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Alisha Greenberg is an internationally recognized expert on sports philanthropy. She has spoken at Engage for Good, SXSW and other industry conferences and has been featured in global media outlets such as ESPN, The New York Times and Sports Business Journal.
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As a well respected industry trailblazer, she has spent over two decades sharing her experience with organizations such as Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, NIKE Global Community Impact, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the U.S. Tennis Association, and Women’s Sports Foundation.
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She formed Rounding Third LLC in 2009 to pioneer innovative solutions for prominent clients including Athletes for Hope, Wins for Warriors (founded by MLB All-Star Justin Verlander), Kids Play International (founded by 3x Olympian Tracy Evans), Positive Tracks, the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, Sports Business Journal, and The Skatepark Project (founded by Tony Hawk).
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For the past 20 years, Alisha has served as a key subject matter expert for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation's largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health. Early in her career, Alisha oversaw sports partnerships for the RWJF funded Sports Philanthropy Project (SPP), followed by 18 years as the director of prestigious award programs for the Foundation. RWJF has benefited from her valuable thought leadership, extensive industry network, and talent to develop and execute opportunities for learning and convening. She has remained an essential partner to the Foundation and currently serves as the RWJF Sports Culture Advisor.
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Alisha regularly leads guest lectures at prominent institutions including Cal Poly, Georgetown, Michigan, Michigan State and Yale. She is dedicated to education and training for developing and current leaders in the field and is privileged to serve as co-founder and co-director of the Sports and Entertainment Impact Certificate (SEIC). SEIC offers the gold standard in trusted professional development for leaders across the sport, entertainment, and philanthropy industries.
Alisha graduated from Indiana University, earning a degree in Sports Marketing and Management with a minor in Business. She holds a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from The Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University.
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She currently serves on two boards. As a strong believer in the power of dance, Alisha proudly joined the board of directors for the The Dance Institute of Washington, the leading minority-led, pre-professional dance equity organization in Washington, DC. She is honored to serve on the board for Doc Wayne, a nonprofit fusing sport and therapy to heal and strengthen youth mental wellness, a cause for which she is deeply passionate.
ABOUT ALISHA
EXPERTISE
Alisha Greenberg is an internationally recognized expert on sports philanthropy who has spent over 20 years educating and advising social impact leaders.
Awards & Grantmaking
For 18 years, Alisha served as the director of prestigious award programs for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health. Her annual evaluation of hundreds of organizations using sport to build healthier communities offers a unique perspective on the industry landscape.
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She is currently advising Sports Business Journal on their Celebration of Service award program.
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In the past, Alisha has been asked to serve on grant review committees including the Sports 4 Life grant presented by espnW and the Women's Sports Foundation and the Pat Tillman Foundation Scholar selection committee.
Speaking
Alisha is the go-to expert on sports philanthropy for many top brands. She has spoken about industry trends & innovations with NIKE Global Community Impact leaders and presented on measurement and evaluation to the National Basketball Association (NBA) team foundation leaders.
At SXSW, she was invited to speak on a panel with Booz Allen and Samsung to discuss immersive experiences in health, particularly how sports organizations can use immersive technology to improve health outcomes.
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The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) invited Alisha to co-develop and co-lead a session titled "Leading from Within - Leadership Skills for Sports Impact Professionals" at the USTA Foundation Impact Conference.
Alisha co-developed and led a session at Engage for Good titled "Beyond the Photo Op: Engaging sports in effective and meaningful partnerships" featuring Major League Baseball, the San Francisco Giants and Wintrust Financial.
Campaigns & Partnerships
While working with the President's Council for Fitness, Sports & Nutrition (PCFSN), Alisha was instrumental in leading initial collaborative efforts between league offices, PCFSN and the Let's Move campaign (led by First Lady Michelle Obama). Multiple high profile public events for the White House resulted from her connections.
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Working with Athletes for Hope (AFH), Alisha served as a content expert as the organization developed tools, resources and support for individual athletes, leagues, teams and sports organizations. She leveraged her extensive network to connect AFH with new partners.
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During her time at the Sports Philanthropy Project, she directed sports outreach efforts for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation social marketing campaign. Alisha led a partnership with Major League Soccer that reached over 1.2 million fans about the availability of health care coverage for kids.
Athlete Foundations
Alisha has had the privilege of working with individual athletes in a variety of settings. Consulting with 3x Olympian, Tracy Evans, and Kids Play International, she identified key areas for growth which included developing new mission/vision statements, examining program curriculum design and identifying potential revenue sources.
As founding executive director for Wins for Warriors, founded by MLB All Star Justin Verlander, Alisha led the creation and launch of the program. Establishing a new athlete organization included conducting a needs assessment, creating grant guidelines, directing fundraising events, securing national media attention, and cultivating relationships with key funders and stakeholders including the White House.
evaluation
In partnership with Dr. Kathy Babiak (University of Michigan) , Alisha has served as an external evaluator for organizations using sport for social impact.
Alisha and Kathy completed an evaluation report for The Skatepark Project (founded by Tony Hawk) to measure the impact of their grantmaking and technical assistance.
View the final report for past client, Positive Tracks.
"Working with Kathy and Alisha on the evaluation process guided internal and external growth and success. It is in part because of their findings that we were selected a winner of the Beyond Sport Global Award for Best Partnership or Collaboration in Sport For Good."
--Mary Margaret Sloan, COO of Positive Tracks
teaching
Alisha regularly leads guest lectures at prominent institutions including Cal Poly, Georgetown, Michigan, Michigan State and Yale. She is dedicated to education and training for developing and current leaders in the field and is privileged to serve as co-founder and co-director of the Sports and Entertainment Impact Certificate (SEIC), alongside Meredith Wolff.
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SEIC is setting the standard for sports and entertainment impact leaders to gain trusted, credible training resulting in connection, knowledge and growth.
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