STAFF

Director of Development, Staci Coomer

Staci Coomer has served as a nonprofit professional for over two decades, raising over $700 million for nonprofits domestically and internationally. As a Certified Fundraising Executive, she has led organizations and fundraising programs across multiple sectors including healthcare, humanitarian response, immigration, and climate change.

Staci has helped organizations achieve significant outcomes in external relations, including advocacy, communications, marketing/design, and the implementation of significant fundraising programs. She has served as a lead communication representative for national organizations, promoting legislative advocacy efforts in Washington, DC on national issues related to the federal immigration and refugee program through the US Refugee Resettlement Program.

Staci holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in business, focusing on management and leadership. Outside of helping support the financial sustainability of the Rosati Leadership Academy, Staci loves being outdoors, hiking, running, kayaking, and spending time with her 3 children.

Noah Riskind began working for RLA in August 2020. Since then, Noah has been a lead coach with Rosati and has assisted and managed day to day operations of RLA’s programming.

Riskind is also the head men’s soccer coach at Southern Maine Community College, where he also serves as adjunct faculty in the English department. Prior to SMCC, Riskind served as Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Bates College for two seasons (2022-23)—after a stint as Assistant Coach for the two prior. Noah is also the director of impact programming for Portland Hearts of Pine.

A native of Bethesda, Md., Riskind graduated from Bates in 2016 as a four-year member of the men’s soccer program. He served as captain for two seasons and earned a First Captain’s Award as well as Bates’ George L. Wigton Scholar Athlete Award. The defender started 54 games during his playing time with the Bobcats, including all 40 NESCAC regular season games. Riskind was also a member of the 2015 northeast division champion Portland Phoenix PDL team.

Riskind went on to earn his Master’s degree in education from Boston University in 2018. As it relates, he has worked for Teach For America and then as an English teacher in Colombia for two academic years on back-to-back Fulbright grants.

Vice President, Kim Wettlaufer

Chris White is the founder and Executive Director of Rosati Leadership Academy. Prior to RLA, White was head women's Soccer coach at Chowan University, where he revitalized the program both on the field, taking the team from 12 losses to 12 wins and dramatically improving both team GPA and community service participation. Prior to Chowan, White served as an assistant coach at top Division I women’s soccer programs including Duke University, Univ. of Miami (FL), Colgate University and Amherst College. He has been on multiple Olympic Development Program (ODP) regional and state coaching staffs and regularly coaches at premier ACC, Big East and Big10 soccer camps including UNC, Duke, Villanova, Penn State, Ohio State and (former National Team Head Coach Tony Dicicco’s) SoccerPlus. He has studied the beautiful game with some of the top clubs in La Liga, as well as programming and player development in Medellin, Colombia. White has developed and coached dozens of players that have gone on to earn full scholarships, All-American honors, play professionally both in the States and internationally, and his coaching lineage includes multiple current assistant and head coaches at all levels nationally and internationally, including almost two decades of experience with Anson Dorrance’s UNC camps.

A 1996 graduate of Colgate University, White was a four-year member of the men’s soccer team earning All-Patriot League and NSCAA Regional All-America honors as a goalkeeper. After earning his BA in Sociology and Anthropology at Colgate, he went on to play overseas. White subsequently received an MS in environmental science from the Univ. of Manchester (UK), and an MS in Ecology from The University of North Carolina. He also holds an NSCAA Premier Coaching Diploma and NSCAA Adv. National Goal-Keeping Diploma.

White has been a classroom educator and advocate for alternative education programs for over a decade including teaching History at Waterville HS in Maine, and Science at South Bronx HS in New York City where he created a 10-day summer wilderness immersion leadership experience for students on the Colorado River. Most recently he served as an alternative education program director at Lewiston Middle School in Maine. Additionally, he spent 2 years as an Outward-Bound guide in Romania and was a whitewater rafting guide in Maine.

Kim Wettlaufer is the former executive director of the Trinity Jubilee Center (TJC) in Lewiston, Maine, run from the Trinity Episcopal Church. The center serves one of the neediest neighborhoods in Maine, in which 64 percent of the population lives on a yearly income of less than $15,000. Some of the programs offered by the TJC include meals, a food pantry, a diaper distribution service, and a drop-in center open seven days a week. Also, the TJC has become a resource for the Somali and Somali Bantu families, helping them adjust to life in the United States. Wettlaufer is also the president of the Lewiston High School Booster’s Association and executive director of the Androstars youth soccer club. Prior to his involvement in the Trinity Jubilee Center, Wettlaufer was a journalist for the Lewiston Sun Journal and track coach at Lewiston High School. Wettlaufer also owns six Subway Sandwich franchises in Maine and was the chair of the steering committee for the capital campaign at Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice that raised the funds to build an in-patient hospice house, which was the first of its kind in Maine. 

Executive Director, Chris White

Neel Bhattacharjee

Head Coach, University of Binghamton Women’s Soccer Team

Neel Bhattacharjee is the head coach of the NCAA Division I Binghamton University Women’s Soccer Team. Bhattacharjee came to Binghamton in 2016 after successful coaching stints at Boston College, Syracuse, and George Washington University. He graduated from University of Maryland in 1998 with two degrees - in geography and secondary education-social studies. Bhattacharjee then earned his master's degree in applied geography at Texas State University in 2000. He has also completed coursework toward a PhD in geography from Arizona State University. In 2006, Bhattacharjee was the goalkeeper coach for the Under-21 Women's National Team working alongside former USA Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis. He has also coached with the Region I and Region IV Olympic Development Programs (ODP). A native of Randolph, N.J., Bhattacharjee holds an "A" License from the United States Soccer Federation (highest license in the U.S.) and also holds an NSCAA Premier Diploma.

Doug Dicconson, Board President

Founder of Theorem Media

Douglas Dicconson is the Founder of Theorem Media, an educational 501(c)(3) that knows entertainment has the power to educate. Douglas is an entrepreneur with experience leading creative storytelling initiatives in both large and small organizations by aligning clients, filmmakers, technologists, media strategists, communications execs, influencers, marketers, designers and programmers around a purpose. His work has won and been honored by Clio Awards, Webby Awards, London International Advertising Awards, Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, Cannes Lions and dozens of others. 

Torsie Judkins

Director of Admissions, International School of Brooklyn

Torsie Judkins is an independent school educator focused on admissions, social justice, diversity, and inclusion. Currently the Director of Admissions at International School of Brooklyn, Torsie believes in the diversity of learners and strives to help every student reach his or her academic potential. Prior to ISB, Torsie held positions at Town School in New York, Rye Country Day School, and Durham Academy. He has a deep passion for helping families access Independent Schools through admissions counseling and helping students flourish in these new and sometimes challenging environments. Torsie holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College and a Master of Professional Studies in educational leadership from Manhattanville College. 

Mike Mcgraw

Retired State Champion Lewiston High School Soccer Coach

Mike McGraw is the former Lewiston High School boy’s soccer coach, whose team captured three Class A state championships between 2015 and 2019. McGraw’s first state title with the Blue Devils in 2015 was a source of pride for a city that had undergone a dramatic change with the arrival of thousands of immigrants from African nations. The Blue Devils 2015 State Championship team was featured in the documentary, "One Team" by Ian Clough, an independent filmmaker. That team’s rise was also chronicled in Amy Bass’ book, “One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together.”

McGraw, a Lewiston High School graduate, played soccer at the University of Southern Maine before returning home where he served as an assistant coach at Lewiston HS for six seasons until becoming the Blue Devils’ head coach in 1983. Coach McGraw recently retired, following a career of 44 years as a high school biology teacher at Lewiston High School. McGraw spent 43 years with the school’s soccer program and 37 years as it's varsity head coach. 

McGraw was selected as Maine state coach of the year three times, conference coach of the year four times, and Region 1 (New England) coach of the year twice by the United Soccer Coaches of America.

Zam Zam Mohamud

Lewiston School Committee Member and Liaison for the Lewiston Immigrant Community

Zam Zam Mohamud, the first Somali immigrant to be on the Lewiston School Committee, has served a prodigious role in her adopted hometown since arriving in 2001. She’s a certified nursing assistant at Central Maine Medical Center, where she also works as a translator when needed. Out in the community, she serves as a liaison between other immigrants and the city. If the police want something explained to the community, they call Mohamud. If other immigrants have questions about the school or the city hall, they call Mohamud. “If anybody needs help, I’m there for them,” she says. Mohamud found her way into the role as community leader by being visible, she says, but the motivation came from a desire to give back. 

Anna Rosati

Senior Strategic Sales and Marketing Advisor at BCBSNC

Anna Rosati and her late husband Chris Rosati showed enormous courage and inspirational leadership after Chris was diagnosed with ALS. From 2015-2017, when Chris passed away from the diesease, their message was simple - never stop living, never give up hope, never stop trying to make a positive impact. Anna, Chris and their InspireMedia initiative were featured on the CBS evening news five times in three years and they touched countless lives through their work. Rosati Leadership Academy is named in honor of Chris and Anna Rosati, who showed tremendous support of our mission as we first conceptualized the vision that we now strive to bring to life every day.

Charles Shipman

Founder and Managing Principal of Blue Keel Financial Planning

Charles Shipman is the Founder and Managing Principal of Blue Keel Financial Planning. Over a 20+ year career, Charles worked for several nationally recognized companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Bank of America Merrill Lynch prior to launching his own financial services firm in 2014. Charlie has two children who love soccer and share their father's passion for the UNC Tarheels (his alma mater). Charles brings the following skills to RLA: Finance and Accounting, Strategic Planning, Problem Solving, and Governance.

Chris White

Founder & Executive Director, Rosati Leadership Academy

See above for bio