnership initiative with the U.S. Department of State and espnW as the winner of the Stuart Scott Humanitarian Award.  She also shares and highlights a few of her personal favorite stories as part of the program. Dr. Sarah is extremely passionate about the movement of empowering women and people with disabilities all over the world and describes her groundbreaking work in her true, humbling manner.  

A little more about Dr. Sarah’s background:   Sarah Hillyer wants to live in a world filled with freedom of movement, innovative ideas, thoughtful people, and inspiring books, films, and creative media projects that tell the real-life the stories of everyday sporty heroes creating a more just, equitable, and free world.  

As an educator and consultant with more than 30 years of experience, she’s worked with the U.S. Department of State, United States Olympic & Paralympic Committees, Islamic Federation of Women’s Sports, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, PGA of America, Women’s Tennis Association, Google, Procter & Gamble, Saatchi & Saatchi, LA, dozens of National Paralympic & Olympic Committees, (and more) creating programs that use the unique attributes of sport and physical activity to create innovative social movements and promote peace around the world.  

In 2011, Hillyer was named the Georgetown University Sport and Peace-building Post-Doctoral Fellow – a fellowship sponsored by HRH King Abdullah II of Jordan. In 2012, she launched the University of Tennessee’s Center for Sport, Peace, & Society housed in the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences. The Center was recognized by  then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton as the sole cooperative partner of the State Department to create a global initiative designed to empower women, girls, and persons with disabilities through sport. Since 2012, Hillyer and her team have worked alongside more than 1,000 women, men, and youth from 80+ countries, impacting tens of thousands. In 2018, ESPN named the center’s partnership initiative with the U.S. Department of State and espnW as the winner of the Stuart Scott Humanitarian Award.  

Hillyer received her doctoral degree in the Sociocultural Study of Sports from the University of Tennessee in 2010. She holds a master’s degree in Sport Psychology from Murray State University and a BA in Sports Administration from Liberty University. She was a division I NCAA basketball player at Virginia Tech.  When she’s not using sports to change the world, you can find her spending quality time with family, playing one-on-one basketball with her nephew, or day-dreaming about what the world will look like when everyone realizes their full potential and unleashes their best selves for the sake of all humanity.

Episode 13 of Prodigy Search Presents features Timothy Wise, the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Facilities and Event Operations at the University of Miami. Tim's department oversight includes: facilities and maintenance services, capital projects/construction, facilities master planning, event management and guest services, camps/clinics, risk management and IT. He is also the liaison to the Watsco Center and Hard Rock Stadium, and also serves as the sport administrator for Miami’s rowing team.   In this episode, Tim discusses his current role as Associate AD during COVID-19  in addition to the massive capital improvement projects across their entire campus including but not limited to the reconstruction of the Scwartz Center (sports academic center), new development of Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility (state-of-the-art football facility) and currently working on building a brand new indoor baseball training facility. He also talks about his involvement with Minority Opportunities Athletics Association (MOAA), and organization that provides the access and opportunity for minorities as they continue their career both on and off the playing field. Tim is passionate about Diversity and Inclusion initiatives for MOAA as well as the University of Miami and prides himself on his efforts.  Thank you, Tim for your time and willingness to share.

Episode 12 of Prodigy Search Presents features Meredith Scerba, the Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs at the University of South Florida. As Senior Associate AD for External Affairs, Meredith oversees everything that is fan facing from a collegiate athletics perspective which includes marketing, communications, and TV radio broadcast (Bulls Vision).  In this episode, Meredith discusses her transition to collegiate athletics and the challenges USF faces in a competitive sports market in Tampa. She also shares her challenging, yet rewarding and successful, experience working as the executive director for the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida. Lastly, Meredith talks about how she began in sports and the importance of influential women leaders in sports and entertainment, specifically who are involved in WISE (Women in Sports and Events). Thank you, Meredith for your time and willingness to share.

Episode 11 of Prodigy Search Presents features Ju’Riese Colón, the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a nonprofit organization committed to ending all forms of abuse in sport. As CEO, Ju’Riese leads the strategic vision and direction of the organization to ensure every athlete is safe, supported, and strengthened through sport. In this episode Ju’Riese talks about the continued evolution of the start-up organization and the growth it has experienced over the last three years. She also shares her experience working with the US Olympic and Paralympic NGB’s, specifically relating to investigating the numerous abuse claims. Lastly, Ju’Riese covers the US Center for SafeSport’s continued educational safety training and how it continues to be relevant especially during the time of virtual learning and athlete training.   

Ju’Riese formerly served as the National Vice President of Child & Club Safety for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. She was responsible for developing and leading the child safety policies and initiatives for more than 1,100 Boys & Girls Clubs Organizations and nearly 4,300 Boys & Girls Club locations across the United States, including those located on Native lands and military bases.   

Her professional experience also includes leading prevention and outreach initiatives with youth serving organizations serving families, educators, law enforcement, and diverse communities. Ju’Riese is an experienced child advocate and serves as an expert on issues related to child safety.  

Thank you Ju’Riese for the time and your willingness to share!  

To Find out more on the U.S. Center for SafeSport visit - uscenterforsafesport.org

Episode 10 of Prodigy Search Presents features a one-on-one discussion with Laurence Mathieu-Leger, Director and Co-Producer of highly acclaimed documentary, "Willie". This episode serves as part 2 of our recent webinar "Willie" Creating Productive Conversations About Race. Laurence shares her experience with filming, directing and producing Willie in such a crucial timeline to get out a final cut in time for HotDocs, an international film festival focused on documentaries. She also speaks to the importance the film has on our society today and specifically what Willie has done for many black hockey players around the world.  Laurence is an award-winning producer, director, and editor, as well as a mother of three.  Based in New York City, Laurence specializes in long and short format documentary projects – both for broadcast and digital.  With over 12 years of experience in creative and managing roles, her work has been featured on major networks and publications such as The Guardian, Reuters, the American Museum of Natural History, and the United Nations among others.  In 2017, Laurence received international recognition after winning a World Press Photo award for her groundbreaking work on the Guardian interactive production The Injustice System – which she spearheaded.  In 2018, she was honored with the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award in the continuing coverage category for her work on Keystone XL: Driving the US pipeline route.  Thank you Laurence for taking the time and for your willingness to share!

Prodigy Search Presents is proud to announce a special LIVE panel discussion focused on the highly acclaimed documentary, WILLIE.  As a proud supporter of WILLIE , Prodigy Search is dedicated to addressing the issues surrounding racism and social justice , not only within the sports community, but within our own community and across the country as well. As a supporter and ally of the black community, we are hopeful that this  LIVE DISCUSSION  will help further educate society about racial  justice  and will help act as a facilitator of change.  Hosted By:  Anson Carter NBC and MSG Hockey Analyst Former NHL Player With:  Wayne Simmonds 12-year NHL Veteran Current member of the Buffalo Sabres  Bryant McBride Producer of "Willie," and Sports Technology Entrepreneur  David Alward Canadian Consul General to New England, Former Premier of New Brunswick and a key contributor to "Willie"  Frank Nakano GM/SVP of Sports and Entertainment at JP Morgan Chase and key contributor to "Willie"

Episode Nine of PRODIGY SEARCH PRESENTS features Molly Arbogast, President and CEO of POV Sports Marketing - an agency she launched in 2016. Before launching POV, Molly spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, IMG/Learfield, the WNBA and Palace Sports & Entertainment - all on the partnership sales side. Molly shares her experience as a female sports marketing executive within the industry and how she became successful in the eventual launch of her own agency. She also talks about POV Sports Marketing's platform, their clients, special projects and potential future opportunities. Thank you Molly for taking the time and for your willingness to share!

Episode Eight of PRODIGY SEARCH PRESENTS features Brett Diamond, COO of Wise Ventures Esports and Minnesota Rokkr, a Call of Duty team owned by the Wilf Family (Owners of the Minnesota Vikings). He previously spent time with the Minnesota Vikings and NFL League Office.  Brett discusses the development and launch of one of Call of Duty League's newest teams, Minnesota Rokkr as well as his transition from traditional sports to the esports space. He also shares the impact of COVID-19 and how they have continued to transition to online competitions given the cancellations of live events. Thank you Brett for taking the time and for your willingness to share!