2025 Program - CSO Summit & Symposium 2025

Arlesha Amazan is the Founder of Champion Strategies, a strategic advisory and consultancy for leading talent and personalities in the sports & entertainment space. She is a seasoned Sports Marketing Executive and Strategic Advisor with 15 years of experience, specializing in partnering with champion athletes, personalities and brands to maximize their off-court market presence and impact. Her expertise lies in crafting innovative business and brand platform strategies for leaders in sport that resonate with audiences, elevate brand value, and drive impactful results.

During her nearly ten-year tenure at CAASports, which began in 2013, her roles ranged from Athlete Management and Marketing to Business Development, Strategy, and Brand Consulting. She has contributed strategies and co-managed the versatile careers of world-class athletes such as NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade (2012-2022), Miami HEAT legend Udonis Haslem, Memphis Grizzlies standout Jaren Jackson, Jr, Chicago Bulls’ Coby White and much more around the NBA. In 2022, she served as Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships & Development/Marketing for four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry at his company SC30, Inc., where she led the brand development and strategic partnership efforts for SC30's owned platforms and enterprise initiatives.

In addition to orchestrating off-court business and brand endeavors for elite pro athletes, Arlesha has a proven track record of creating and executing innovative marketing campaigns, product releases, brand initiatives, and partnerships. She has collaborated with category-leading brands such as Gatorade, Nike, Meta, and many more. Her commitment to excellence is further evidenced by her memberships in The Engagement Academy of Sports & Entertainment.

Arlesha is the creator and host of the “Hey, it’s Arlesha” podcast where she shares actionable insights on all things career and work-life-balance for those in the sports & entertainment industries. As a recognized leader, Arlesha has been named “Most Influential Business Leader” by Legacy Magazine and The Miami Herald multiple times (2022, 2024), and “Most Impactful Women in Business & Industry" (2023) and one of “The Most Remarkable Women in Sports for 2024” by S.E.T. Magazine.. Her achievements earned her a spot on the “40 Under 40” list by Legacy Magazine and The Miami Herald in 2022. Arlesha began her career in the Sports and Entertainment industry in Miami, FL during the Summer of 2010. She currently lives in Miami, Florida, where she enjoys pairing her wine with her overly-cooked dinner, watching sports, and planning trips across the world.

Tina Brown is a fiercely passionate and committed leader whose life’s mission is to empower others both professionally and personally. As Chief Executive Officer of the Overtown Youth Center (OYC Miami), Tina’s personal lived experiences have been the driving force for creating transformational solutions to bridge educational, social, health and economic gaps for children, adults and families throughout South Florida.

Tina’s savvy business acumen and dynamic leadership style has been the catalyst for leading one of Miami’s most notable non-profits. Tina is currently spearheading a $20 million capital project to construct a 56,000 square foot facility to accommodate the growth of OYC Miami’s service population, program services, staff, and the needs of community at large. To-Date, Tina has been integral in raising $18 million of the $20M project’s goal through an aggressive and diverse fundraising strategy to include individual, foundation, and corporate giving; as well as New Market Tax Credits Tina is a proud graduate of the HBCU Savannah State University; holding a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in Accounting and Finance, and a Master’s Degree in Accounting.

Tina is a well - respected professional and is generous with lending her expertise. To this end, she serves on the Boards of the Overtown Children and Youth Coalition, The Women’s Edge, Together for Children, Equity Advocacy Collective, Florida Community Loan Fund, ABFE, and has served as an advisor to the Miami Foundation and several other state, local and community/government organizations. Though she shies away from the spotlight, Tina has garnered a plethora of awards and honors throughout her career and her for her service to others. While Tina is a profound leader who is known for getting results, her greatest accomplishment is the life she has built with her husband Cory and their three children, Kaige, Kaiden and Canaan Brown.

Salvatore M. Buscemi is a distinguished finance and real estate expert, currently serving as CEO and Co-Founding Partner of Brahmin Partners, LLC, and CEO of Dandrew Partners Capital Management. He also leads several direct investment vehicles across commercial real estate, credit, special situations, and life sciences.

He is the author of several books on fund management and real estate investing, including Making the Yield, Raising Real Money, and Investing Legacy. Buscemi began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York and now resides in Miami.

Emmanuel Ellerbee is an NFL linebacker, environmental engineer, and Founder/CEO of Bee’s Believers, a nonprofit organization which seeks to get young students and student athletes interested in STEM through athletics.. As a young child, Emmanuel knew that he wanted to play in the NFL. However, his parents stressed the importance of having a good education as well. Growing up he developed an interest in science and math and knew that when he hung up the cleats that he wanted his next career to be in STEM. Emmanuel attended high school at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory and was able to continue his athletic and academic career at the prestigious, Rice University in his hometown of Houston, TX. Emmanuel attained his degree in Civil Engineering while simultaneously becoming an All-Conference player.

Emmanuel then went undrafted in 2018 and continues to pursue his dreams today. Along with playing football Emmanuel has begun getting involved in his environmental engineering practice as a sustainability/environmental engineer helping sports teams become innovators in making sports greener with projects involving the NCAA, NFL and upcoming World Cup games that will be hosted in 2026 across the United States.

Dennis Grover is the Manager of Partnerships at Norwegian Cruise Line, where he leads all partnership efforts for the brand—including NCL’s first-ever league sponsorship with the NHL and local activations like the Miami Marlins.

He has built a career around creating strategic, high-impact brand collaborations across sports, licensing, and consumer marketing. Prior to NCL, Dennis drove brand partnerships at Char-Broil and managed licensing programs for top collegiate institutions at CLC. He is a graduate of Clemson University.

Nate Hurst serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at Visa. In this role, he leads a global team focused on amplifying the company’s purpose and advancing Visa’s sustainability strategy. Mr. Hurst and his team leverage Visa’s scale and expertise to buld for and navigate the rapidly changing environment. As such, he is responsible for intergrating sustainability into products, solutions, and services that create shared value for consumers, small businesses, governments, and our planet.

Mr. Hurst most recently served as the Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer at BlackRock driving industry-leading efforts to integrate sustainability into corporate operations, strategy, disclosures, and reporting, sustainability reputation, ratings and rankings, and stakeholder engagement. He also led Social Impact for the enterprise which included acting as the Managing Director for the BlackRock Foundation, philanthropic grant-making and initiatives, and employee engagement for global giving and volunteering.

Previously, Mr. Hurst served as Chief Sustainability Officer for Wells Fargo and the President of the Wells Fargo Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States. He directed the enterprise-wide sustainability, corporate responsibility, philanthropy, and the local community relations teams. In this role he led the vision and integration of the company’s environmental and social impact strategies across the business with an emphasis on climate, housing affordability, small business growth, and financial health.

Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Hurst was at HP, where he was the Chief Sustainability & Social Impact Officer responsible for driving HP’s global philanthropy, environmental stewardship, and social responsibility into its core businesses. Hurst led a global team of experts to innovate sustainable solutions and award-winning social impact programs in collaboration with customers, partners, governments, and nonprofits.

In other leadership roles, Hurst served as the Director of Sustainability, Public Affairs, and Government Relations for Walmart, where he helped integrate sustainability into the business and align its community giving strategy with core customer needs. As a member of The White House Council on Environmental Quality, he helped develop the administration’s environmental policy agenda and executed a stakeholder engagement plan on leading issues such as climate change.

Mr. Hurst has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech University and a Masters from the University of California, Berkeley. He is based in Washington, DC

John Koudounis joined Calamos Investments as Chief Executive Officer in 2016. He became the firm’s first designated CEO hired by Founder John Calamos, Sr., as part of Calamos’ succession plan. Serving as a driving force behind improving strategic initiatives, Mr. Koudounis plays a critical role in delivering innovative solutions to business development and expanding product breadth for the firm’s global base of clients. Under his leadership, firm profitability and AUM growth have increased substantially.

Mr. Koudounis has over 35 years of financial services experience including executive leadership in the global securities business and a deep background in global capital markets. Most recently, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Mizuho Securities USA, Inc. (MSUSA), a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, one of the world’s largest full-service financial institutions. During his tenure at Mizuho Securities, he built the firm into a full-service investment bank, expanding its debt and equity capital markets teams. Because of his leadership, the firm also grew in profitability, number of clients, and product diversification, allowing Mizuho to be considered globally as a top tier investment bank.

Prior to joining MSUSA in 2008, he was Managing Director and Head of Fixed Income for ABN AMRO Americas where he played a critical role in that firm’s successful growth.

Jim Madden joined Calamos Investments in 2021 and contributes more than 30 years of investment industry experience. Together with Co-Portfolio Manager Tony Tursich, Jim leads the firm’s Sustainable Equities Team. In the 1990s while at Portfolio 21, Jim and Tony developed a research and investment process that combined traditional fundamental analysis with a focus on sustainable and ESG-oriented business attributes.

At Portfolio 21, Jim also served as Chief Investment Officer and senior portfolio manager, overseeing one of the first global ESG mutual funds in the United States. In 2014, the fund was acquired by Trillium Asset Management and renamed Trillium ESG Global Equity Fund (PORTX). Jim earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Adam Malone is the Chief Marketing Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, responsible for leading the organization’s multi-channel marketing and advertising strategy. Malone oversees all digital marketing, e-commerce, consumer insights, promotional efforts plus partnerships and brand initiatives.

Before joining Norwegian Cruise Line in 2017, Malone held positions at JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, including managing a number of co-branded credit card and private label programs for a variety of name-brand accounts. At NCL, Malone has held a variety of leadership positions including Senior Director of Customer Engagement and Senior Director of National Accounts, before his most recent role as Vice President of Consumer Marketing. During his tenure at NCL, he has played a pivotal role in the success of the Company’s record-breaking best booked months in November 2022 and January 2023, contributed to the rapid growth of onboard revenue through marketing efforts and the successful relaunch of NCL’s Latitudes program with new and enhanced benefits.

A graduate of Penn State University, Malone holds a Bachelor of Science in International Business and Marketing with a minor in Accounting. Born in Syracuse, N.Y. and raised in Roanoke, Va., Malone now resides in Aventura, Fla. with his wife, Jewel, and his daughter, Tatum.

Prior to General Catalyst, Charmel served as the Chief Investment Officer & Treasurer for the University of Miami. He led the University’s efforts to invest over $4B in assets, including endowment and pension funds. Mr. Maynard was also responsible for the University’s ~$2B capital structure, including liquidity and debt issuances. Additionally, he managed treasury and cash management.

Mr. Maynard was previously a vice president with J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank in New York City. During his 10-year career with J.P. Morgan, he focused on investment banking debt capital markets and leveraged finance, where he advised clients on capital structure solutions, deal structuring, and execution of syndicated revolving credit facilities, institutional term loans, and bond issuances.

He most recently served on the Sculptor Capital Management Board of Directors (NYSE: SCU) until the recent sale of the Company (Member of Special Committee formed to explore potential interest from third parties, Audit Committee, Nominating Committee, Corporate Governance and Conflicts Committee). He currently serves on the New World Symphony Board, Mead Art Museum Board as the chair of the Budget Committee, JPB Foundation Investment Committee, Catalyst Miami Board of Directors (Chair of Finance Committee), Knight Foundation Community Advisory Board and Black Angels Miami Board.

Mr. Maynard holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Amherst College.

Roger McClendon is the Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance. In his role, he leads the Alliance of international sports and stadium executives, as well as sustainability experts, to use sports as a vehicle to promote healthy, sustainability communities throughout the world.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Roger was the first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer for Yum! Brands, whose holdings include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC restaurants. He also led the development of Blueline, a sustainable design guide for restaurants built on the LEED certification program. Blueline was a global standard implemented in approximately 5,000 Yum! Brand restaurants globally. Due to his efforts, Yum! Was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2017 and 2018, as well as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine.

Roger’s other passion is basketball. He was named a McDonald’s All-American in 1984, one of the top 25 high school basketball players in the nation and went on to be a four-year starter who closed his University of Cincinnati men’s basketball career as the No. 2 scorer, second only to Oscar Robertson at the time. Roger was inducted into the UC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer & Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Evan Roberts in his first season as the Head of NIL & Digital at Miami, joining the department in July 2024.

Roberts previously served as Associate Director of Athletics for Communications and Digital Strategy at Louisiana where he was the chief communications officer for the department, while overseeing the athletics communications, broadcast and coaches video departments.

Roberts spent seven years as an Assistant Athletics Communications Director at Texas A&M, joining the program in January 2016. During his tenure in Bryan-College Station, Roberts handled publicity for the Aggies’ men’s basketball and men’s golf teams.

A native Hoosier, Roberts spent four seasons (2016-19) as the softball contact in which the Aggies appeared in four NCAA Regionals, two NCAA Super Regionals and the 2017 Women’s College World Series. During the construction of Texas A&M’s $28.6 million stadium, Davis Diamond, Roberts played an integral part in the planning and execution of the graphics printed throughout the facility. Additionally, Roberts was the official scorer at the Women’s College World Series for three seasons (2019, ’21, ’22).

Roberts spent seven seasons as an equestrian SID, and served as the Chair of the National Collegiate Equestrian Association’s Selection Committee for multiple seasons.

Prior to his arrival at Texas A&M, Roberts served as a Communications Assistant at his alma mater – Auburn University – working as the primary contact for the equestrian, women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s track & field and cross country teams, while assisting with men’s basketball.

Before taking the position as Communications Assistant, Roberts burst onto the athletics communications scene as a student worker in the media relations office at Auburn beginning in 2009.

During the summer of 2010, he was the broadcast intern for the Orlando Mavericks of the Florida Collegiate Summer League. As the lead play-by-play voice for the Mavericks, Roberts’ broadcasts could be heard worldwide online with select marquee matchups on the local ESPN Radio station.

Roberts graduated from Auburn in May 2014 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics.

Tommy Thompson is a professional soccer player in Major League Soccer. The San Jose Earthquakes signed him as their first ever Homegrown player in 2014 after an impressive freshman season at Indiana University where he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Since making his MLS debut in 2014, Thompson has played in over 200 matches for the Earthquakes. His ability to adapt has made him a valuable asset for multiple coaches throughout his career.

On the international stage, Thompson represented the U.S U20 National Team in the 2015 U20 World Cup in New Zealand.

Off the field, Thompson is known for his love of language learning. He partnered with Duolingo to promote language education, showcasing his dedication to learning Spanish and other languages to better connect with teammates and fans. He often engages with fans on social media by sharing skill tutorials and training insights, helping to grow the game at the grassroots level.

Thompson’s commitment to both soccer and community engagement has made him a respected figure in American soccer.

James Tree has more than 20 years of experience in the global sports and media industry. Tree has an unrivaled track record in the commercialization of soccer rights supporting Concacaf, CONMEBOL, Major League Soccer and the member associations, clubs, media platforms, agencies and sponsors within the ecosystem. He has worked with the Premier League, English FA, Serie A, Eredivisie and the Saudi Pro League in developing their presence in the Americas, including the SPL’s two-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the United States.

During the past 10 years, James has delivered over $3.5B in revenue to his clients, plus secured and supported the on-ground activations of the sponsors of Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana on behalf of CONMEBOL, and Copa America 2016.

Tony Tursich contributes more than 25 years of experience in socially and environmentally responsible investing strategies. Together with Co-Portfolio Manager Jim Madden, Tony leads the firm’s Sustainable Equities Team. He joined Calamos Investments following its 2021 acquisition of Pearl Impact Capital, LLC, the company he founded in 2018, where he served as Chief Investment Officer and as portfolio manager since inception for three ESG-integrated portfolios. Prior to launching Pearl Impact Capital, Tony and Jim served as portfolio managers for Trillium ESG Global Equity Fund (PORTX), which was launched in 1999 at Portfolio 21 and acquired by Trillium Asset Management in 2014.

Tony is an investment advisory board member for Multnomah County, Oregon, and a board member for the CFA Society of Portland. He graduated from Montana State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and received an MBA from Portland State University.

Sylvester Williams is a former first-round NFL draft pick and Super Bowl champion whose journey from small-town adversity to the highest levels of professional football is nothing short of inspiring. After overcoming early academic challenges and a turbulent upbringing, Sylvester walked on at a community college, eventually earning a full-ride scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He went on to play nearly a decade in the NFL, capturing a Super Bowl victory with the Denver Broncos in his third season.

Since retiring from football, Sylvester has transitioned into a successful entrepreneur, real estate investor, and motivational speaker. He owns over 30 properties and leads multiple ventures. Through his platform, CHAMP, he empowers others to develop a “champion mentality” by focusing on mindset, leadership, and resilience.

Today, Sylvester shares his insights on creating long-term value off the field—leveraging sports, business, and purpose to drive sustainable economic and social impact.

Beth Williamson joined Calamos Investments in 2021 and contributes 19 years of ESG investment experience. Prior to joining Calamos, Beth worked for a multi-billion-dollar asset management firm, rising to the position of Director of ESG with responsibilities for developing and implementing ESG research methodologies, overseeing corporate engagement efforts and the firm’s ESG materiality framework. Previously, she was a Sustainability Analyst for Portfolio 21 Investments. She began her career as a Shareholder Advocate at Green Century Capital Management.

Beth earned a BS degree in Environmental Science from the University of Vermont and an MS degree in Sustainable International Development from Brandeis University.