Board of Directors

Brittni Souder is a native of Frederick, Maryland and a former collegiate soccer player who was forced to retire from soccer after her 9th concussion. Brittni sustained 3 concussions in one month during her junior season at Hood College. After two surgeries on her head and taking a semester off, she returned to school for her final semester and soccer season in the fall of 2014, when she suffered her final concussion after a collision with another player in a game.

Brittni was able to finish college from home with the help of her professors and officially graduated in May of 2015. She now coaches college soccer and is passionate about spreading concussion awareness to athletes, parents, athletic trainers, and coaches; and she hopes her story will serve as an example to other athletes to care for their brain. Brittni is taking classes towards a Master's Degree in Exercise Science with a dual concentration in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention, and Sport Psychology.

Dorothy Bedford developed a passion for youth sports concussion safety following a daughter’s 14-month concussion in 2010. The family’s story of recovery was published as “The Unmarked Detour.” As a board of education member at that time, she worked with colleagues to develop concussion-forward policies within the district.  Subsequently, she moved into advocacy at the state and national level, as the need for educators to step into the national discussion on concussion safety, prevention and recovery became evident. 

She is a member of the American Society for Testing and Material (ASTM) Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities, a standard-setting body, and currently co-chairs F08.53’s task group on revising soccer headband standards. Dorothy holds an A.B (Princeton University) and M.B.A. (Harvard). She lives in Valley Forge, PA with her husband of 30 years; they have three grown daughters.

Tom Green moved to Westport, CT after graduating from the University of Iowa in 1971, and began a thirty plus year adventure as a teacher and counselor in the Westport Public Schools. He counseled students at Bedford, Coleytown and Staples, and for a number of years, he was responsible for the teacher appraisals program for the Westport Schools professional staff. TFor more than twenty years he was the treasurer and human resources director for the Westport Education Association. While walking a picket line in Shelton, CT, Tom met and subsequently married Eve Green, another Westport teacher. They have three children and seven grandchildren.  

Tom is the president of ITN Coastal CT – a senior rides service, treasurer of Positive Directions – a provider of counseling and prevention services, and a long time board member of United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.  He continues to be an advocate for students and families throughout Connecticut. 

Steve Stenersen, CEO, US Lacrosse played a leading role in the formation of US Lacrosse in 1998, and he has served as the NGB’s chief executive since its inception.  Stenersen was instrumental in establishing the organization’s Sports Science & Safety Committee, which is focused on building the body of lacrosse-specific injury research and developing related educational initiatives focused on player safety.  US Lacrosse recently announced the formation of its Center for Sport Science in order to raise the profile, scope and impact of injury prevention initiatives within the organization. 

Stenersen is also a member of the boards of the National Sport Concussion Coalition, the Association of Chief Executives for Sport, and the Federation of International Lacrosse.  A native of Baltimore, Steve received his B.A in Journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he was a member of two NCAA championship lacrosse teams in 1981 and 1982.

Dr. John Pannese is currently an attending Radiologist at the West Haven VA Medical Center.  He was former Section Head of Interventional Radiology at the University of Connecticut School of of Medicine for five years and former Section Head of Interventional Radiology at St. Vincent’s Medical Center for ten years. Dr. Pannese is Board Certified in Diagnostic Radiology and Fellowship trained in Interventional Radiology from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.  He received his Medical Degree from New York Medical College and Bachelor of Science from Fairfield University.

A concern for concussion safety, treatment, and prevention began when his daughter suffered a severe concussion from a softball injury.  It has been 18 months since her injury and she has made significant improvement, however, the journey to complete recovery is still in progress.