Staff
Chris Nowinski, PhD
Co-Founder & CEO, CLF
Chris Nowinski, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization leading the fight against concussions and CTE and dedicated to improving the lives of those...
Robert Cantu, MD
Co-Founder, Medical Director
Currently Dr. Cantu’s professional responsibilities include those of Medical Director and Director of Clinical Research, Dr. Robert ...
Lisa McHale
Director of Legacy Family Relations
Lisa McHale graduated from Cornell University, where she met her husband, Tom McHale, an All-American Defensive End for the Big Red. They m...
Julia Manning
Chief of Staff & Communications
Julia Manning joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation team in September 2018 after spending six years in broadcast journalism. Most recently, Julia worked as the 10PM producer at the CBS affiliate ...
Samantha Bureau, PhD
Director of Programs
Samantha Bureau, PhD joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation team in December 2021, following nearly five years with the Concussion Legacy Foundation Canada where she most recently acted as the Ass...
Brandon Drummond
Director of Digital Strategy & Operations
Brandon Drummond joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in March 2019 after spending the previous two years with Kepler Group, a digital marketing agency. Most recently, he worked as an Optimizati...
Meaghan Sheehan
Director of Development
Meaghan Sheehan joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation team as its Director of Development in January 2023. She brings decades of experience fundraising and event planning for healthcare, educatio...
Brandon Boyd
Education Programs Manager
Brandon Boyd joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in July, 2017. Brandon now manages CLF’s education programs, including their Flag Football Under 14 campai...
Michael Burke
Patient Programs Manager
Michael Burke joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in January 2017. Michael manages CLF's patient services, including the CLF HelpLine, peer support programs, and co...
Emily Crouch-Ponder
Database Manager
Emily joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in August 2022 after moving from Austin to Tacoma when her husband got stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McCord. Growing up in a football-centric household...
Sagar Dave
Digital Technology Manager
Sagar joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in August 2022 after working in technology and programming for a decade. In his previous role of programming services manager at Reading Area Community...
Morgan Hicks
Development Manager
Morgan joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in January of 2021. A lifelong soccer player and self-proclaimed 'fangirl' of the US Women's National Team, she first heard about CLF when Brandi Chas...
Brandt McCartney
Military Program Manager
Brandt McCartney joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in June 2022 after transitioning from SAAS (Software as a Service) sales to pursue his passion of raising awareness for mental health in the...
Samantha Pyle Buono
Legacy Family Community Coordinator
Samantha joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation in August of 2022. She first became acquainted with CLF in 2015 when her father passed away after years of struggling with cognitive and behavioral ...
Doria Josma
Development Coordinator
Doria is a fraternal twin who was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. She is passionate about arts and culture, social justice, youth development, and girls/women empowerment. Doria received her bache...
Nicholas Paik
Digital Content Coordinator
Nicholas Paik joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation as Digital Content Coordinator in April 2021. He comes from a marketing & communications background, and has had experience working at non-...
Niki Popyer
Finance & Administration Coordinator
Niki Popyer joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation as the Finance & Administration Coordinator in July 2022. Her first contact with CLF was as a high school basketball player who sus...
Tricia Ruiz
Patient Services Coordinator
Tricia Ruiz joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation as a Patient Services Coordinator in September 2022. She was born in central California and raised in eastern Montana, where hunting, fishing and...
Taya Leforte
Assistant HelpLine Coordinator
Taya Leforte joined the Concussion Legacy Foundation team in July 2021. Before coming to CLF, Taya served as the Support Group Director (2019-2022) for the McGill University chapter of the Concussi...