Mary Andrew
Commissioner & Board Chair: Florida Region of USA Volleyball
President: Action Gym for Kidz, LLC.
Board Chair: Youth Resources USA, Inc. (a non-profit organization)
Coach Andrew served for 30 years as the Director of the Jacksonville Junior Volleyball Association, a non-profit sport association, where she led the growth of the JJVA program from three volleyball teams with four coaches in 1989 to 65 teams and 80 coaches in 2019. This growth in size and quality programming was significant in 2008 when JJVA moved into its own 20,000 square foot facility and gained several outstanding staff directors and coaches. In 2016 JJVA was proud to design, construct and move to a 76,000 sf, 12 court facility with concessions, a fitness center, offices, reception, and pro shop.
Coach Andrew has forty-two years of work experience in the fields of education, coaching, athletic administration, commercial recreation, and professional sports. She has served on the Florida Region of USA Volleyball Board of Directors for more than 20 years and currently serves as the Commissioner and Board Chair of the Florida Region of USA Volleyball. In her collegiate career as the Head Coach at Florida State College at Jacksonville she served as the volleyball chairperson for the Mid-Florida Conference and as State Volleyball Chairperson for Florida Association of State Colleges.
Coach Andrew has been an invited speaker at the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Convention and the Florida High School Coaches State Convention. In 2002 and 2010 she was selected as the AVCA Northeast/Southeast USA Region Coach of the Year. In 2004, she was selected to the “Florida Region USA Volleyball Hall of Fame” and in 2006 she was inducted into the Florida State Colleges Activities Association “Hall of Fame”. In November of 2015, Coach Andrew was elected to the NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame.
Coach Andrew served as the Head Coach of the Florida State College Women’s team for 23 years where she earned a 587-264 win-loss record and won 16 Conference Championships and Conference Coach of the Year Awards. During her career as a high school coach, Coach Andrew coached teams to four Final Four State Championships.
Other awards received by Coach Andrew include the Florida Region Ambassador of Volleyball Award (2009), the Outstanding Service Award (2002) and the Best Tournament Director (2014). In 2002, she was celebrated by the Governor of Florida for her coaching and leadership accomplishments and taking her team to the NJCAA National Championships.
Coach Andrew feels her greatest rewards are when the people she works with achieve their dreams and find happiness through the benefits offered by sports and educational programs.
Other Team Members
Mary Ann Sprague-Denison
Mary Ann feels right at home at the helm of Active Discovery as her coaching career of over thirty years has been dedicated to promoting strong lives on and off the court, and strong efforts in the classroom as well. Coaching NCAA college volleyball, developing youth sport programs and running fitness classes for seniors have kept Mary Ann busy, but through it all, her greatest passion is found in building community and culture through sport (play!). Mary Ann’s college teams regularly earned AVCA’s highest national academic award and won the conference Sportsmanship Award nine times. Her players have graduated and gone into the world as business leaders, professional athletes and loyal family members. Mary Ann received her MBA from University of Missouri and is a USAV CAP Certified Coach and ACE Group Fitness Instructor. Relocating to California was an easy decision for Mary Ann, as it brought her closer to her daughters and has been the perfect location to begin her non-profit work. Mary Ann believes that everyone is more prepared to prosper with regular activity in their lives. She shares that “every product we give has activity included, because research shows students who are physically active (even for just 10 minutes a day) tend to have better grades, school attendance, memory, and on-task behavior”. Our products lead kids and families in the right direction with toys, equipment, games, videos and snack-sized workouts, all of which foster a higher and more regular level of activity. Mary Ann shares, “I feel confident that every child or adult that has incorporated regular activity in their lives is happier for doing so.
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Amanda Weitman
Ms. Weitman is a wealth advisor located in the Corte Madera Wells Fargo Private Bank office. She is responsible for working with high-net-worth clients to effectively manage their wealth, first by identifying each client’s unique goals then coordinating a team of specialists to implement custom, comprehensive wealth plans to help accomplish those goals. Ms. Weitman began her career with and has been with the firm since July, 1983. Ms. Weitman earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Economics from Principia College. She received her MBA from Golden Gate University and she earned the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy designation from American College. Ms. Weitman received a Masters in Philanthropy from the Lily Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University in 2020. Ms. Weitman is a native of Marin County. She serves on several local non-profit boards.
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Jamie Williams Sloan
Jamie is a midwestern gal who currently lives in IL with her family. Her life work has been in human development through a Montessori lens. Working with students (and adults) of all ages and backgrounds, and perhaps most notably as a mother to two, now 17-year-old daughters, Jamie has gained a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and the gift of opportunity. Her daughters, one of whom was born in China, have both attended Montessori school, been home-schooled, attended an International IB school in China, and attended public and private high school in the US. Jamie’s involvement along the way has taught her that human development is a journey unique to every individual, and one key is passion. Active Discovery has found a way to open the door to passionate engagement for kids who may not have the same opportunities afforded to others. It is her privilege to champion the mission of Active Discovery.
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