Chris Blankenship is the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources (DCNR), appointed by Governor Kay Ivey in May of 2017. He has been with
ADCNR since 1994, when he joined the Department as a Conservation Enforcement Officer in
the Marine Resources Division.
Chris serves on many boards and commissions and is Chairman of the Forever Wild Land Trust
Board as well as Chairman of the Innovate Alabama Council on Outdoor Recreation. Chris also
previously served as a member of the Board of Control of the Employees Retirement System of
Alabama.
Having been integrally involved in the State’s response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill from
the beginning, Chris has a solid background for the oil spill recovery and restoration work he
handles as Governor Ivey’s appointed designee overseeing all the DWH funding allocated
directly to the State of Alabama.
He has been happily married to Allyson Blankenship for 32 years and has three adult children.
He is a native of Dauphin Island, Alabama, and currently resides in Montgomery, Alabama.
May 23, 2024–Karen Hong / CEO, Continental Aerospace Technologies
May 16, 2024–Jon Carfagno / Executive Director, Mobile Museum of Art
May 9, 2024–John Kilpatrick / Founder & CEO, Vet’s Recover
May 2, 2024–Jim Nagy / Executive Director, Resse’s Senior Bowl
JIM NAGY
Executive Director
Jim Nagy was named to the position June 1, 2018, by Mobile Arts & Sports Association Chairman Mr. Angus Cooper II. In his role, he is responsible for both the football and business operations of the nation’s premiere college all-star game.
While the Senior Bowl has long been regarded as the preeminent event on the NFL scouting calendar, the game has reached new heights over Nagy’s first three years, both on and off the field. Since taking over for former Cleveland Browns General Manager Phil Savage four years ago, Nagy’s overarching vision for game was to position it as the unofficial start of the NFL pre-draft process, which led to the organization’s trademarked mantra “The Draft Starts in Mobile”.
On the football side, Nagy is primarily responsible for the identification, evaluation, and selection of the top NFL prospects to be invited to the game, as well as serving as a liaison to the agent community representing those players. Under Nagy’s leadership, the Senior Bowl team is coming off a year in which it strategically and skillfully pulled off the event despite the extreme challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, something no other pre-draft event accomplished, including the NFL Combine.
The past three games have produced a three-year record 292 drafted players, including 20 first round picks and an all-time high 106 total prospects a year ago. In each of the three years prior to his arrival, the Senior Bowl’s total number of drafted players represented 32% of the that year’s total draft class. That figure has climbed from 36% in each of Nagy’s first two years to an all-time high 41% last year. Moreover, Nagy’s classes have enjoyed incredible staying power once they get to the NFL. From his first two Senior Bowl classes (2019 and 2020), 90% of the players (218 out of 243) wound up making an active 53-man NFL roster at some point during their rookie season. Some future NFL stars who played in the Senior Bowl the past three years include: Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert, San Francisco 49ers WR Deebo Samuel, Washington Football Team WR Terry McLaurin, and New England Patriots QB Mac Jones.
One of Nagy’s first moves was to build the game’s first-ever personnel department composed exclusively of former NFL scouts, which in 2021 included seven scouts with a collective 120 years of league experience. The Senior Bowl’s year-round evaluation process begins each February with extensive tape study on college prospects, continues through the summer with recruiting visits to events like the Manning Passing Academy, and concludes each year in the fall after more than a hundred live game exposures on campuses around the country. Before invites are sent, Nagy relies on his over 20 years of relationships in the NFL to get input from the league’s top decision-makers to ensure the Senior Bowl is bringing the best draft eligible talent to Mobile each year.
An integral part in the Senior Bowl’s success during Nagy’s tenure has been the use of social media to connect with potential players and expand the reach of the Senior Bowl brand. Since August 2018, Senior Bowl Twitter accounts (@seniorbowl and @JimNagy_SB) have grown exponentially every year, increasing total impressions from 40 million in 2018 to a staggering 350 million in 2021. Embracing the power of social media has helped the Senior Bowl maintain a consistent year-round presence and greatly enhanced the game’s overall visibility.
Another significant growth area over the past four years has been the acquisition of several prominent national partners. With new additions like Nike (on-field) and Swet Tailor (off-field) as the official apparel sponsors, Panini America as the official trading card/NFT partner, and Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux as the official practice partner, Senior Bowl sponsorship revenues have nearly doubled since 2018. In addition, prominent local businesses such as Regions Bank and Alabama Power have made significant commitments to the growth of the game over the past three years and Wind Creek Casinos recently did the same by signing on as the official sponsor of the Senior Bowl Street Party.
Away from the field, Nagy and his staff have added three exciting new January events—the Senior Bowl Summit, Player’s Mardi Gras Parade, and Downtown Concert—that have quickly transformed Senior Bowl week into more than just a game. Star-studded events like the Summit, which has featured guests like ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban, and celeb entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck, and free concerts by groups like The Revivalists and Grammy-winners Portugal The Man have helped drive tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Mobile over the past few years.
The Senior Bowl remains an active community partner throughout the year with its youth NFL Flag league, charitable events such as the Senior Bowl Charities Celebrity Golf Classic, which raised $20,000 for Big Brothers/Big Sisters in its inaugural year last June, and the Turkey Bowl that helped feed 1,000 underprivileged families at Thanksgiving. Additionally, through the Mobile/Baldwin Athletic Partnership (MBAP), the Senior Bowl awarded over $50,000 in grant money for team equipment needs and donated Nike uniforms to several local public high school programs in the city of Mobile.
In addition to his duties at the Senior Bowl, Nagy has worked as a draft analyst for ESPN, covering both the NFL Combine live from Indianapolis and the NFL Draft live in Nashville. He also does extensive work across various football media platforms, including regular appearances on NFL Network and NFL Sirius Radio, and he was named one of the “Top 50 NFL Twitter Accounts” by The Athletic in 2020.
Nagy, a native of Traverse City, Mich., graduated from the University of Michigan in 1996 and was honored with a career achievement award from the school in 2019. He broke into the NFL as an intern for the Green Bay Packers during their Super Bowl XXXI winning season and held various scouting roles over his 18 years in NFL personnel departments, elevating to national scout with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2009-2012. Prior to coming to the Senior Bowl, he spent five years as the southeast area scout for the Seattle Seahawks. Nagy was a part of six teams that reached the Super Bowl and four Lombardi Trophy Champions (Packers XXXI, New England Patriots XXXVIII and XXXIX, and Seattle Seahawks XLVII).
Nagy and his wife, Lindsay, have two children, son Hayden (18) and daughter Lillian (15) and they have lived in Mobile since 2007.
Apr. 25, 2024– John Eads / Executive Director, Light of the Village Ministry
John Eads’ Bio
John Eads grew up in New Mexico, and at the age of 14, became a cadet at New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) where he graduated from high school four years later. Between his junior and senior years, in July, 1983 he became a Christian and began his walk with Christ.
He continued at NMMI on a boxing scholarship and earned a junior college diploma and a commission as an officer in the United States Army, he then completed Airborne School. Following his military service, John earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from New Mexico State University in 1994, the same year he married his wife, Dolores, who served as a public school teacher.
They moved to San Antonio, TX where he earned a Masters in Hospital Administration from Trinity University and from 1998 through 2007, he served as Chief Executive Officer in two different hospitals for the Infirmary Health System. In 2005, he was awarded the Distinguished Early Career Healthcare Executive award for the state of Alabama.
From 1997 to 2001, John and his wife, Dolores, served with Prison Fellowship Ministries and conducted in-prison seminars in prisons throughout Alabama. They established Prison Fellowship seminars in the State’s juvenile facilities in 1998 and continued to serve inside both adult and juvenile correctional facilities until 2001.
In 2001, John and his wife founded Light of the Village, an inner-city Christian ministry in Prichard’s Alabama Village and served there part-time while pursuing their careers. This community is one of Alabama’s most impoverished and violent.
In 2007, John decided to leave the healthcare field to devote full time to his work as Executive Director at Light of the Village. John traveled to East Los Angeles and learned about gang intervention at Homeboy Industries, considered to be the nation’s Best Practice for gang intervention. Additionally, he and his wife traveled to Camden, New Jersey to learn about youth programs from Urban Promise.
In 2007, John began to serve as an adjunct lecturer at Spring Hill College for the Business Division. He was hired as a regular part-time lecturer for Spring Hill College in 2016.
Currently, the Light of the Village offers a six day a week presence inside the Alabama Village and surrounding communities. It serves children, teenagers, and adults. Since 2014, the ministry has expanded to five summer camp sites, and five after-school programs. We serve over 400 inner-city children a day for eight weeks during the summer and over 100 a day during our after-school programs. Additionally, we offer job placement, ACT College prep tutoring and a variety of other programs to meet the needs of our community.
The Light of the Village was the topic of the National PBS documentary, “The Good Road” in 2020 and is the subject of several upcoming books discussing urban community Christian ministry.
Apr. 18, 2024–Steve Condon / President, United States Sports Academy
CONDON BIO
Brief Intro
Steve Condon is the Third President of The United States Sports Academy. A 51-year-old sports degree granting university located in Daphne, Alabama. He received his education from Boston College, Florida State University, The University of Alabama, The University of Mississippi and Harvard University. Prior to becoming President at “The Academy”, he served as Chancellor at Carolina University and President of John Wesley and Tennessee Wesleyan Universities. Dr. Condon was Vice President and Dean of Letourneau, St. Thomas and Reinhardt Universities, and Dean of Huntingdon College. He earned the rank of Professor of Education in 2001 and has spent over 44 years in higher education administrative leadership positions.
An NCAA Division I athlete Dr. Condon played Hockey and Golf. He won the Massachusetts and New England Collegiate Golf Championships three times before attending and competing for Florida State University. During his career he served as Athletic Director for five universities where he received Conference, Regional and National administrative awards and recognition for his program development, graduation rates, leadership and fundraising. Since his first athletic leadership position he has started 18 individual intercollegiate athletic teams and raised over 30 million dollars for scholarships, facilities and new programs. Dr. Condon has been responsible for funding and building new facilities in Soccer, Softball, Baseball, Lacrosse, Tennis, and Basketball while serving as the administrative or presidential leader for three conferences. He has hosted over 30 Regional, Sectional and National Championships at four southern universities.
During his coaching career in Alabama in the 1980’s he was selected National Coach of the Year 5 times while his teams won 4 National Championships. He coached 27 All-Americans and four individual National Champions. He was selected by the US Olympic Committee to Coach the USA National Team in 1986 and 1988. In 1986 the team won the silver medal and in 1988 he coached the USA team to the Gold Medal in the World Championships in Rome. Thanks to this success, in the sport of golf, he was inducted into the NCAA Hall of Fame as a coach in 2014.
Dr. Condon has 17 years as a university president or chancellor and owns a proven track record in athletics, enrollment growth, curriculum and sport development, fundraising, accreditation, student success and team building. He has been married to his wife, Becky, a retired school librarian, for 48 years. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.
Apr. 11, 2024–Tamara Weinert / President & CEO, BA America at Outokumpu
Speaker: Tamara Weinert
Title: President & CEO – Outokumpu Business Area Americas
Tamara Weinert is currently President and CEO of Outokumpu’s Business Area Americas. Under her leadership BA Americas has seen consistent operational improvement and positive results. Before joining BA Americas, she was a Senior Vice President for Sales for Outokumpu, after serving as the European CFO from 2013 to 2016. Outokumpu is one of the largest stainless steel producers in the world and a listed company headquartered in Helsinki.
During her career she was based in Germany, India, Singapore, Russia, Pakistan, The Netherlands and Finland.
Tamara holds a master’s degree in finance from Manchester Business School and an MSc in Protected Landscape Management from University of Greenwich.
Apr. 4, 2024–Joe’l Lewis Billingsley, VP Diversity & Community Engagement, USA
Dr. Joél Lewis Billingsley received a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of South Alabama (USA) and an Associate of Arts degree in Culinary Arts from Bishop State Community College. She later returned to her alma mater to pursue a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Instructional Design and Development. Since 2005, she has been educating students, conducting research, and facilitating community conversations. As an educator, instructional designer, and facilitator, her administrative role focuses on supporting faculty, staff, and students in inclusive excellence. Building on her leadership development and community-building experience, she facilitates campus-wide initiatives to fulfill the mission of USA. She serves as Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement at the University of South Alabama.
Mar. 28, 2024–Dr. Lauren Lambrecht / Azalea City Physicians for Women
Dr. Lauren Lambrecht is a Tennessee native who has lived in Mobile since 2011. She attended Harding University for her undergraduate studies, graduating magna cum laude with a B.S. in Chemistry. While at Harding, she held a two-year research grant with NASA, and was presented the Physical Science Student of the Year Award by the faculty and administration. Following graduation, Dr. Lambrecht obtained her medical degree from the University of Tennessee School of Medicine. She then completed her OBGYN internship and residency training at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. While in residency, Dr. Lambrecht served as Chief Administrative Resident to the 40 physicians in her program. During that time, she received awards for Best Resident in Gynecology and Best Resident in Urogynecology and Pelvic Surgery. Dr. Lambrecht has had the privilege of working with several research mentors throughout her undergraduate, medical, and residency studies. During that time, she presented and published several papers in peer-reviewed journals. She was also awarded “Best Resident Research Paper” by the University of Tennessee. She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She is currently attending Auburn University Graduate School obtaining a Physician Executive Master of Business Administration degree.
As an OBGYN, she feels privileged to be a part of a woman’s care through every season of life. She enjoys the practice of Gynecology & Obstetrics because of the wonderful opportunity that it offers – playing a crucial role in promoting and maintaining women’s health throughout their lives, from adolescence through pregnancy and into menopause. She takes pleasure in educating patients about their health and their bodies and helping them to understand the normal stages of their lives, as well as the problems that can arise. Dr. Lambrecht has developed a particular interest in minimally invasive procedures and vaginal surgery. She has been a preceptor for ACOM, teaching medical students in the office and in the operating room.
She and her husband, Zac, have been married since 2002, and in 2013, they welcomed twin boys, James and Joshua. She enjoys time with her family, reading a great book, or golfing.