2024
Jeff Kearney
Jeff Kearney is the Global Head of Sports Marketing across the Gatorade portfolio of brands overseeing a team that manages their roster of league, team, school, event and athlete partnerships and negotiations around the world, as well as their athlete service model, inclusive of GSSI access and education platforms. A 20-year veteran at Gatorade, Kearney has worked across many facets of the Marketing organization.
He has overseen all programming targeting coaches, strength coaches, athletic trainers, registered dietitians, and other sports practitioners. He helped build the brand’s youth programming platform, which today reaches millions of teen athletes annually, and includes the Gatorade High School Player of the Year program, now in its 39th year. Kearney’s knowledge of the sporting landscape translated well to his shift in driving the brand’s innovation efforts from 2009-2012, leading cross-functional teams tied to customer programs and product innovation, including the launch of carbohydrate energy products, protein recovery offerings for athletes across all sports, as well as organic hydration offerings. And from 2012-2014, Kearney was a leader on the brand’s Global Marketing Team, driving efforts tied to sports partnerships, retail theater, and overall brand presence in key markets around the world.
In his current role he and his team have been instrumental in the development of the brand’s innovative sports partnerships, such as the NBA G League focused on product & equipment innovation, Angel City FC committed to Community efforts, and Overtime Elite creating a new pathway for young athletes to pursue their sports dreams. He also serves on Gatorade’s Women’s Advisory Board aimed at addressing access, inclusiveness, and equality.
Prior to joining Gatorade, Kearney began his career in sports as an intern at the Big Ten Conference, before becoming Assistant Director of Communications at Conference USA. He later held various posts at sports and event-marketing agencies working on such brands as adidas, Spalding, and Laureus, among others.
He resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife, Carol, and their two children, Jackson, and Regan.
2023
Jeff Miller
Jeff Miller is the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy. He is responsible for managing the league’s health and safety efforts as well as all communications and public affairs. Since being named executive vice president of health and safety initiatives in 2012, Miller has led the league’s ongoing efforts to improve the safety of the game. During his tenure, the league has driven innovation in protective equipment technologies and in the use of data and engineering to advance the game itself through rules changes and technique, in addition to supporting independent medical research and advancing overall player wellness. In 2016, the NFL and its 32 club owners pledged $100 million to fund those efforts as part of its commitment to continuously evolve the way football is taught and played, an initiative Miller has forwarded. The latest examples of that progress were on display last season when the league saw nearly 100 percent of players choose top-performing helmets, the permanent adoption of safety-focused kickoff rules changes, and a partnership with AWS poised to transform player health and safety using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Miller launched the league’s Washington office as senior vice president in charge of governmental and public affairs. In that role, he was the primary representative to federal and state governments, interacting regularly with the White House, Congress, and administrative agencies, as well as coordinating with clubs on interactions with governors, mayors, and state legislatures. Inspired by Zack Lystedt’s story and his family’s advocacy, Miller led a national campaign to pass youth sports concussion laws in all 50 states. He also oversaw creation of the league’s philanthropic organization, NFL Foundation, and managed the league’s community relations department. Prior to joining the NFL, Miller spent a decade on Capitol Hill where he was chief counsel and staff director for the Antitrust and Business Competition Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He earned his JD from the University of Chicago Law School and his BA from the University of Pennsylvania.
2022
John Jardine, MD
Dr. Jardine has been a board-certified emergency medicine physician since 2000. His interest in race medicine was piqued whenhe first volunteered at the Falmouth Road Race in the summer of 2000. Two years later, he was appointed co-medical director of the race and has been directing medical operations since. Through the history of the race, the medical team has developed protocols for the treatment of exertional heat illness. Dr. Jardine has continued to perfect these protocols and has teamed with KSI to continue research to protect athletes worldwide. Dr. Jardine has been involved in medical care at long distance races. As an invited guest, he has assisted the medical team at the Boston Marathon in critical care and heat illness treatment areas.
Dr. Jardine’s start in medicine was in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as an EMT and then Paramedic in New York State. After 12 years of practicing prehospital medicine, Dr. Jardine earned his medical degree at Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn, New York. He completed residency in emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University serving as chief resident in his senior year. His background in EMS has provided experience in disaster medicine and mass casualty incidents (MCIs). He worked with the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) to staff field hospitals at mass gatherings. With RI DMAT, Dr. Jardine implemented and staffed a mobile hospital to provide medical support to the offshore Egypt Air Flight 990 recovery mission. As an emergency physician, Dr. Jardine directed the medical care for Operation Helping Hand, Massachusetts Governor Romney’s temporary relocation of the displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina to Camp Edwards on Cape Cod.