The NWBA Board of Directors shall represent the interests of the NWBA membership by providing the NWBA with policy, guidance and strategic direction. The Board shall oversee the management of the NWBA affairs, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) shall oversee the day-to-day management of the NWBA. The Board shall select a well-qualified CEO and empower the CEO to manage a staff-driven organization with effective Board oversight.

In addition, the Board performs the following specific functions, among others which are outlined in the NWBA Bylaws.

Five (5) directors, including the President, shall be elected by the voting membership.

Matt Pierre 

NWBA Board of Directors, President
Elected Director 2023-2027 | Appointed Director 2021-2023

Residence: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Matt Pierre is an enterprise leader who drives growth through cutting-edge innovation paired with progressive organizational change. His broad 28-year career at General Mills includes significant finance, brand-building, general management, shopper marketing and eCommerce expertise. His breadth of experience combined with a strong vision and ability to rally an organization arms Matt to effectively lead change to deliver transformational results. 

A strategic leader and board member, Matt has a passion for partnering to drive change across organizations. With significant non-profit board experience, Matt understands governance and serves with a lens toward the future. He is a compelling leader with an entrepreneurial spirit, authenticity, persuasive communication skills and a consensus building style. Matt earned his BA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in finance and management and his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Matt has been involved in the NWBA for the past 15 years watching his son Jack develop from Minnesota Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute’s prep team to varsity and now on to the collegiate ranks. Matt has been an active wheelchair basketball volunteer and coach over that period. Additionally, he helped coach Minnesota’s wheelchair softball team for the past 10 seasons. Matt has been an active member of the NWBA Board of Directors for the last 2 years.  During that time, he played significant roles in refining the strategic plan, partnering on the recent CEO search committee, and leading the National Championship Working Group to improve our planning process to deliver enhanced member experiences and better financial outcomes.

Matt has experienced first-hand the wealth of benefits that wheelchair basketball brings to athletes, their families, and the broader community. He has a passion for developing the game to grow participation and expand its valuable impact.

Teresa Skinner

NWBA Board of Directors, Vice President
Elected Director 2021-2025 / Officer Elected 2023-2025 / Officer Elected 2022-2023

Residence: Spokane, Washington 

Skinner has worked as an occupational therapist since 1996 and is currently an occupational therapist for Empire Therapy services and the Executive Director and Wheelchair Track Coach for ParaSport Spokane. She also works for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee providing athletes, coaches, administrators training and coaching programs. Skinner is heavily involved in the adapted sports industry also working as an Adjunct Professor at Gonzaga University for Adapted PE course, an Adapted Sports Coordinator and Track and Field Coach for St. Luke's Rehab, and coaches wheelchair track for US Air Force - Warrior Games, Invictus Games, and multiple high level competitions such as the World Championships and the Parapan American Games. 

Mike Godsey

NWBA Board of Directors, Treasurer
Elected Director 2021-2025 / Officer Elected 2019-2021, 2021-2023 and 2023-25 / Appointed Director 2019-2021

Residence: Matthews, North Carolina

Mike Godsey has been a Chief Financial Officer of multiple organizations that required him to have both technical accounting and financial analysis capabilities. In the area of adaptive sport, Mike has been involved in this space for nearly 20 years. A highlight of Mike’s work is that he directs wheelchair basketball programming for Abilities Unlimited of the Carolinas, which now provides opportunity for 6 wheelchair basketball teams. He has been a role model in the sport to the many athletes he supports, and a benchmark as it relates to how to run an effective non-profit sport organization.

In addition to Mike's election to the Board, he was also re-elected by the Board as the Treasurer of the NWBA.

Dug Jones 

NWBA Board of Directors, Secretary
Elected Director 2021-2025 / Officer Elected 2021-2023 and 2023-25

Residence: Gainesville, Florida 

Jones has been a member of the NWBA; playing, coaching, leading, and serving for 40 years. He had a long and successful career as an athlete and a coach winning multiple NWBA Division I National Championships and played a crucial role as a team leader on the international level. Jones later transitioned to providing organizational leadership at the team, conference, and divisional levels. His most recent administrative role has been as divisional president for the NWBA's Intercollegiate Division. Jones was inducted into the NWBA Hall of Fame in 2017. 

Jones has supervised/led the (able-bodied) athletics program at a college with 20,000 students and 4 intercollegiate athletic teams. He also led the college's economic development activities and currently manages grant projects in excess of $20M where his juris doctorate (law degree) has been an important asset. He has also served on the boards for many non-profits organizations. 

Dug was also elected by the Board as Secretary of the NWBA. 

Dan Ferreira

Board of Directors, Member
Elected Director 2016-2020 and 2020-2024

Residence: Chicago, Illinois

Dan has been a member of the NWBA for over twenty-eight years. He started competing as a junior athlete and today, he is one of the few coaches who has coached at every level within the NWBA. He has coached for a number of universities, as well as playing and coaching with many club teams around the country. Throughout his career, Dan has worked as a professional within the Adaptive/Paralympic Sport movement since the 1990’s, as he has conducted numerous camps and clinics around the world. He currently works at the Chicago Park District in the Special Recreation Department as the Adapted Sport Program & Event Facilitator and works to develop and promote sport and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities. Dan enjoys the benefits of home life; being a husband to his wife Abby and father to his son Owen, who will be a future member of the NWBA.

No less than thirty three percent (33%) of the total members, shall be athlete representatives, elected as outlined in NWBA Bylaws Article 11.

Steve Serio

NWBA Board of Directors, USOPC Athlete Advisory Council Representative 
Athlete Director 2022-2024

Residence: Westbury, New York

When Serio was 11 months old, he had surgery to remove a spinal tumor which resulted in the compression of his spinal cord. Consequently, he was left paralyzed and is classified as an incomplete paraplegic. He began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 14 as a sophomore in high school. Serio led his high school to a title and was named the MVP of the national tournament. After high school, he move from his hometown of Westbury, New York to play for the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Steve led them to a national championship, winning player of the game, NWBA tournament MVP, and the NWBA player of the year in the process. He went on to compete with Team USA and is a 3-time Paralympian decorated with a Bronze medal from the 2012 London Paralympic Games, a Gold medal from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, and a Gold medal from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. Steve won the 2017 ESPN ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability for his performance at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He is also a Team Toyota Athlete.

Rose Hollermann

NWBA Board of Directors, USOPC Athlete Advisory Council Alternate 
Athlete Director 2022-2024

Residence: Elysian, Minnesota

Rose Hollermann was involved in a car accident that took the lives of her two older brothers and left her with an incomplete spinal cord injury. She started playing basketball at the Courage Center in Minnesota when she was seven years old. After high school, she left her hometown of Elysian, Minnesota to play at the University of Texas-Arlington. Hollermann was the leading scorer in the gold medal game against Canada at the 2015 Parapan American Games with 37 points. She went on to complete with Team USA and is a 3-time Paralympian with the team that placed 4th at the 2012 London Paralympic Games and is decorated with a Gold medal from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and a Bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. A multi-sport athlete, Hollermann has also participated in swimming, sled hockey, archery, track & field, and cross-country skiing.

Gail Gaeng

NWBA Board of Directors, NWBA Athlete Advisory Council Chair 
Athlete Director 2020-2024

Residence: Fredrick, Maryland

Gaeng (classification 3.5), youngest of six siblings, has been playing basketball for 14 years. Starting her successful career with the Bennett Blazers, Gail has played in almost all of the NWBA Divisions: Prep, Junior Varsity, Varsity, Collegiate, Women's and Division I. Gaeng is a gold medalist, co-captain and starter from the 2016 Paralympic Games and also defended the team to win gold at the 2015 Parapan American Games and at the U25 Women's World Championships. As captain of the University of Illinois Wheelchair Basketball Team (2011 – 2016), Gaeng led the team to 2nd place at the 2015 and 2016 National Championship Tournament. Gail was named MVP at the 2018 NWBA Women's National Tournament and 2018 NWBA Player of the Month. Gaeng is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Champaign, with a B.S. degree in Business Administration - Marketing and Management. Currently, Gail works as Project Coordinator on Client Operations at Strata Decision Technology which is a healthcare tech firm based in Chicago, IL. Gail is also currently serving as a member of the NWBA High Performance Committee.

Mark Shepherd 

NWBA Board of Directors
Athlete Director 2022-2025 

Mark was a member of the USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team that won Bronze at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games and a 3-time World Champion--winning Gold as a member of Team USA in 1994, 1998 and 2002. Mark has a long history of elite level sport achievements in wheelchair basketball, tennis, and racquetball.  Following his successful athletic career, Mark formed the International Wheelchair Bowling Federation, served as the Executive Director of the Mountain States Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and is currently the President of The Disabled Marketing Group, LLC. Mark is a member of the American Wheelchair Bowling Association National Hall of Fame and was also inducted as the Amateur Athlete of the Year with the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame​. After serving with the U.S. Army for nearly a decade, Mark has a passion for supporting the veteran community which led him to coaching the wheelchair basketball team with the Air Force Wounded Warriors program for the past seven years. In his spare time, Mark enjoys writing and is the author of two publications – ‘Getting Back in the Game’ A layman’s Guide to Overcoming Traumatic Disability and ‘Winning the Game’ Achieving Personal Success with a Disability.

Up to five (5) At-Large directors may be selected by the active NWBA Board of Directors.

Steven Curtis

NWBA Board of Directors, Member (Independent)
Appointed Director 2021-2023 and 2023-25

Residence: Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Steven Curtis was a member of the NWBA's Champion's Circle since 2019 before being appointed to the NWBA Board of Directors. Curtis is currently the COO of (Insert Company name and focus area). Prior to his current role, he amassed 20 years of experience at Toyota, most recently as Vice President of Olympic and Paralympic Marketing. Prior to that, he accumulated several years of PR experience at an NYC PR agency. Throughout his career with Toyota, he moved around the country and globe playing a key role in Sales, Communications, and Marketing as Toyota embarked on a shift from an automotive to a mobility company. He graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and government. He also holds a Master of Business Administration in finance and media management from Fordham University.

Jim Houston

NWBA Board of Directors, Member
Appointed Director 2023-25

Residence: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

Jim is an industry expert in all aspects of operations management. Jim currently serves as the Director of Operations at DWA Golf, LLC in Augustine, Florida. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the club operations, including but not limited: golf operations, food & beverage, golf course maintenance, accounting, human resources, and marketing. Jim also spent 14 years as the Board of Directors President for the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation.   

Lauren Lobrano

NWBA Board of Directors, Member (Independent)
Appointed Director 2023-25

Lauren brings an abundance of experience in the disability awareness and advocacy realm. Lauren is a part of the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team at Amazon, serving in the role as Global Disability Inclusion Director. She also served as the Director of Veterans Career Program for Paralyzed Veterans of America and International Programs Director for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Vacant - Affiliated Organization (NWBA currently does not have affiliate organizations)