In 1975, as part of a Southern Connecticut State College outreach effort, he founded the New Haven Age Group Track and Field and Adult Fitness program. He served as coach-coordinator for this program for 25 years. The program has worked with over 4000 young boys and girls. It is now in its 49th year and continues to be managed by parents and adult volunteers. He also served on the coaching staff at Southern Connecticut State University for 43 years: coaching football from 1964 -1967 and track and field from 1964 -2007. In 1993, he represented the United States of America in the capacity of Assistant Track and Field Coach for Women at the “USA vs. Great Britain” in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1997, he was head coach for USA Women at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Paris, France. In 2003, he was head coach for the women’s team, at the “USA vs. Great Britain and Russia” in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2003, he was head coach of the USA Women’s Track and Field at the World Cup in Madrid. In Spain 2007, he was assistant coach for USA Women’s Track and Field at the World Cup in Valencia Spain. He is a founding member of the organizing group that established the United States of America Track and Cross Country Coaches Association and he is life member of the USA Women’s Track Coaches Association.

Shauntaye Williams-Monroe is a native of Norwalk, CT where she resided until her college years when she relocated to New Haven. Shauntaye currently serves as the Associate Director of Alumni Communications at the University of New Haven. She also serves as the Communications Council Director of the Junior League of Greater New Haven.

Shauntaye earned her Master of Arts Degree in Communication with a Concentration in New Media Marketing from Southern New Hampshire University. Ms. Williams-Monroe is a member of the Social Media Association, Black Marketers Association, and the American Marketing Association.

Che Dawson is a longtime youth advocate and athletics coach in the city of New Haven. Currently, he is the principal of Highville Charter School. Previously, he worked in operations at Amistad Elementary School and Success Charter Network, served as Youth Services Director for the City of New Haven and was Executive Director of Leadership, Education and Athletics in Partnership (LEAP), a youth advocacy organization based in New Haven. Dawson was a National Urban Fellow and Broad Resident. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Adelphi University; a Master’s in Public Education from Baruch College and a Master’s in educational leadership from the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems.

Jake Halpern is a New York Times bestselling author and the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize. He writes for the New York Times, the New Yorker, and the Wall Street Journal. He is a former Fulbright Scholar who now teaches writing at Yale University. His two sons, Sebastian and Lucian, are alumni of the club.

Sarah Blanton has worked in the non-profit sector for 20+ years. She is currently the CEO of 4-CT, a non-profit organization that designs, implements and evaluates cash transfer programs and guaranteed income pilots for individuals coming home from incarceration. Before Sarah’s current job, she held a leadership role with Achievement First Charter School Network and was the Derrick Bell fellow in Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, where she earned her JD. Sarah has served on several boards, including The Guilford Foundation, A Better Chance, Horizons at the Foote School, Elevate Charter Schools, and the New Haven Age Group Track Club, where her two children run.