Who We Are

"The Players’ Impact is just a room full of people that understand both business and athletics. It has been the best organization I have had the privilege to work with."
-Brian Doyle
TPI Member, Professional Rugby Player
The Players' Impact

TPI is comprised of active and retired professional athletes, artists, influencers and investors; who have come together as a collective to connect, empower, educate and invest.

Since The Players’ Impact (TPI) was founded in 2017, we have established an ecosystem among our professional athlete network and business stakeholders. TPI is the leading, most diverse, dedicated community, known for uplifting athletes  and entertainers with trusted resources and partnerships to succeed during and after their careers.

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TPI experience

TPI hosts a of diverse array of virtual and in person events that includes Shark Tank style pitch competitions at NBA All Star Game, Rooftop VIP networking during Super Bowl week across cities such as New York, Miami and Toronto.

TPI Academy

TPI Academy provides a launchpad for Athlete Entrepreneurs and business owners. In addition to our intensive 12-week program accelerator program that takes Athlete from ideation to formulation to development of a business plan and pitch presentation there are multiple bootcamps and training workshops.

TPI venture white

TPI Ventures is the TPI Global Community and invited investors who have come together as a collective to connect and invest. TPI Ventures democratizes venture capital investing by providing hard to access, vetted and curated investment opportunities allowing individuals to write small check sizes

TPI Xchange

TPI Xchange connects Athletes with opportunities in business. These equity and earned income connections include Ambassadorship, Internship, Advisor Roles, and Product Consultants.

The TPI Team

Tracy Deforge

CEO & Co-Founder, an attorney by training, an entrepreneur in spirit, and an executive leader through experience. Her career has focused for more than a decade in the sports industry on start-up companies, technology offerings, and pioneering business initiatives.
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Chris Giesting

Heading the business development and analysis teams at The Players' Impact, Chris is a former World Champion Track & Field Athlete out of the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Entrepreneurship and a MBA in International Business.
Mo Evans

Maurice Evans

He played in the NBA for almost a decade, and has recently served as the vice president of the NBA Player’s Association. Currently, he is working in the sports industry consulting athletes on navigating various business ventures.

Stacey Vollman Warwick

Stacey is a marketing, media and operating executive with an entrepreneurial mindset. Stacey loves to envision, plan, execute. She has led and managed large and small organizations for topline revenue growth, sustainable long-term profit and through major digital transformations.

Josh Dixon

Josh is a former Team USA Olympic athlete, investor, advisor, digital media creator, and most recently, the first LGBTQ person of color to hold an ownership stake in a professional sports team franchise.

Lonie Paxton

Lonie is a former New England Patriot, and Super Bowl Champion. He brings professional experience from GoPro, and actively engages and invests in venture.

Irg Torben Buehrer

Based in Europe, Irg is an investment professional with an entrepreneurial mindset and a background in economics and management. He has focused more than a decade on building a sports and business ecosystem for mutual benefit.
Community

Our Impact

Started in 2017 by TPI’s co-founder to create educational programs for athletes surrounding venture investing, TPI has grown into a trusted network of 660+ members, athletes, and high net worth investors across 5 continents.

$1.5B

In total sports contract value.

1,000+

TPI Event attendees.. and counting!

20MM

Athlete community social media followers.

1,500

Companies vetted.

3

International expansion opportunities to over 2K professional athlete network.

3,200+

TPI Newsletter subscribers.

6

League partnership discussions.

200+

Hours of educational content from 40+ coaches and mentors.

Athlete Advisors

Tracy McGrady

Retired NBA Player
Played in the NBA for over 15 years straight out of high school, and had an incredibly successful career making 7 NBA All-Star appearances. Since retiring from the NBA, Tracy has been an analyst for ESPN and an avid investor, most recently in a Lakeside, FL Restaurant.

James Farrior

Retired NFL Player
Played 15 seasons in the NFL for the Jets and Steelers in what is a rare and lengthy career in football. He is also an experienced veteran off the field in venture capital as an active investor in private equity.

Jon Najarian

Retired NFL Player, Co-Founder, MarketRebellion.com
He became a member of the CBOE, NYSE, CME and CBOT and worked as a floor trader for some 25 years. He is a founding member of Mercury Trading, He also is a co-founder of both optionMONSTER and tradeMONSTER.which sold a majority stake to private equity firm General Atlantic Partners in 2014 & two years later sold the firm to E*Trade for $750M. Today, he is a professional investor, money manager, stock & digital assets analyst and market analyst.

Donte Whitner

Retired NFL Player
11-year veteran, 3x pro-bowler, and 8th overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft. Donte was also an All-American at The Ohio State University. Currently, he is an NFL TV analyst with NBC Sports, the current President of the NFLPA OC Chapter.

Alex Biega

Current NHL Player
He is a current professional hockey player with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Alex graduated from Harvard University in 2010 and went on to complete his M.B.A. online from the University of Southern New Hampshire during his first season of professional hockey.

Bryce Salvador

Retired NHL Player, Experienced Entrepreneur
Previous NHL Captain, who has become an experienced entrepreneur and executive working in the sports industry. He is currently working for MSG Networks as a TV Analyst for the New Jersey Devils. He is the Owner of xHockeyProducts.

Garrett Klugh

U.S Olympian
COO at Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners.

Gabby Douglas

U.S. Olympic Gymnast
Gabby won gold medals for the U.S. at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.

Business Advisors

Charles Baker

Co-Chair of O'Melveny Sports Industry Group.
Chuck’s corporate practice encompasses mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital transactions, with a core focus in the sports, media and consumer sectors.

Drew Sheinman

Founding Partner at Brand Velocity Partners
A disruptive lower-middle market private equity firm that focuses on consumer and data companies with $10 million + of EBITDA. Drew is also a Director and Partner at Revel Spirits, a high quality importer of all agave spirits produced exclusively in the Morelos region of Mexico.

John Cahaly

Executive Chairman,
Eze Castle Integration
John has more than 20 years of experience in computer engineering and business management and was instrumental in building the financial industry's first Windows NT trading room that was used by Fleet Financial Group in 1996.

Iman Farrior

TV Business Affairs Executive at Creative Artists Agency
Working as a TV Business Affairs Executive at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles. Iman has been a trusted advisor to global organizations and individuals on subjects as varied as contract law, negotiation, angel investment, business strategy & operations, regulatory compliance, and real estate.

Jason Lavender

Founding venture partner with NextGen Venture Partners
20+ year sports marketing and management veteran with experience in NFL athlete representation, corporate consulting, business development, licensing, sponsorship sales, event management and raising capital. Was the first woman to negotiate an NFL quarterback's contract.

Stephen Lebowitz

Founding and Managing Partner at Brand Velocity Partners
A disruptive lower-middle market private equity firm that focuses on consumer and data companies with $10 million + of EBITDA. Stephen has an impressive background out of Harvard College and Harvard Law, and has served as the Managing Partner of Topspin Partners for over 16 years.

Kristen Kuliga

Investor Relations at Justly
20+ year sports marketing and management veteran with experience in NFL athlete representation, corporate consulting, business development, licensing, sponsorship sales, event management and raising capital. Was the first woman to negotiate an NFL quarterback's contract.

Debi Kleiman

Award-winning Startup Mentor
Debi Kleiman has over a decade of experience coaching founders and building startups. Most recently, she was Executive Director of the Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College, the nation’s #1 College for entrepreneurship.

Have questions?

Lob your thoughts over to our team so we can launch into a conversation and slam dunk some answers… or just send us an email.

What kind of feedback can I get?

The TPI network is filled with experts throughout a variety of fields with years of experience to provide feedback on your business and investment opportunities.

What is an Investment Carry Pool?

TPI Player Premium members get to share in an Investment Carry Pool that provides more opportunities to diversify your portfolio.