Our Mission
The OK2PLAY Foundation's mission is to create opportunities for underserved student-athletes who have a path to college through sports. We keep athletes in play by preventing and treating traumatic injury.
The OK2PLAY Foundation's mission is to create opportunities for underserved student-athletes who have a path to college through sports. We keep athletes in play by preventing and treating traumatic injury.
Our own experiences fuel the work we do at the OK2PLAY Foundation.
More than one of us has had our athletic career cut short due to injury. While we can't get back the opportunities we missed, we can chart a different path for others. We have lived the emotion of being injured on the sidelines and understand how untreated injury affects the body and mind into adulthood. We also realize that not every athlete currently has access to professional care.
Through our injury prevention and rehabilitation programs, we are committed to keeping talented young athletes in play so they have more opportunities to attend college and excel in life.
Ann is a USATF-certified track and field coach at Del Norte High School and is passionate about using her strength and conditioning knowledge to impact local youth. Her own athletic career ended in high school due to complications of an untreated ankle sprain. This injury has continued to affect her as an adult, so she is motivated to teach fellow coaches how to reduce the risk of chronic injury in their athletes. The first in her family to attend college, Ann understands the transformative power of higher education and has a special interest in helping other first generation students. Ann has a B.S. in Chemical-Biological Engineering from MIT and is the co-founder and COO of a venture-backed software startup in the web3 industry.
Carl is the co-founder and former owner of Movin Shoes, a chain of specialty running stores that was a staple of the San Diego running community from 1977 until its closure in 2018. Carl dedicated his career to serving the needs of high school athletes through his stores. He has been active in running events as a participant, race director and sponsor for the past four decades. He was inducted into the Independent Running Retailer Association Hall of Fame in 2012 and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Diego USATF in 2016 for his personal and professional contributions to the running community. Carl has a degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin.
Pat spent her forty-year teaching career in South Bay schools working with diverse student populations at both elementary and community college levels. She is passionate about broadening pathways to higher education for all students and brings lifelong experience in education and sports. Pat played volleyball and softball in college and is still a competitive athlete today. She was a member of the gold medal softball team at the 2013 National Senior Games and started running track in her 60s. She is nationally ranked in the 100, 200 and 400 meters, having won USATF national titles for her age group in the 100 and 400. Pat has a BS in Education from Boston State College and Master's in Multicultural Education from San Diego State.
Julie is one of the most successful female distance runners in American history and living proof of the importance of quality injury prevention services. In 1973, Julie set the national high school record for 800 meters and was the first woman to earn a full athletic scholarship to UCLA in cross country and track. At 20 years old, she won the 1975 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She was a 3x Pan American silver medalist, a member of the 1980 US Olympic Team and competitor in the inaugural Women's Marathon at the 1984 Olympics. After her running career, she attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law and continues to live out her passion of helping others in the San Diego community through her family law practice.
Steve Johnson is a native San Diegan, having attended High School at Pt. Loma HS. He also has experience attending an inner city school, and understands first hand the challenges urban youth can often experience. He has been an entrepreneur and local business owner for more than 22 years. Steve is an active participant in the local running community, participating in and winning masters races in the marathon, half marathon and ultra marathon. He continues to dominate the local masters cross country scene and also worked for over 20 years in a business supporting HS Sports in San Diego. Steve brings a passion and wealth of skills and experience to the Board.
Kyle Kennedy is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner with nearly 20 years of experience developing and implementing financial systems, strategies, processes and controls that have helped companies and non-profits succeed in their mission. He has managed the accounting departments of multiple clients ranging from manufacturers to non-profits. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Urban Corps San Diego County and has a passion for sports as an Ironman triathlon competitor and marathon runner.
