The National Growth Advisory Board is a volunteer-led group of national advocates who work directly with Legacy’s local board members to source, cultivate and solicit nationally-based relationships to benefit the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation.
Elizabeth Blount McCormick
Chief Executive Officer, Uniglobe Travel Designers
Ms. Blount McCormick is the Chief Executive Officer of Uniglobe Travel Designers, an award-winning, full-service travel management company specializing in both corporate and leisure travel. As the only Black, woman-owned corporate travel agency in the United States, her clients include universities, major healthcare systems, municipalities, multi-national corporations and two of the largest Group Purchasing Organizations in the country, OMNIA Partners and Vizient.
Since Ms. Blount McCormick was named President/CEO of the agency in2012, revenues grew by forty-three percent. Under her leadership, Uniglobe Travel Designers has expanded from a local business with three employees to a nationwide company of 40 employees with offices in Ohio and Georgia from which they serve 495 customers in 31 states. Her decades of experience in the travel management industry, coupled with her early career in corporate retail management with the Gap, Inc., and Edun, allows her to assist her clients with strategic cost review of their travel program to effectively manage suppliers, perform benchmark comparisons and evaluate best practices. During the Covid pandemic, Ms. Blount McCormick executed a strategic plan to enhance her company’s technology, while also evaluating their clients’ travel programs and policies to adapt to the new travel environment. Her delivery of the highest level of customer service and personal attention has resulted in an average client retention rate of 85%. Many of Uniglobe’s clients have been with the company for over twenty years. She understands the value of community engagement and is actively engaged in the Columbus Chamber of Commerce as board member along with chairing the Diversity, Culture and Inclusion committee. Additionally, Elizabeth is a board member of the Polaris Automation, Inc. Board of Directors, Events Committee member with the Young President Organization’s Global Board aw well as a member of the Alvis Board of Trustees as well.
Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones is a private equity investor focusing on emerging technologies and software solutions.
He leads direct private investments for Spartina Capital, from early to growth stages. He previously led growth capital investments for K2 Partners and was a technology buyout investor with The Carlyle Group. Stephen has also served as COO and CFO for multiple PE-backed portfolio companies in both the US and Japan. He is fluent in Japanese, conversational in Italian, and competent in multiple programming languages.
Stephen had dual concentrations in Japanese and English during undergraduate studies at The University of Michigan. His graduate studies include a Graduate Fellowship at The University of Tokyo (International Economics), and the MBA Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business (Finance, Strategy). At Michigan, Stephen walked onto the Football Team and was a member of the 1993 Rose Bowl Champion Michigan Wolverines.
Mark J. Miller
Mark J. Miller is currently the President / CEO of Pic ‘N’ Save Bargains. He has a corporate resume as an executive with extensive retail and wholesale executive-level experience leading companies from $10.0 million to $4.0 billion in sales. Mr. Miller has experience in developing strong sales growth, product development, and marketing operations in the United States.
Before Pic ‘N’ Save, Mr. Miller served as the CEO of Sullivan Gift Co., a leading premium wholesaler of gifts and home decor products to over 10,000 independent home decor stores across the country. He also recently served as the Managing Director for Five Crowns Capital - a private investment firm that sponsors buyouts of small and middle market companies.
His prior roles include Sr. VP of Merchandising for the Disney Stores and President of Big Lots, one of the largest extreme value retailers in America.
Mr. Miller received his MBA from Miami of Ohio School of Business and a Masters of Personnel and Counseling from Miami of Ohio.
Mark is a 20+ year resident of La Canada Flintridge with his wife and has been a member of the Legacy Advisory Board for 4+ years, generating significant giving on both a personal level and through his network.
Steve Neil
Founder of NYNE GLOBAL
Mr. Neil is the Founder of NYNE GLOBAL and serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CHARTERX LLC. NYNE GLOBAL offers an elite Marketing, Management and Consulting experience by providing innovative client engagement solutions at the intersection of business, sports, technology, media and education. CHARTERX provides private jet and air charter solutions tailored to the needs of clients specializing in Sports, Corporate, Executive, Meetings & Incentive, Government, Campaign, Concert Tour, Emergency Response, and Cargo movements.
With over two decades of experience working in the sports industry at the high school, collegiate, and professional level, Mr. Neil provides clients and partners a wholistic view and approach to maximizing partnerships that make a significant impact. Mr. Neil is an experienced administrator and executive that has worked with many conferences, associations, national governing bodies and sports commissions providing Corporate Development, Athletic Administration, Licensing, Marketing, Merchandise, Travel and Event Management services.
Mr. Neil has also served in roles such as Chief Executive officer of G3 Marketing/Procamps, Assistant Commissioner with the Ohio High School Athletic Association and Director of Operations, Corporate and Community Relations in Intercollegiate Athletics at Miami University (OH). Mr. Neil has helped launch programs such as the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA)/McLendon Foundation Minority Leadership Initiative and CBS Sports Externship program focused on enhancing access and opportunities for underserved constituents. Mr. Neil is an alum of the NCAA Leadership Development Institute and has served on many National Federation of High Schools(NFHS) committees such as Student Services, Track and Field and Ice Hockey Rules committees.
Mr. Neil and his wife Dr. Mia Neil reside in Columbus Ohio with their four children James, Micah, Livia and Naomi. Mr. Neil enjoys playing golf, assisting with personal and business development, community involvement, and is a fitness and wellness advocate.
Tony Ponzo
COO, Service Logic
Tony is the COO of Service Logic. Service Logic is the largest privately held Energy and HVAC/Mechanical Services company in North America. Tony joined Service Logic in 2017 and is responsible for the post-acquisition operating activity of past and newly acquired operating companies. He works closely with the management teams to implement new business processes and identify investments and best practices that will drive future growth and their business units.
Committed to long-term client relationships, our 7000+ employees service over 500,000,000 square feet of commercial, industrial and institutional real estate. Our coverage across the US and Canada is supported by our 100+ office locations serving our clients needs.
Tony has experience in all facets of the mechanical service business, with 40+ years of service in the industry. Prior to Service Logic, Tony held many roles at Midwest Mechanical (a Service Logic Company) for over 20 years, where he served as President for the last eight years.
Tony is married with four children and currently resides in Davidson NC.
David Quigg
President of the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association in Pasadena
David Quigg retired from Wells Fargo after 32 years in 2022. Quigg’s career was spent entirely in the Branch Banking Group. Over a long career, he had a variety of assignments including CFO for the California and Nevada Regions, Regional President in Minnesota and for the last 7 years leading the affluent branch private banking for the Western US.
Quigg has served on boards of directors with non-profit organizations since 2000. He currently is on the board of directors for Center Theater Group in downtown LA. He is the President of the San Rafael Neighborhoods Association in Pasadena. He is also on the advisory board of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation. Quigg has also recently increased involvement with 2 Pasadena based organizations - 5 Acres and the Humane Society.
David lives in Pasadena with his wife Laura and has a daughter Kalli, that owns and operates Viva Global Rescue - a non-profit animal rescue and farm sanctuary in Menifee, CA.
Mickey Segal
Managing Partner of NKSFB, LLC.
MICKEY SEGAL, CPA, is the Managing Partner of NKSFB, LLC. the largest business management firm in the U.S. Mickey graduated cum laude in accounting from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. In 1997, he was inducted into their Accounting Hall of Fame and he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University’s business school.
He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mickey has over 45 years of experience in accounting, and in the last 40 years has focused on practice management, mergers and acquisitions, and personnel management and development. Mickey served twelve years on the Arcadia City Council and served as Mayor four times for the city.
Mickey chairs the City of Arcadia’s Financial Advisory Committee. Mickey is involved in numerous philanthropic activities. He is currently the Chairman of the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation and worked to raise an ambitious $40 million for their capital campaign. Mickey and Lee are active donors and fundraisers for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Mickey serves on the capital campaign National Steering Council, chairing their first Los Angles Gala in 17 years raising over $3.1 million dollars. He has also chaired and completed a $6 million Capital Campaign for Covenant House. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Arcadia Methodist Hospital and chaired the capital campaign for the hospital tower raising over $27 million. Mickey and his wife Lee chaired the American Cancer Society’s 100th Birthday Celebration raising over $1 million for the evening. Mickey also co-chaired the $150 million Capital Campaign at California State Polytechnic University.
Mickey has received numerous awards including the “Spirit of Philanthropy Award” from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He has also received the “Philanthropic Distinction Award” from the American Cancer Society. Mickey received the inaugural award from Variety Magazine as the Business Manager Elite in Los Angeles. Mickey was awarded the prestigious “Dave Winfield Humanitarian Award” by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation here in Beverly Hills, California in January 2019.
Mickey and his wife Lee live in Arcadia and have three adult children, Allison, Matthew and Andrew and six grandchildren. They are members of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, where Mickey is a past President. Mickey is also a member of Hillcrest Country Club. He enjoys traveling, family time, watching football and baseball, entertaining his grandchildren and participating in the community and fundraising activities
Mark Shuster
Founder and CEO of Shuster Advisory Group, LLC
Mark is the Founder and CEO of Shuster Advisory Group, LLC. Shuster Advisory Group, LLC manages over $8B for a diverse range of clients, including private and publicly held corporations, governmental entities, universities, banks, high-net worth individuals and families, and financial services institutions.
Mark is a Founder and Board Member at the Rose Bowl Institute (“RBI”) and advocates fervently for female athletics. His commitment to both led to the inception of RBI’s Women’s Empowerment Symposium, combining his passions for sports and empowering women. Mark serves and has served on the boards and advisory boards of several organizations, spanning financial institutions, non-profits, foundations, insurance companies, and private corporations. Mark earned his Bachelor of Business Management from California State University, Fresno.
Sam Soni
Sam Soni is an established and recognized professional in the sports event management industry and is credited as a pioneer and leader in the multi-billion-dollar premium ticket and sports hospitality event industry.
With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Soni is responsible for developing and executing a unique event management business model that incorporates both hospitality and travel. The business model has since been widely adopted by many organizations, resulting in long term partnerships with the NCAA, USTA, PGA, NHL, NFL and many other leagues, teams, and events.
Mr. Soni was the former CEO, Founder & Chairman of PrimeSport, a ticketing and event management company headquartered in Atlanta. Under Sam’s direction, PrimeSport secured partnerships with over 150 rights holders in sports and music, and in 2017, was acquired by the official hospitality arm of the NFL, On Location Experiences. After becoming Chief Revenue Officer in 2017, Sam’s continued involvement and leadership with PrimeSport led to its acquisition by the entertainment and media company, Endeavor. In 2022, alongside private equity firm Clearlake Capital, Sam Soni and Victory Live acquired Ticket Evolution, the leading end-to-end software provider for the event ticketing industry, serving as CEO of the company.
In addition to leading Victory Live, Mr. Soni is a limited partner of the Atlanta Hawks ownership group, a partner of the Chattanooga Lookouts and has served or currently serves on the boards of Primesport, Learfield, the Atlanta Sports Council, Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council, Families First, Grady Hospital Foundation and the Pace Academy Board of Trustees.
Jeff Sopp
Jeff leads Kensington Hill Partners with a client-centric approach. Jeff consults companies with M&A opportunities and growth strategies, Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards with strategy, executive leadership selection, plus succession planning, overall board and company governance. His goal is to always deliver total client satisfaction while creating end-to-end solutions that provide maximum return on investment for all stakeholders.
With extensive experience working with Fortune 1,000 clients, Jeff provides his clients and partners with an in-depth knowledge of enterprise-wide requirements and solutions for their businesses. He assists in a range of best practices and strategies, including, merger & acquisition options, and both corporate and personal brand development.
Jeff has decades of board experience, having served as chairman, lead director and/or board member of multi-billion dollar organizations and start-up companies. He specializes in technology, retail, brand & marketing, construction, insurance, finance, and real-estate, but focuses his expertise on growth strategies a company will require to be successful.
Bob Strandt
Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners
Bob Strandt, Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners, has managed the daily operations of Guggenheim Retail Real Estate Partners since 2006 and serves as President. Additionally, Bob serves as CEO and President of Stonebriar Auto Services. Partnering with executive leadership from Guggenheim, Stonebriar was founded in 2019 as an Operations Company and has currently opened and operates over 100 Jiffy Lube locations across the US.
Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners in 2006, Bob served as the Senior Vice President of Development for Extra Space Storage, where he was responsible for the growth of Extra Space’s portfolio. Bob was a vital contributor in Extra Space’s successful IPO in August of 2004 and remains a stockholder. Extra Space currently trades as a REIT on the NYSE under the symbol EXR.
Bob started his career serving on the corporate side of retail real estate. The majority of Bob’s experience was in the real estate development of grocery and drug stores serving as American Stores’ Vice President of Real Estate where he was a key contributor to American Stores’ aggressive $1.3 billion growth program which produced over 120 new grocery and drug stores annually nationwide under the flagship banners of Jewel/Osco, Lucky’s, and Acme Food Stores and Osco and Sav-On Drugstores.
At the time of American Stores’ merger with Albertsons in 1999, American Stores was both the second largest grocer and the second largest drug store company in the United States. Bob holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois and serves on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics of Illinois’ Foundation Fund.
Bob can be reached at: Robert.Strandt@guggenheimpartners.com
Todd Walklett
Managing Director, Portfolio Manager, and Principal – Covington Capital Management
A Pasadena resident neighboring the Rose Bowl Stadium, Todd plays two major roles at Covington. He serves as portfolio manager for affluent individuals and families, as well as medium-sized foundations and endowments. He also leads Covington’s financial planning activities, helping families harness their financial resources to achieve their broader life goals. Whether a client’s life is complex or simple, Todd helps them define a clear and actionable path forward.
A graduate from the University of Delaware, Todd began his extensive career managing investments in 1991, when he joined Philadelphia-based SEI Investments as senior strategist and Head of U.S. Equities. He relocated to Pasadena, California in 1999 to serve as Senior Vice President, portfolio manager and analyst for Provident Investment Counsel. At Provident, Todd managed portfolios for some of the country’s largest pension and retirement plans, corporate accounts and financial services funds. He joined Covington in 2007.
In addition to being actively involved in organizations important to his family and the Greater Pasadena community, Todd is also a Board member of the Navigage Foundation in addition to Legacy.
Randy Winograd
President, Nimes Real Estate
For nearly two decades, Mr. Winograd has utilized his diverse operational, financial and legal expertise to serve in executive roles for various companies within the Nazarian family enterprise. Most recently, he was named President of Nimes Real Estate (“NRE”), an institutional-caliber investment firm housed within the Nazarian family office and led by David Nazarian that focuses on direct, control real estate investments in the multi-family, student housing and select service hotel asset classes.
Randy actively oversees NRE’s investment underwriting, deal structuring, and management of NRE’s assets while also leading NRE’s internal team. Mr. Winograd also serves as Chief Operating Officer of Nazarian Enterprises and Nimes Capital, where he is responsible for oversight of the operations of the Nazarian family’s vast private investment business. Randy began his tenure with the Nazarian family of companies at SBE Entertainment Group (“sbe”) serving as President, founding CFO and General Counsel. At sbe, he was instrumental in managing the growth of the company from a nascent venture into a hospitality powerhouse and played a key role in more than $2 billion in hotel, restaurant and nightclub projects, including Hyde Lounge at Staples Center, Katsuya Restaurants and SLS Hotels.
Before joining sbe, Mr. Winograd was Chief Operating Officer, CFO and General Counsel of a prominent production company where he deftly managed the business, financial and legal affairs of entities that generated in excess of $150 million in annual revenue. Mr. Winograd began his professional career as an associate in the Los Angeles law offices of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro, with a practice focusing on commercial litigation.
Mr. Winograd is a past Director of the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (multi-employer benefit plans with approximately $4 billion in assets) and of Film L.A., Inc. where he also served as its Treasurer and Chairman of its Finance Committee. Mr. Winograd earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration, with High Distinction, with a concentration in Finance from the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business.
Vinson M. Yates
Vinson M. Yates joined OhioHealth in 1987 and held the position of CFO of the system and President of several of the largest care sites. During his tenure as both CFO and President, learnings included the power of development, need for consistent leadership, and clear accountability. His clear and concise goal development created year-over-year results culturally and fiscally with quality, safety, and service as linchpins of success. In each role, he helped to grow talent and hire leadership with attributes to meet the organizations mission, vision, and values.
During his tenure, he led multiple joint venture projects including MedFlight, the largest medical helicopter business in the mideast. There, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors to help transition leadership and maintain excellency.
Serving his community through his work on area boards has always been a passion. During his time as Chairman of the Finance Committee for LifeCare Alliance, he focused on instituting new policies and procedures to enhance fiscal stewardship. His passion for insuring progress and growth continued as he served on the board for The Columbus and Richland Chambers of Commerce and The Columbus Speech and Hearing Organization. He was nominated by the West Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church to serve on the Ethics Committee as the only lay person.
In the healthcare arena, he served for nine years on the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) Finance Committee. There, he was able to be a voice for the community in how healthcare dollars were allocated and spent.
Peter Zarifes
Peter is a Managing Director and Director of Wealth Management in the South Pasadena office of Whittier Trust. He has more than 25 years of experience working with high net worth individuals and families.
Prior to joining Whittier Trust, Peter worked for over a decade at Bessemer Trust where he was a Managing Director and Senior Client Account Manager, and was responsible for the business throughout the western United States. Prior to that, Peter spent 11 years as a Principal at Desmond, Marcello & Amster, where he specialized in the valuation of privately-held companies and intangible assets. Peter began his career in the Audit Department at Price Waterhouse. He is a contributing author to several books and publications on business valuation and has qualified as an expert witness on this topic. His unique combination of skills and experiences is particularly helpful to clients who are involved with closely held businesses.
A native Southern Californian, Peter received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, magna cum laude, from Claremont McKenna College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School.