Internship Program

Michelle Batty

Michelle recently began her career in intercollegiate athletics advocating for student-athletes through her work in NCAA Compliance.  Batty entered the intercollegiate athletics administration field as an Assistant Director of Compliance at Northern Illinois University (NIU) after serving as a Graduate Assistant and Intern for Compliance at NIU. In her current role, she monitors all aspects of the NCAA manual, in addition to preparing educational documents for coaches, student-athletes, and athletics personnel. Batty assists in the day-to-day operations of the Huskie Athletic Compliance Office, while also serving as the primary liaison to the Admissions Office, Office of Registration & Records, and the NCAA Eligibility Center. Batty holds a strong interest in Bylaw 14 and oversees initial, continuing, and transfer eligibility for NIU’s 17 sports programs. She also manages the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data for all sports. Batty received her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Studies from Benedictine University where she was also a student-athlete on the women’s basketball team.  She is currently pursuing her Master’s in Education with a specialization in Adult and Higher Education and a Certificate of Graduate Study in Sport Management from NIU and is very excited to be graduating in May 2018.

Brendan Clark

Brendan Clark joined the Forward Progress Athletics Consulting team in January of 2019. As a current Junior, Brendan is doing a great deal to get involved in all facets of the intercollegiate athletics industry. He is a student at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst (UMass) and will graduate in 2021 with a degree in Marketing and Sports Management.

Clark currently serves as a Development Intern in the Athletic Department at UMass working in the Minutemen Club. Previously, he has worked for the New England Revolution in their Sales and Customer Service Department, as well as with American Internal College as an External Operations Intern. He hopes to continue learning about the industry and expand his skillset and knowledge of aspects such as development and fundraising, competition management, and – of course – consulting. Clark will be focusing on the Academic Consulting and Leadership Development areas and is excited to be a part of the Forward Progress team.

Dani Dadig

Dani Dadig joined the Forward Progress Athletic Consulting team in September of 2018. As an intern, her focus is in the Leadership Development Consulting area of the company, as well as Marketing and Social Media. Dani is currently a senior on the women’s softball team at Youngstown State University and will graduate in May 2019. She will receive a degree in Marketing Management and a minor in Graphic Design.  Dani is the Community Service Outreach Coordinator for her university’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the President of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). She has received the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I All-American Scholar-Athlete Award for the last three years. She also has been named to the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll six semesters in a row, as well as being on the President’s List twice.

Dani has a passion for sports and marketing and was a Steele Intern at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York this past summer. She looks forward to being a part of Forward Progress for the upcoming semester!

Brooke Dodson

Brooke Dodson is in her last semester at Kent State University, where she was a 4-year softball student-athlete. She is working towards a degree in Sports Administration with a minor in Business. During Brooke’s athletic career, she was apart of two Mid-American Conference Softball Regular Season Championships and one Mid-American Conference Softball Tournament Championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament. Her team has been ranked as high as 7th nationally for team GPA in her career and has been one of the best on the Kent State campus for the past 4 years. Brooke is a head coach for a travel softball team in Chicago. She will also be interning with Athlete Network this fall.

Casey Doyle

Casey Doyle is a rising senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), majoring in Sport Management where she has made the Dean’s list for multiple semesters in succession. Before interning with Forward Progress, Doyle interned at American International Athletics in their communications department where she gained experience working inside an athletic department with a focus on game programming, graphics, game updates, and write-ups.

Doyle currently works as a tutor specifically for student-athletes at UMass and is also a campus recreation building supervisor. Her involvement on campus expands as she is the captain of the UMass club women’s field hockey team.

Her passion for student-athlete well being and academic performance will serve her well during her internship with Forward Progress this summer. Beginning in the fall of 2019, she continued her work as she will be interns with UMass Athletics in Academics.

Nathaniel Easton

Nathaniel Easton joined the Forward Progress Athletic Consulting team in May 2018. As an intern, his focus was in the Leadership Development Consulting area of the company. Nathaniel just completed his MBA/MS in Sports Administration program at the University of Massachusetts. Prior to UMass, Nathaniel received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota, where he was a four-year member of the golf team. During his time at Dickinson State, Nathaniel was the manager for the basketball team and served as the student body president during his junior and senior years. Those experiences exposed Nathaniel to numerous examples and opportunities of the life of being a student-athlete leader as well as and campus leader. Nathaniel is devoted to being a lifetime educator and continues to position himself for a career on a college campus, whether that be as an athletic administrator or as a professor.

Bo Grant

Bo Grant joined the Forward Progress Athletic Consulting team in January 2018. As an intern, his focus centered around both the Marketing and Business Development aspects of the company. Bo finished graduate school before earning his Masters in Marketing in May 2018 at the University of Alabama. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Commerce & Business Administration, also from Alabama, in May 2017. Bo has a great amount of experience with collegiate athletics and was previously was a member of the University of Alabama football program for five seasons. As a student-athlete, Bo won two National Championships, three SEC Championships and also was selected twice as the recipient of the Bear Bryant Outstanding Player Award. Leveraging his education and experience as a successful student-athlete, he hopes to help others achieve their full potential both on and off the field of play.

Eddy Hart

It is with great pleasure to announce that Eddy Hart has joined the Forward Progress team. A fifth year senior at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Eddy is a four year graduate from the Isenberg School of Management and current Graduate Certificate student in the Higher Educational Leadership program.

A member of the varsity baseball team at UMass, Eddy is a four year starter while serving as captain of the team his Junior and Senior year. He has also served as a representative for baseball on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since 2017.

Eddy’s passion and desire to work within collegiate athletics following graduation served as a driving force in joining our team. Eddy has worked with UMass Athletics in facilities and operations, the Brockton Rox in upper management and plans to attend Springfield College in 2021 to pursue his masters in Athletic Administration.

During his internship this summer, Eddy will be working in both the Academic and Leadership aspects for our team.

Chloe Maize

Chloe Maize joined the Forward Progress Athletic Consulting team in May 2018. As an intern, her area of focus is in Marketing and Social Media. Chloe is a women’s soccer student-athlete at the University of Alabama and graduated from the University in December 2019. At that time, Chloe will received an undergraduate degree in Public Relations and a specialized master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations with a concentration in Sports Marketing and Entertainment simultaneously. Chloe was named SEC Freshman of the Week in Fall 2017 and was a part of an Alabama team that went to the NCAA Tournament in that same season. Additionally, Chloe was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll her past two seasons at Alabama.  As a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Chloe has found interest in the behind the scenes work of a college athletics department and looks forward to future career opportunities in collegiate athletics.

Nicole Manera

Nicole Manera joined the Forward Progress Team in September of 2018. As an intern, her focus is in the Academic Consulting area of the company, as well as Marketing and Social Media. Nicole is entering her senior year at Colorado State (CSU), and will be graduating in just three years. During her time at CSU, she has interned for the CSU athletics marketing department and is the coordinator for Cam’s Kids Club. In addition, she has worked for various departments and communities around CSU and the Fort Collins, CO area.

Nicole will receive a degree in Marketing with a minor in Sports Management from the Denver Broncos Sports Management Institute. Upon graduating in May, she will attend graduate school and pursue a graduate assistantship position in the athletics marketing field. In the future, she hopes to be a marketing professional for a NCAA member university athletics department.

Lexi Roach

Lexi Roach interned with Forward Progress as a senior softball student-athlete at Youngstown State University located in Northeastern Ohio. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management, and hopes to attend graduate school for Sports Administration. Lexi has been on the Dean’s List every semester of her collegiate career, as well as received the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Scholar Athlete honor. Along with being a student-athlete, she holds an internship in the YSU Athletics Department under one of their Assistant Athletic Directors helping to plan student-athlete affairs programs, develop wellness plans as well as assist with NCAA Compliance work. She also holds the position of President for both the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Fellowship of Christian Athletes at YSU.

Emma Such

Emma Such is an alumnus of Metropolitan State University of Denver (Metro State) where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sport Industry Operations with a minor in Marketing. During her time at Metro State, Emma has had the opportunity to work for various professional sports teams in the Denver-Metro area. Currently, she is a part of the game day staff for the Colorado Rapids (MLS). Emma has worked for the United States Tennis Association (USTA) as a marketing and diversity intern, where she was responsible for all social media outreach to current and potential clients. Emma previously worked for Bonneville International, where she placed thousands of orders for sales representatives and national organizations.

Kelsey Senecal

Kelsey graduated with a duel degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst: Bachelor’s of Science in Sport Management and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing. With experience in the Sales and Fan Experience Department at UMass Athletics, Senecal works mostly on game production and social media. She also works for a company called: Georgia Ede MD, PLLC, where she focuses on a blog, “Diagnosis: Diet” as well as their social media pages. Senecal has this to say about her time with Forward Progress:

“My internship at Forward Progress was the first time I was exposed to working with a company’s social media pages and I continue to do that much of that work today!”

Alyssa Svalberg

Alyssa Svalberg was a women’s volleyball student-athlete at Metropolitan State University of Denver (Metro) where she earned her degree in Sport Management with a minor in Marketing.  Alyssa boasts making the Metro State Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every Semester, as well as the RMAC Academic Honor Roll the past two years.  She was named the 2018 MSU Denver Sport Management female student of the year.  This past fall, Alyssa helped her team reach the NCAA Division II Women’s Volleyball Sweet Sixteen. In addition to maintaining a full course load, Alyssa is in her fifth year working for Target, where she manages customer service issues and guest experience.

Emma Welch

Emma graduates from the University of Alabama in December 2018, where she was a soccer student-athlete for all four years. As an honors student-athlete, Emma received an undergraduate degree in Marketing and a specialized master’s degree in Marketing simultaneously. Emma was named to the SEC All Freshman team in 2015. She was named Second Team All-SEC in 2017, and was a part of an Alabama team who went to the NCAA Tournament in that same season. Additionally, Emma was honored by COSIDA as a 2017 Academic All-American. Emma is looking forward to her future career opportunities managing the marketing partnerships between businesses and corporate sponsors.

Ashlynn Yeagle

Ashlynn is a Student Success Manager at the University of New Mexico in the Athletic Department. She works in particular with the Men and Women’s Soccer and Ski programs. Her responsibilities include helping to coordinate student-athletes’ academic schedules with their workouts, practice, and competition schedules, as well as help them maintain their eligibility status. Additionally, Ashlynn is the Life Skills Coordinator for the Lobos Athletic Department. She develops workshops that emphasize lessons that student-athletes don’t necessarily learn in the classroom. Topics are diverse, varying from nutrition and meal planning to budgeting and credit cards.  Another key aspect of her position is to help with the career development of student-athletes, assisting with resume-building and personal brand management.

“Forward Progress was important in my life as it helped me increase my social media skills and overall skills working remotely. The organization helped me drastically in gaining confidence involving networking and social events in the sport industry.” – Alyssa Svalberg

“Without the leadership and encouragement of John and Cela, I would not have the knowledge I have now of the importance of leadership in athletics; being a leader in athletics puts you strides ahead in the workforce”           – Alexis Roach

“Forward Progress introduced me to the real world of college athletics, but the experience exposed me to lifetime mentors, friends, and colleagues” – Sable Lee

“I always had an interest in APR before I started interning for Forward Progress, but never knew someone could enjoy APR as much as I did until I met the Forward Progress staff! I was provided many opportunities for growth throughout my time with Forward Progress, while also learning new, transferable skills that directly related to my own full-time job responsibilities.” – Michelle Batty

Forward Progress Interns have taken what they have learned to these prestigious organizations and institutions:

 

For more information, contact info@forwardprogressac.com