AMERICA SCORES NEW YORK EXPANDS LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
Evolution of key roles was inspired by 2030 Vision Strategy and the ongoing mission to inspire New York City kids through a unique combination of soccer, poetry, and civic engagement after-school programming
[NEW YORK NY, Wednesday, September 1, 2021] - America SCORES New York (ASNY) announces today some exciting additions to its leadership team with the appointment of Khalil Murrell as Chief Operating Officer, Katie Carroll as Director of Soccer Programs, and Chris Lantigua as Director of Writing Programs.
Khalil Murrell will enjoy the honor of being ASNY’s first-ever Chief Operating Officer. Murrell is an experienced youth development leader for NYC and nearby communities with expertise in organizational strategies, staff management and training, program design, and curriculum development. He is also a poet and, for several years, he helped run the Dodge Poetry Festival in New Jersey, one of the largest poetry festivals in the world.
“I am thrilled to join ASNY at such a pivotal time in its history,” said Murrell. “I was most attracted to the innovative program model and the close-knit staff, and I’m looking forward to using my experience in leadership, youth development, and the arts to help elevate the organization.”
Our new Director of Soccer Programs Katie Carroll has been a part of ASNY since 2014 when she started as an AmeriCorps VISTA. She remained an ardent supporter of ASNY until her return in 2018 as the Brooklyn Program Manager. Carroll holds a USSF “D” coaching license and has been trained extensively in positive, sports-based youth development and healing-centered coaching strategies. She will bring deep ASNY program experience and strong community relationships to the role.
"I am beyond honored to be offered the opportunity to continue to grow our soccer program at America SCORES New York,” said Carroll. “It has been an incredible experience getting to watch the organization evolve from a handful of schools to serving 1,500 students city-wide today. The rest of the team and I are really looking forward to pushing the organization further to new heights, alongside our schools, families, community members, and most importantly, our poet-athletes."
From being one of ASNY’s very first poet-athletes in Washington Heights through to program management in the Bronx, Chris Lantigua has charted a path all the way to another new role for the organization and will begin the school year as the Director of Writing Programs. Lantigua joined Harlem’s PS 153 on their inaugural soccer and poetry team and then reconnected with ASNY as a volunteer 5 years ago before joining the staff as an AmeriCorps Up2Us Coach. He went on to manage ASNY’s newest borough, the Bronx, all while showing a deep commitment to ASNY’s mission. His personal experience with the program and his curriculum development work makes him uniquely suited for this new role.
“I am grateful to be given the opportunity to lead our team on the writing side of the program,” said Lantigua. “This is a new position that I hope to make my own with the help and support of my colleagues. I want to continue elevating the voices of our youth through poetry and civic engagement projects. My vision for this new role is to serve all our partner communities with the recognition, thoughtfulness, and heed needed after undergoing such a stressful year. I want to bring back our community events in the safest way possible and celebrate the power of youth voice and action.“
All decisions were made collaboratively by ASNY’s new Hiring Committees which include staff, the Committee for Racial Equity & Social Justice, and young people from the program.
Throughout the last year, ASNY has been restructuring the organization’s leadership to create more formal ownership for more staff members in their positions through a Leadership Circle. In addition to the above, other members include Zahkiya Brown (Director of Youth Partnerships), John Riordan (Director of Development), and Shannon Schneeman (Executive Director). Brown has been part of ASNY in various roles since 2016 and oversees all of our older youth programs including Kicking it Forward, Saturday Night Lights, and Coaching for Change Academy. Riordan has been with ASNY since 2017 managing all fundraising initiatives, most notably the SCORES Cup, Change Makers Benefit, and NYC Marathon. Schneeman has been Executive Director since 2015, co-leading all aspects of the ASNY strategy.
As part of this leaderful model, ASNY will continue hosting Community Council and Youth Council meetings to maintain open communication with communities served. The Committee for Racial Equity and Social Justice and Hiring Committees both formally include young people as contributing members and decision-makers.
Growing the ASNY team is an important step in the 2030 Vision Strategy, which was launched in 2019 as a roadmap for becoming one of the leading organizations for social change in NYC, using the three platforms of sport, poetry, and civic engagement.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
● Veronica Collazo, Marketing and Communications Manager
vcollazo@americascores.org
(631) 786-1905
ABOUT AMERICA SCORES NEW YORK
America SCORES was started in 1994 by a public-school teacher in Washington, D.C., and is a national organization serving 15,000 students. America SCORES New York was founded in 2001 to address the absence of high-quality after-school programs for public schools in communities throughout NYC. Its core program provides 1,500 students in grades K-12 with daily soccer, poetry, civic engagement projects, and leadership development complemented by weekly soccer games, summer programs, poetry slams, and soccer tournaments throughout the year.
America SCORES New York seeks to create equitable opportunities for young people to experience sport, express themselves and inspire positive change off the field and outside the classroom. Using a social justice youth development framework, we emphasize racial equity, fair play, teamwork, and youth voice as key drivers of building a better, more equitable New York City.
