Our Team

Christa serves as the Associate Director at Alston for Athletes. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Performance Coach residing in Houston, Texas. She was raised as a competitive swimmer and continued her athletic career on the Women’s Rowing team at The University of Alabama. Christa holds a Master of Science in Sport and Performance Psychology from California Baptist University and a Master of Arts in Counseling from Sam Houston State University. Christa uses her sport and clinical background to help athletes reach their peak performance.

Natalie serves as the Executive Assistant at Alston for Athletes. Natalie currently resides on Long Island in New York. She grew up as a competitive swimmer, and swam collegiately at Wagner College in NYC where she obtained her Dual Degree in Childhood Education and Sociology/Anthropology. She continued on to earn her Masters Degree in Health and Wellness Education at American College of Education. She is a certified New York State teacher, but found her teaching skills to be more useful as a Full-Time Swim Coach.

Taryn graduated from California Lutheran University in May 2022 with a degree in Exercise Science. She also played softball her whole life and throughout college. She is from San Diego, California where she has spent the last couple of years coaching 8u, 12u, and high school softball. As of August 2024, she is starting a Master’s program in Applied Sport Psychology at University of North Carolina Greensboro with hopes of becoming a Mental Performance Consultant. She is the Social Media Director for Alston for Athletes and has a passion for mental health awareness.

As Policy & Advocacy Director, Lisa co-leads AFA’s advocacy for increased mental health awareness in the athletic community. Her unwavering commitment revolves around  advancing mental health and wellness, fostering awareness of behavioral and mental  distress, and increasing access to mental health services. Drawing from a rich background in community mental health, Lisa is a licensed therapist  (LPCC) in the State of Ohio. She is highly skilled at navigating the intricacies of mental  health support and has a 15-year career as an account director in marketing and design  agencies, underscoring her diverse and adaptable skill set. 

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Mekkai Williams currently resides in Lancaster,PA and is a rising junior majoring in Political Science at Temple University, where his passion for civic engagement and advocacy has found its home. He also is an active member of the Temple Political Science Society. As an intern with a Pennsylvania State Representative, he had the privilege of authoring HB1367, a bill aimed at improving the mental health support system for students across the commonwealth. Mekkai serves as AFA's Policy & Advocacy Coordinator I.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Cherokee is a Cultural Competency Consultant. With a Master of Art in Sport Psychology from McGill University, as well a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Honors Rhetoric Studies from Whitman College, her area of expertise lies in the intersection of coaching science, maintaining harmonious coach-athlete relationships, and implementing cultural competence into coaching education. Cherokee serves as AFA’s Operations Director and works across the organization’s departments on a variety of tasks.

Chrissy has worked in Higher Education since 2017 and currently works in the student counseling center at her alma mater. Her educational experience includes a Masters in Counseling from Oklahoma State University and Masters and Bachelors of Education from University of Central Oklahoma. Chrissy currently lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She currently enjoys running but grew up playing basketball, volleyball and cheer and did rowing in college. Chrissy currently serves as the Program Director.

Jay serves as the Finance & Development Director for Alston for Athletes. He oversees the organization’s grants, donations, and fiscal priorities. Jay earned his Bachelor of Science in Financial Economics for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a Master of Business Administration from the Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University of Maryland. He works at Wexford Science and Technology as an Assistant Development Director and looks forward to applying what he learned to help make an impact at AFA. Jay is presently based out of the Baltimore.

Kyle Simmonds is a graduate of Saint Francis University. He did his undergrad in a communications with a minor in social work while he was a member of the football team for 2 years but his time was cut short due to injuries. He also served as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee while also helping write Mental Health Warriors: Stories of Athletes Overcoming the Valley and Reaching Their Peak. After, he became a graduate assistant of creative video and broadcasting at SFU while he attained his MBA. He helped with the production of the Mindful Athletes Podcast and has now moved to the Development team for AFA.