Anne Warner Cribbs
President & CEO
Cribbs is an accomplished businesswoman, civic leader, Olympian and health fitness advocate. Cribbs was President of the advertising and public relations firm of Anne Cribbs and Company, providing strategic communications counsel to clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to San Francisco Bay Area local businesses.
In 1991, Cribbs joined with Gary Cavalli to form Cavalli & Cribbs, a Northern California advertising, public relations and event management firm. They represented clients and events such as World Cup '94, San Jose Sumo Basho, the Quadrennial Olympians "Welcome Home Dinner," the East-West Shrine Game and the Stanford University Centennial Celebration. In 1996, they founded the American Basketball League, a professional women's league. During its existence, the ABL set the standard for what women's professional sports can and should be, providing an inspiration to female athletes to this day.
She served as Chief Executive Officer of the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC), leading the 2012 Olympic Bid effort from 1999 to 2002. Out of this effort a legacy project, the Monterey Horse Park, was born and she continues to advise the group working to make this a reality.
An Olympic Gold medal swimmer (Rome, 1960), Anne Cribbs has served on the boards of the U.S. Olympian Alumni Association, Stanford Athletics, Northern California Olympians, San Jose Sports Authority, 50-Plus Fitness, the Stanford Health Library, the Senior Coordinating Council and the American Heart Association.
Born in Burlingame, CA, she is a graduate of Stanford University. Currently a Palo Alto resident, Cribbs and her husband, Ian Cribbs, have nine children and 21 grandchildren.
Jürgen Padberg
Managing Director
After 15 years in journalism, Jürgen Padberg moved to a career in event management and sports marketing in 2003. Over the past 5 years he has held positions with IMG, the Silicon Valley Marathon, and the 2006 FINA World Masters Championships. He served as a consultant for ADC Partners of Alameda, advising clients such as the Central YMCA of San Francisco and the Amtrak Capitol Corridor line. In 2004 he coordinated the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee's (BASOC) successful bid for the 2009 Summer National Senior Games and has been involved with its organization ever since. Padberg serves as the Coordinator for the annual Bay Area Senior Games which he helped launch in 2006.
Padberg holds a masters degree in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco where he earned the Director's Award for Academic Excellence. Born in Germany, he lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. He runs marathons, enjoys the California outdoors, and keeps bees in his backyard.
Susie Thom
Administrative Director
Susie Thom has 30 plus years experience in business administration and running companies. At Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation's Technical Center she was responsible for directing the office support services provided to 1,100 employees. As Owner and President of her firm, Preferred Office Concepts, the company provided leased offices and administrative support services to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Most recently as the co-owner and Director of Human Resources at Entech Analytical Laboratories, Inc., she managed and implemented employee policies and procedures, benefits administration, and employee training.
Thom has worked with numerous non-profit organizations and volunteers, effortlessly motivating personnel from the mailroom to the boardroom. She is widely recognized for her organizational and people skills as well as team building. She was on the Hospitality Committee for the 1992 U. S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach; and, was an administrative volunteer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Thom has coordinated many health and fitness conferences around Stanford University. A resident of Palo Alto, Susie and her husband, Craig Thom, have four children, six grandchildren and a golden retriever, Brandy.
Helen Mendel
Director of Marketing/Operations
Mendel has more than 20 years of marketing and public relations experience working with various Bay Area corporations and non-profit organizations. An expert in the hospitality industry, most recently she has worked with the Professional Business Women of California (PBWC), founded by Congresswoman Jackie Speier. She served as Director of Marketing for the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC) the group responsible for the 2012 San Francisco Olympic bid effort and was Chairman of the Board for the American Cancer Society (ACS) of California.
In all of these roles, Mendel produced premier celebrity fund-raising events and innovative media campaigns, for which her marketing expertise has been highly recognized. Mendel has been the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the 2005 St. George Medal of Honor from the National American Cancer Society of California, the highest national volunteer award.
Helen lives in the East Bay town of Pleasanton and has a grown daughter, Deborah, a teacher in San Diego, California.
George Broder
External Affairs Director
George Broder brings 28 years of experience in government, media, campaigns, public affairs, corporate communications and community relations to bear on every project. A Bay Area resident since 1985, he has worked around the region as he developed a network of professional contacts in the civic, corporate, elected and non-profit communities.
Broder moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to join the team being assembled by Peter V. Ueberroth at the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Olympic Games. As a Deputy Press Secretary he served as an official spokesman for the Committee. After the Games, he moved north to San Francisco as a Special Assistant in the Office of Mayor, now U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. During the 1990's he worked for the nation's largest outdoor advertising company, and has been on the Executive Committee of the Bay Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC) since its creation.
Broder lives in San Francisco with his wife, Wendy, and has a daughter, Lauren, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Scott McRoberts
Director of Competitions
Scott most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for the 2008 San Francisco International Children's Games. He has worked in event sponsorship and execution at Van Dillen Partners in 2006-07. Scott has also managed various events including the SAP Open tennis tournament in San Jose for six years and served as Director of Staffing Operations for the 2007 NCAA March Madness West Regional in San Jose. Scott began his career as Executive Director of the San Francisco Junior Tennis League and as National Director of Chapter Relations for First Serve Inc. His teaching endeavors include adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco Masters Program, lecturing on event and sponsorship management.
Scott McRoberts holds a BS honors degree in Sport Management from Brock University (Canada) and a Masters Degree from the University of San Francisco in Sports Management where he served as commencement speaker. Scott's sports passion includes tennis, hockey and going to the gym where he is staying in shape for his wedding in May of 2009.
Michael Morris
Venue Manager for Bay Area Venues
Raised in Palo Alto, Mike graduated from UC Davis with a major in Mass Communications. He has been active in athletics through his life, from Pop Warner football to the San Francisco Peninsula Premier 1st Division Soccer. Today, Mike stays busy athletically on the golf course, at the gym, and by coaching varsity soccer at Menlo School.
Mike looks back at a 26-year career in business, during which he built two Palo Alto auto parts distributors into a combined multi-million dollar enterprise. He was very active within his industry. Mike was on the Board of Directors of the California/Nevada Automotive Wholesalers' Association and also served as its Chairman in 1998. He chaired the California Automotive Task Force, a national automotive aftermarket political action group. For his work in the auto parts industry, Mike has been recognized via a California State Senate Resolution and a CAWA resolution. Mike is also a Master Graduate from Rapport Leadership.
Currently a Los Altos resident, Mike and his wife, Julia Keady have four children and two grandchildren.
Bonnie Luftig
Volunteer Director
Bonnie is an Events Management & Marketing Professional with sixteen years of experience in all aspects of creating, coordinating and executing events. From 2001 to 2007 Bonnie was the Director of Operations, Marketing and Sponsorship for the Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. She was instrumental in growing the festival from its early stages to an event of national and international recognition. During this timeframe, Bonnie also owned and operated a wedding and event consulting business. She has worked for a variety of events including the Telluride Film Festival, Nike Human Race and the Sonoma Jazz Festival.
Bonnie began her career in the hotel industry. She was the Director of Catering and Conference Services for The Carmel Valley Ranch and was the Director of Conference Services and Events for the Telluride Conference Center, which she helped to open.
Bonnie has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Bonnie's passion for fitness, the outdoors and food and wine brought her to San Francisco in September of 2007. When Bonnie is not working she can be found hiking in Marin, biking, practicing yoga or taking advantage of the plethora of food and wine related activities in the Bay Area.
Valerie Dixon
Controller
Valerie Dixon has 25 years experience in advising, consulting, and planning for San Francisco area firms in the fields of architecture, law, software, hospitality, international trade, and non-governmental service. She specializes in the business, financial and tax aspects of business operations, and enjoys the fast-paced and challenging environment of non-profits. Valerie joined the team at the formation of the 2009 Senior Games Local Organizing Committee and has an enduring passion and commitment to its mission.
Valerie's primary responsibility as Controller is to implement accounting and financial management systems. She designs policies and procedures; prepares budgets and financial statements; analyzes financial results; conducts month-end and year-end closing; and maintains effective internal controls to assure safeguarding of assets and reliability of financial statements.
As a long-time community volunteer in Marin County, Valerie has been honored for her service as treasurer, director, and board member for public benefit corporations including Youth In Arts, the Sir Francis Drake Fund, Ross Valley Community for Schools, and the Tiburon Peninsula Foundation.
Valerie and her husband have two grown children. They live in Grass Valley, enjoy traveling, hiking, music, and love their two one-year old Golden Retrievers, Rocky and Rosie, who are beginning training to become therapy dogs.
Phil Davidson
Athlete Services Director
Phil was born and raised in California and has been living in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 12 years. Before joining the 2009 Senior Games Local Organizing Committee as Athlete Services Director, Phil worked at Visa International where he coordinated international business seminars and supported global smart card implementations. Phil holds a BA degree in Communication from College of Notre Dame and a Masters degree in Sport Management from the University of San Francisco. While at USF he worked at ABC Radio and with the San Francisco 49ers Public Relations department during the NFL season. He is passionate about soccer and played all four years at Notre Dame de Namur University. In his spare time, Phil enjoys working out, exploring San Francisco and catching up on sleep.
Rob Weikert
Legal Counsel
Rob is a partner with Nixon Peabody LLP in San Francisco where he specializes in Intellectual Property litigation as well as unfair competition and antitrust cases. He is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Ninth, and Federal Circuits and the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, Southern and Northern Districts of California. Rob holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the Santa Clara University School of Law. Rob is a lifelong sports fan and lives with his family in the East Bay.
e2k Sports
Special Events
Our ceremonies and special events are being produced by Michael Olmstead and e2k Sports. Based in Mountain View, California, e2k has produced many of the largest stadium events in the history of Stanford University, including the opening ceremonies for Super Bowl XIX, the World Cup and the new Stanford Stadium. E2k Sports has served as the official entertainment production company for the San Francisco 49ers since 1971, and Olmstead has personally produced the game entertainment for over 400 NFL games in thirteen countries. E2k has produced the special events and entertainment for the past 19 NFL All-Star Games.
In addition to his work in sports-related entertainment, Olmstead has produced corporate and non-profit events around the world. His new company, Events for Change, is focused on supporting non-profit organizations and visionary leaders by creating events dedicated to promoting positive change in the world. In 2008, Olmstead served as the Executive Producer of Pangea Day, a global event seen by millions of people in over 120 countries. This division has produced events for the Clinton Global Initiative, Presidential Forums for the 2008 campaign, the State of the World Forum, the Professional Businesswomen Conferences, Declare Yourself, and the United Nations. In January 2009, Events for Change coordinated live video feeds from hundreds of celebrations around the world for the Inaugural Neighborhood Ball, televised live on ABC.
