New board appointments, a new chair, and athlete-driven team additions signal a culture-first approach to impact.
High Fives Foundation is entering a new chapter, announcing a comprehensive leadership evolution that reflects a clear conviction. Meaningful impact is built through community, lived experience, and culture-first leadership.
The Foundation today announced the appointment of three new Board Members, Craig Abruzzo, Michael Resnick, and Lonnie Paxton, the elevation of Katie Besso to Board Chair, and the addition of two team leaders who have also faced life-changing injuries, Jesse Alberi and Ryan Bodine. Together, these leaders represent finance, professional sport, adaptive program innovation, philanthropy, and athlete-driven storytelling. All are united by a shared belief in access, connection, and what is possible after injury.
“This is not a traditional leadership announcement, and that is intentional,” said Roy Tuscany, Founder and CEO of High Fives Foundation. “We are building a leadership team grounded in real-world experience. These are people who have lived sport, injury, recovery, and community. That perspective matters when your mission is about restoring access, hope, and belonging.”
The three new Board Members joining High Fives Foundation bring decades of professional leadership alongside deep, personal ties to the outdoors and adaptive sport.
Craig Abruzzo, a New York City–based financial services leader with more than 30 years of industry experience, grew up in New England and has centered his family life around skiing and snowboarding at Mount Snow in Southern Vermont. A donor since 2017, Abruzzo became more deeply involved during the COVID era after reaching out to learn how he could better support the organization’s mission.
“My ability to choose to just be outside whenever I want is a gift I never take for granted,” Abruzzo said. “Being able to support others who want the same thing, but need a bit of help to get there, is a privilege.”
Abruzzo points to High Fives Foundation’s rare ability to scale nationally while maintaining a culture of fun and positivity.
“A lot of organizations do important work,” Abruzzo said. “Very few do it with this much heart and energy. The High Fives Ohana operates differently.”
Michael Resnick, based in Salt Lake City, brings a lifelong connection to skiing and adaptive sport advocacy. Raised in Vail, Colorado, Resnick’s involvement in the adaptive community began early, from fundraising for the Special Olympics at age 13 to later becoming an adaptive ski instructor after his own racing career ended due to injury.
Resnick first met Roy Tuscany nearly a decade ago at the Vail Charity Golf Tournament and spent years volunteering and fundraising before joining the Board.
“The High Fives mission represents the best of society,” Resnick said. “Looking out for others. Extending a hand when it matters most. Making sure the outdoors remain a place for everyone.”
Leonidas Earl Paxton XVIII, Lonie Paxton, a three-time Super Bowl Champion and philanthropist based in Southern California, joins the Board bringing a platform shaped by professional football and action sports culture. Raised around moto, BMX, and snowboarding, Paxton believes sport is a powerful equalizer.
“To me, the High Fives mission levels the playing field,” Paxton said. “It allows adaptive and able-bodied athletes to share the same love, competitiveness, and respect for sport.”
Paxton views his role as one of amplification.
“I am here to leverage every relationship I have been blessed with to strengthen the future of the High Fives Ohana,” Paxton said.
High Fives Foundation also announced Katie Besso as its new Board Chair. Her leadership has been shaped by firsthand experience alongside athletes at camps across the country.
“What stood out to me was not just the adaptive progression,” Besso said. “It was the way athletes built real, lasting support networks with one another.”
For Besso, the mission goes far beyond recovery.
“High Fives is an Ohana,” she said. “It is about belonging, resilience, and celebrating every win together.”
Looking ahead, Besso is focused on guiding intentional growth that strengthens programs while protecting the culture that makes High Fives distinct.
“The idea that someone can experience a life-changing injury and still find a future filled with possibility is what motivates me every day,” she said.
Athlete-Driven Team Additions Strengthen Programs and Storytelling
In addition to Board leadership, High Fives Foundation welcomed two team members whose roles directly support program expansion and athlete storytelling.
Jesse Alberi joins as Program Service Manager of Access Unlimited, the Foundation’s adaptive fishing program service. A lifelong resident of Dillon, Montana, Alberi sustained a T10 spinal cord injury in 2008 and went on to help found Access Unlimited, which partnered with High Fives as early as 2016.
Now officially part of the Foundation, Access Unlimited has grown from a single annual camp into multiple adaptive fishing experiences nationwide, including regional day trips across Montana, Nevada, and Colorado.
“Hope is one of the most valuable things a person can have,” Alberi said. “At High Fives, hope is not limited to camps. It is carried year-round through relationships.”
Ryan Bodine joins as Media Production Coordinator, bringing both professional filmmaking experience and lived experience as a High Fives athlete. After sustaining a C7 spinal cord injury while snowboarding in 2020, Bodine connected with High Fives during his ICU recovery, a moment he credits with restoring belief in what was still possible.
“The High Fives mission is about more than getting back to sport,” Bodine said. “It is about belonging and confidence.”
Now behind the camera, Bodine is focused on documenting the rapid progression of adaptive sports and the authentic stories driving the movement forward.
“Kaizen matters to me,” Bodine said. “Always learning. Always improving.”
Rewriting Leadership the Same Way High Fives Redefines Recovery
This leadership evolution reflects a broader philosophy at High Fives Foundation. Impact is strongest when it is personal, inclusive, and community-driven.
“These leaders did not come to High Fives because it looks good on paper,” Tuscany said. “They came because they believe in it. Because they have lived it. Because they want to make sure no one has to navigate life-changing injury alone.”
As High Fives Foundation continues expanding programs, partnerships, and national reach, its leadership remains grounded in the same principle that has guided the organization since its founding.
Healing does not happen in isolation. It happens together.
Craig Abruzzo
Board Member | New York City
Rapid Fire
Outdoor Activity: Snowboarding
Coffee or Tea: Beer
Mountains or Ocean: Toss-up (goal: snowboard + surf same day)
Pump-Up Song: Feeling This — Blink-182
Lonie Paxton
Board Member | Carlsbad, CA
Rapid FireOutdoor Activity: Snowboarding
Coffee or Tea:Strong ass coffeeMountains or Ocean: Ocean
Pump-Up Song: Bro Hymn — Pennywise
Michael Resnick
Board Member | Salt Lake City, UT
Rapid Fire
Outdoor Activity: Skiing
Coffee or Tea: MatchaMountains or Ocean: Mountains
Pump-Up Song: Knights of Cydonia — Muse
Jesse Alberi
Program Service Manager, Access Unlimited | Dillon, Montana
Rapid Fire
Outdoor Activity: Throwing dry flies on a mountain lakeCoffee or Tea: Coffee, blackMountains or Ocean: No brainer (mountains)
Pump-Up Song: Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
Ryan Bodine
Media Production Coordinator | Truckee, CA
Rapid Fire
Outdoor Activity: Surfing & snowboarding (impossible to choose)
Coffee or Tea: Iced teaMountains or Ocean: Ocean
Pump-Up Song: Thunderstruck — AC/DC
ABOUT HIGH FIVES FOUNDATION | High Fives Nonprofit Foundation focuses on preventing life-changing injuries and provides resources and hope if they happen. It was formed as a way to “pay-it-forward” by the founder, Roy Tuscany, after his own recovery from a spinal cord injury. The Foundation has expanded to help over 1000 Athletes from 47 States & Territories and Canada since its inception in 2009. The High Fives Foundation is a California-based, national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.highfivesfoundation.org.
