The High Fives Foundation is proud to announce the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors and four new members to its Advisory Board for 2014. The additions bring the total member count of the High Fives Board of Directors to eleven with the High Fives Advisory Board now standing at eight. It is through sound guidance that the High Fives Foundation has been able to continue on a path of growth and expansion. By welcoming Trina Saxe and Jamie LaValle to the Board of Directors, as well as Jill Stockton, Mike Rogge, Thais Mollet and Shauna Bocksch to the Advisory Board the High Fives Foundation is poised to have a more refined sense of direction thanks to the experience these additions bring to an already stellar collective of professionals.
The following distinguished professionals have been welcomed to the High Fives Foundation Board of Directors in 2014:
TRINA SAXE | MEMBER AT LARGE | TRUCKEE, CA
Trina grew up in New England and has been an avid skier, biker and outdoor enthusiast for as long as she can remember. It’s in her blood: ask her stories about sharing space with her parents and brother in the family VW bus as a kid camping in the San Juans! She attended Middlebury College in Vermont where she was a member of the Alpine Ski Team. After graduating in 2000 she moved to Boulder, Colorado and landed her first job in the ski industry working for SKI Magazine, Skiing and Warren Miller Entertainment. She found her niche. She has been involved in the industry overseeing events, marketing and sponsorships ever since. In 2012, Trina, her husband and their coonhound Remington moved to Truckee, California. She was immediately impressed with the High Fives Foundation, its approach to fundraising, and its commitment to helping athletes who have suffered from life-altering injuries. Trina brings her experience and passion for all things out-of-doors, to her new Board of Directors role.
JAMIE LAVALLE | MEMBER AT LARGE | TRUCKEE, CA
Jamie grew up skiing in Western Massachusetts at Bousquet Ski Area. Jamie attended to Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY where he met his beautiful wife Kristen. The couple moved to the Lake Tahoe, CA area after graduation and currently enjoys spending time with their three-year-old daughter, Quinn. Jamie fell in love with the community in North Lake Tahoe after his move to the West Coast. The 2013 SIA Rep. of the Year for Volkl Skis – Marker Bindings for the California / Nevada territory enjoys being around skiing and skiers on a daily basis. Jamie finds that the High Fives Foundation is an excellent and inspiring organization and notes that having a support system in for athletes who are injured pursuing their dreams is necessary for the survival of skiing and other action and lifestyle sports.
Returning High Fives Board of Directors include: Galen Gifford (Chair), Kali Kopley (Vice Chair), Tyler Lightcap (Treasurer), Dana Greenwood (Secretary), Bill Hudson (Member at Large), Phil Olsen (Authorized Representative), Dr. James Lynch (Medical Director), Ryan Williams (Financial Committee) and Jesse Murphy (Member at Large).
The following distinguished professionals have been welcomed to the High Fives Foundation Advisory Board in 2014:
JILL STOCKTON | MEDIA RELATIONS | RENO, NV
Jill’s first time on the snow was in January of 2006 at Squaw Valley. She’s a native New Orleanian who’d recently located to Reno, Nev. from Tampa Fla. She’d never seen snow, much less tried to slide around on it! Her first time on the snow was a success; her second time…not so much. On her second day on the mountain the “Cajun Kamikaze,” suffered a tibia/fibula spiral fracture to her left leg. She was having so much fun on the mountain when she crashed she decided to work hard to recover from the injury and come back stronger and more determined than ever.
By day Jill works as a public relations professional. She’s the communications specialist for the Reynolds’s School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. She’s also served as a senior account executive for The Ferraro Group, a leading Nevada public relations and public affairs firm, and communications manager for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. She’s a member of the Holland Project Reno advisory board, and is a Past-President of the Sierra Nevada Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. In her free time Jill enjoys experiencing live music, cheering on the New Orleans Saints, spending time outdoors, swimming across Donner Lake, playing with her son, Ryan, and making her husband Howie laugh.
MIKE ROGGE | WINTER SPORTS INDUSTRY RELATIONS | TAHOE CITY, CA
Mike is a writer, editor and consultant whose primary focus is on skiing and mountain culture. A professional journalist since 2007, he has been a newspaper reporter, freelance writer, brand consultant, Internet content creator, marketing and sales director at Meathead Films and Ski The East, and a staff editor at Powder Magazine for three years.
Born and raised in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York, where he earned a degree in English Literature and Writing from the State University of New York at Potsdam, Mike believes in telling stories about mountains and the people in them. In 2009, Mike created, produced, and hosted the popular radio program, “The Ski Show,” which featured guests from around the snow-covered globe. From 2010 to 2013, Mike was a staff editor at Powder Magazine, where he developed a reputation for going places no one else wanted to go, like dry slope skiing in the United Kingdom or covering the dimly lit world of street skiing. He established a social media voice for The Skier’s Magazine, one that would lead the magazine to a Western Publishing Award. Assignments have taken him to Japan, British Columbia, Italy, Chile, Switzerland, Scotland, Prague, and all of western North America. Most of his writing is shaped by the people living in the mountains and found in the cracks of eclectic lifestyle and culture.
Mike is currently a skiing consultant for Vice Magazine, Senior Contributor at Powder and regular contributor to ESPN. He is based out of Tahoe City, California, a 1999 Subaru Forester, and couches across the West.
THAIS MOLLET | PHYSICAL THERAPY CONSULTANT | TRUCKEE, CA
Thais completed her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Boston University in 2004. She has taken numerous opportunities to expand upon her education, including studying manual treatment of the spine in Australia and attending frequent seminars and conferences here in the United States. Thais has enjoyed a range of experiences from working with professional athletes at the X Games in Aspen, Colorado, to helping critically injured patients in the Intensive Care Unit at Renown Medical Center. She takes pride in empowering her patients to reach their maximum level of function and live life to the fullest. She is passionate about working with athletes and is looking forward to collaborating with High Fives Foundation in order to help the athletes achieve their goals.
SHAUNA BOCKSCH | NATIONAL SKI PATROL LIASON | FRISCO, CO
Born in Midland, Texas, Shauna was happy when her parents relocated to Breckenridge, Colorado when she was in grade school. She quickly lost her Texas accent and at a young age started ski racing. She raced in College at the University of Colorado and was named All American for results in a NCAA Giant Slalom. Skiing has been a huge part of her life and she has turned this passion into a career with the Copper Mountain Ski Patrol. For the last nine seasons, she has focused on mountain safety and prevention and awareness on the slopes. The last three seasons Copper Mountain has won top awards from the National Ski Areas Association, and this past season won the “Best Overall Safety Program.” As a National Ski Patrol Safety Team member Shauna looks forward to her new position on the High Fives Foundation Advisory Board. “I’m impressed with the High Fives Foundation’s professionalism and positive momentum. Giving athletes tools to help them discover and reach their goals empowers and builds confidence,” Remarks Shauna, “I am excited to share my knowledge, experience, energy and passion to help the High Fives Foundation continue to focus on injury prevention and community collaboration to grow their outreach and funding for athletes.”
Currently, Shauna lives in Frisco, Colorado with her husband and two young daughters. Outside of work, she enjoys spending her free time traveling with her family, cross country skiing, mountain biking, water sports and getting creative in the kitchen.
Returning High Fives Advisory Board members include: James Preston (Co-Founder), Nik David Sullivan (Video Production), Michelle Parker (Athlete Relations) and Katrina Veerman (East Coast Expansion).
