foundation team
Management
Geoffrey Kirkman, President and FounderAs President and Founder of the Sports for Development Foundation, Inc., Geoffrey Kirkman combines his lifelong love of baseball with his professional background in international economic development. Kirkman has worked on economic competitiveness, infrastructure, media and education issues in over 30 countries worldwide, 19 in Latin America. He currently is associate director of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, where he teaches an undergraduate course on social entrepreneurship. He has previously worked for the World Bank in Mexico and Central America, and as a researcher at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Law School. He is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard University. He is convinced that sports and athletes can be better channeled to be forces for good in the world.
Board of Directors
Fernando CuzaMr. Cuza is a longtime sports agent and represents many of Major League Baseball’s leading players. Formerly with Speakers of Sports, he now works for the SFX Sports Group of Clear Channel Entertainment Inc. Mr. Cuza has worked across Latin America on baseball issues.
Amanda FernandezMs. Fernandez is a Regional Economic Advisor for the U.S. Agency for International Development based out of Accra, Ghana. She has over 16 years of experience in community and economic development in the United States, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and West Africa. Prior to working for the U.S. government, Ms. Fernandez was a private consultant, a program officer in a U.S. Foundation, and a manager and technical advisor in domestic and international nonprofit organizations serving the underpriviledged. She specializes in trade, financial services, international microfinance, and tax policy.
Colin Maclay, Chairman of the BoardBased at Harvard Law School, Mr. Maclay has dedicated his career to international development. He has extensive experience in Latin America working on issues such as education and training, rural development, and economic competitiveness. He has worked with all levels of government, international, civil society and private sector organizations.
Daniel ManattMr. Manatt is a documentary film producer, political consultant, and attorney in Washington DC. Manatt is producer, with Jose Mota, Christia Alou, Rob Ruck, Bret Granato and Geoffrey Kirkman of the forthcoming The Republic of Baseball: The Dominican Giants of the American Game, a multibiography of Juan Marichal, Felipe, Jesus & Matty Alou, Manny Mota, Rico Carty and Ozzie Virgil. A lawyer by training with expertise in non-profit organizations law, Manatt is a native of Los Angeles, CA. Dan grew up a Dodgers fan but now is a fan of any Latino team.
Robert RuckDr. Ruck is a member of the History Department at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is also an associate of the Center for Latin American Studies. Author of The Tropic of Baseball: Baseball in the Dominican Republic, he is currently working to make The Republic of Baseball, a film about Felipe Alou, Juan Marichal, Manny Mota, Rico Carty, and the first wave of Dominicans in the major leagues. He wrote Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh and was the project director for Kings on the Hill: Baseball's Forgotten Men, an Emmy-award winning documentary on the Negro Leagues. Ruck recently completed his sixth year on the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and is a member of the Advisory Board for Global Links, a group which provides medical equipment to Latin America. He is a graduate of Yale University. His Ph.D. in history is from the University of Pittsburgh.