CDW SPEAKERS
Bob Harris, CAE
There are more than 150,000 associations and 7,000 chambers in the USA. Bob Harris, CAE (certified association executive), works with thousands of organizations to improve performance and outcomes. Outside the USA he works with business associations in Jordan, Japan, Egypt, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Belarus, Republic of Georgia, Albania, and Cambodia. He believes nonprofit organizations should be as efficient and effective as any commercial business or franchise. He’s been called the “Martha Stewart of association management” for providing tips and templates to make governance and management efficient. The tools are free at www.nonprofitcenter.com. Simultaneous to his association work, he has worked in hospitality for Hyatt Hotels in Florida for 35 years.
Chris Wilson
Manager of Government Affairs Cone Health Chris is the recently retired City Manager for the city of Greensboro. He is shifting into his new role with Cone Health where he is responsible for local government affairs for the health system. Working to strengthen the ties between Cone Health and the cities and towns throughout the Triad. Chris firmly believes that partnership between our health systems and local government play a vital role in sustaining healthy communities.
Jake Weiss
Director, Research & Insights USTA Jake leads all things research at the USTA, helping better understand the entire tennis landscape in America in order to meet the needs of all those involved in the sport. Prior to the USTA, Jake worked on the agency side, consulting the likes of Nike, Apple and Meta on consumer insights.
Francie Barragan
Manager, Coach Development & Training USTA Southern Francie serves as the USTA Southern Manager of Coach Development and a Senior Coach Developer for USTA National. She restarted the Cape Fear Regional Tennis Foundation and served on the CTA board for many years. She also worked as the Tennis Service Rep for NC in recent years.
Kim Coston
President, USTA North Carolina Senior Vice President, Bank of America Senior Vice President within Bank of America’s Global Opportunity & Inclusion Organization (GOIO) where she leads key processes and external partnerships governance. In this role, she is responsible for the successful design, delivery, communication and administration of core O&I processes. She works closely with the GOIO leadership team and key partners across GHR for the timely administration of key processes and line of business-specific O&I deliverables for the enterprise. Kim also developed and manages the governance framework for a $4 million portfolio of 64 external partners across Talent Acquisition and O&I. Kim lives in Concord with her husband, Travis and daughter, Roxie, Smokey (9yr. old CavaPoo), and Kojak-ie (55 lb English Boxer who’s not 2 yet!). Outside of work she enjoys family time, quilting, embroidery, vegetable and rose gardens. She began playing tennis as a 2.5 NTRP adult in Charlotte. She loves leagues, tournaments, and social tennis. She’s volunteered for 17 years for the USTA Southern and currently serving a vice chair of Southern School committee, nationally she’s served for over 10 years and serves on Volunteer Engagement Committee chairing the Mentoring Subcommittee. In 2024 she became the President of USTA North Carolina after serving in various capacities for 20+ years. These volunteer roles allow Kim to leverage her passion for the sport of tennis and her professional experience to increase inclusion within all communities.
Allison Steinmetz
Director of Adult Programs USTA North Carolina Born and raised in Connecticut, Allison found her love for tennis at a young age when her dad and grandfather took her to the courts. She continued to play through high school, but took time away from tennis while attending the University of Connecticut where she earned a B.S. in Marine Science. Later, she moved to Mississippi for work in Marine Biology. While working full time, she furthered her education and earned a Fundamentals of Business Graduate Certificate from the University of Southern Mississippi, joined as many Adult tennis leagues as she could fit into her schedule, and taught tennis at the local courts as a part-time job. The tennis community in southern Mississippi became Allison’s family in an area far from home - this is when she knew she wanted to be surrounded by tennis and it’s community full-time! Allison now resides in High Point, North Carolina and, in September 2021, Allison joined the USTA North Carolina team as the Coordinator of Adult Programs. In December 2022, she accepted the positions of Director of Adult Programs.
Director of Adult Play, USTA North Carolina Before starting at USTA North Carolina in 2016 as the Tournaments & Competition Coordinator I was a stay at home mom wearing many hats, two of those were coaching middle school tennis and junior team tennis. Since then, I have become the Director of the Junior Pathway and have seen firsthand how integral JTT programming is to the pathway.
Director of Development and Programs, NC Tennis Foundation Kelly comes to USTA NC from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), based in Greensboro, where she spent nearly 30 years selling & marketing CCL's training & development programs, products, and services and managing a $1.6 million dollar global line of business. Kelly brings to our foundation a wealth of business development and strategic partnership experience, blended with a reputation for acquiring the resources to reach goals and objectives. She looks forward to raising the awareness and impact of the NCTF and increasing the number of NCTF grants and its annual contributions. Kelly also brings a life-long love and involvement for tennis! She played in high school and college, and continues to play on a variety of USTA adult teams. Not only is she one of the best sportswomen around, she never gives up, staying in a point or match longer than most! That tenacity and passion carries over to everything she does and will definitely convert to "wins" for the NCTF!
Morgan Lugo
Director of Marketing and Data USTA North Caolina Morgan Lugo is the Director of Marketing and Data for USTA North Carolina. She holds a Master of Public Administration from UNC–Chapel Hill and brings a unique blend of strategic communication and analytical expertise to her role. Morgan is passionate about equipping community tennis leaders with practical tools to broaden their reach and tell their stories effectively.
Robert Hogewood
Community Engagement & Training Manager USTA North Carolina Robert was born and raised in Greensboro, NC. As the son of a school teacher and sports broadcaster, Robert played many sports growing up, but exceled in junior and high school tennis. He helped lead Greensboro’s Page Pirates to a 2001 NCHSAA 4-A state championship. He went on to play collegiate tennis at Appalachian State University. Robert began working for USTA North Carolina in April of 2017 as the Adult Leagues Coordinator, and shortly after transitioned to Community Engagement and Training Coordinator. In this position, Robert’s role is to coordinate and expand the USTA School and Community Tennis programs, as well as the NJTL programs, throughout the state. He will work with numerous organizations, including local schools, parks and recreation departments, and YMCA’s in an effort to expand the game of tennis. Robert will also work with Community Tennis Associations and other local tennis organizations offering activations and other on court trainings.
Executive Director, USTA North Carolina Kelly Gaines grew up in Burlington, NC and began to play tennis at age 12. Kelly was fortunate enough to play college tennis at Peace College (now William Peace University) in Raleigh at a point in time when tennis scholarships or playing opportunities for women were not plentiful. After Peace, Kelly attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received her Bachelor’s Degree. After graduating in 1984, she took her first full time job as an Assistant Tennis Professional at Olde Forest Racquet Club. In 1985, Kelly was named Head Tennis Professional at North Hills Club in Raleigh. She was there for three years and then at that time was offered the assistant tennis coach position for both the Men and the Women at NC State University. Two years later, in 1989 she was named the Head Women's Coach. Her NC State teams rose to a top 40 team ranking in the ITA rankings. She led the first NC State player to a bid to compete for the NCAA Singles Championship. Gaines had two players who were on the ACC 50th Anniversary Women’s Tennis Team. In 1995, Kelly Gaines was hired to be the Executive Director of USTA North Carolina. She has seen a staff grow from 2 to 14 and membership triple during her tenure. She remains there today. Her duties at USTA North Carolina include administration of multiple employees, tournaments, leagues, on and off court activities and representing USTA North Carolina’s interests at the USTA Southern and USTA level. She also serves as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Tennis Foundation, the 501c3 organization, sister to USTA North Carolina. Kelly serves on the Board of Directors for the Winston-Salem Open that oversees the ATP 250 event each year. She serves on the Board of Trustees for her alma mater, William Peace University and is a member of the Greensboro Sports Council. She volunteers regularly at her church, Adams Farm Community Church. Kelly was lucky enough to marry Greg Gaines more than 25 years ago. He is the best life partner one could have.
Manager of Adult Play - Growth Leagues and Tournaments, USTA North Carolina Originally from Chattanooga, TN. Nick first learned to play tennis after walking over to the school tennis courts in middle school as he was waiting for his parents to pick him up. He and a friend asked the tennis coach to borrow some equipment to hit around and kill some time. Instinctively they grabbed a racquet and a yellow ball. After attempting to hit the ball back and forth with no tennis experience, they failed miserably and the tennis coach (who was giving a lesson on another court) suggested that we use a foam ball. Once we started hitting with the foam ball they fell in love with tennis and the rest is history. Nick started working at NC Tennis back in May of 2021. He oversees Adult Tournaments, Tennis On Campus, and growth programs. If you have any questions on those topics, please feel free to reach out to schedule a time to chat!
Claire Spencer
Owner Glow Court
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Katie Shane
Manager of Adult Play - Try Tennis & Traditional USTA North Carolina Katie Shane, originally from High Point, NC, has a long-standing passion for tennis that began in elementary school. She actively participated in USTA North Carolina junior programs, including Junior Team Tennis, and later joined her school’s JV and varsity tennis teams. After graduating high school, Katie pursued her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing Strategy at UNC Wilmington. While there, she became a member of UNCW Club Tennis and served on the club’s Executive Board for three years. She was also elected as Vice President of the UNCW Sports Club Council, which oversees the more than 30 sports clubs on campus. Katie watched UNCW Club Tennis more than triple in size throughout her time there, expanding from approximately 30 members in her freshman year to over 100 by her senior year. The club was honored to be recognized as USTA Southern’s Tennis on Campus Club of the Year in 2019. Katie now serves as Manager of Adult Play (Try Tennis and Traditional) for USTA North Carolina. It is an honor for her to be able to assist in the growth of tennis in her home state alongside the rest of the USTA North Carolina team!
John Hankinson
Adult Play Coordinator USTA North Carolina John Hankinson serves as the Adult Play Coordinator for USTA North Carolina, overseeing Try Tennis. Growing up on the courts of Cary Tennis Park, John began training at CTP at age 10 and started working part-time as a stringer/coach/tournament staff in 2016. John attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as Fundraising/Volunteering Chair and President of the Club Tennis team. Over the 3 years John was on the executive board for the team, UNC received 5 USTA awards, including John being recognized as the Tennis on Campus National Leader of the Year. Before joining the USTA NC staff, John served as a volunteer on the USTA NC Young Professionals Committee; the USTA Southern High School, TOC, and Collegiate Committee; and the USTA National Tennis on Campus Committee. He brings his passion for tennis and broad experience with USTA programs to help grow the game in North Carolina!