Obama appoints five new members of President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition
April 24, 2014 | 10:12 PM
President Barack Obama today announced his intention to appoint five people to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, including chef Rachel Ray who has helped First Lady Michelle Obama with her “Let's Move” initiative against childhood obesity and Robert Shepardson, who helped with the marketing and advertising for Let’s Move.
The council’s history goes back to 1956 when President Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness.
On June 23, 2010, Obama issued an executive order changing the council’s name to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, expanding the mission to include nutrition, and increasing the number of council members from 20 to 25.
Obama’s previous appointees to the council include Dan Barber, a New York-based chef and co-owner of the Blue Hill restaurant where the Obamas have dined. Barber is a leader of the movement for locally and sustainably-grown foods.
The five appointees are:
Jason Collins
Jason Collins, a professional basketball player with the Brooklyn Nets, who is the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues.
Collins previously played for the Washington Wizards, the Boston Celtics, the Atlanta Hawks, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the New Jersey Nets. He joined the National Basketball Association in 2001 after playing for Stanford University, where he was a National Association of Basketball Coaches third team All-American and a member of the All-PAC-10 first team.
Collins is a partner with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, a national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University.
Misty Copeland (Jade Young photo)
Misty Copeland, the first African-American female soloist in more than two decades at American Ballet Theatre (ABT), a company she joined in 2000.
Copeland supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BCGA) and is its Youth of the Year Ambassador, and in 2012 was inducted into the BCGA Alumni Hall of Fame.
She recently helped launch ABT’s Project Plié, a national diversity initiative in ballet.
Copeland received the Council of Urban Professionals’ inaugural Breakthrough Award in 2012 and was the Black Girls Rock! Young, Gifted & Black honoree in 2013. In 2008, she received the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts.
Copeland studied at the Lauridsen Ballet Center, the San Francisco Ballet School, and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive Program.
Alonzo Mourning Jr.
Alonzo Mourning Jr., vice president for player programs for the Miami Heat Basketball Organization, a position he has held since 2009.
Mourning played with the Miami Heat from 1995 to 2002 and from 2005 to 2008 and was a member of the team that won the 2006 NBA championship.
Previously, he played for the New Jersey Nets and the Charlotte Hornets.
Mourning is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2014. He is a seven-time All-Star, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1999. In 2009, he became the first Miami Heat player to have his number retired.
He is a founder of a number of charitable organizations, including the Mourning Family Foundation, Athletes for Hope, Zo’s Fund for Life, and the Overtown Youth Center.
Mourning received a bachelor of arts degree from Georgetown University.
Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray, host of a syndicated daytime television show “The Rachael Ray Show,” who is also founder of the lifestyle magazine “Every Day with Rachael Ray” and creator of her own brands of cookware, cutlery, kitchen tools, and signature food ingredients.
In 2008, she created a line of pet food called Nutrish, from which she donates her proceeds to help support animals in need.
In 2007, Ray launched Yum-o!, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering kids and their families to develop healthier relationships with food and cooking.
Her television shows have received three Emmy Awards.
Robert Shepardson
Robert Shepardson, a partner with SS+K, a New York-based public relations, marketing and advertising firm he co-founded in 1993.
He worked for the Obama for America campaigns in 2008 and 2012 as well as for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! and Joining Forces initiatives.
Previously, he was a managing director at the Sawyer Miller Group from 1988 to 1993.
Shepardson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and several business and charitable boards, including the New York advisory board of Enterprise Community Partners and the advisory board of the Center for Health Communication at Harvard University’s School of Public Health.
He received a bachelor of arts degree from Franklin and Marshall College and an master of public policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
â–ª President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition
The council’s history goes back to 1956 when President Eisenhower established the President's Council on Youth Fitness.
On June 23, 2010, Obama issued an executive order changing the council’s name to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, expanding the mission to include nutrition, and increasing the number of council members from 20 to 25.
Obama’s previous appointees to the council include Dan Barber, a New York-based chef and co-owner of the Blue Hill restaurant where the Obamas have dined. Barber is a leader of the movement for locally and sustainably-grown foods.
The five appointees are:
Jason Collins
Jason Collins, a professional basketball player with the Brooklyn Nets, who is the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American pro sports leagues.
Collins previously played for the Washington Wizards, the Boston Celtics, the Atlanta Hawks, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the New Jersey Nets. He joined the National Basketball Association in 2001 after playing for Stanford University, where he was a National Association of Basketball Coaches third team All-American and a member of the All-PAC-10 first team.
Collins is a partner with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, a national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University.
Misty Copeland (Jade Young photo)
Misty Copeland, the first African-American female soloist in more than two decades at American Ballet Theatre (ABT), a company she joined in 2000.
Copeland supports the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BCGA) and is its Youth of the Year Ambassador, and in 2012 was inducted into the BCGA Alumni Hall of Fame.
She recently helped launch ABT’s Project Plié, a national diversity initiative in ballet.
Copeland received the Council of Urban Professionals’ inaugural Breakthrough Award in 2012 and was the Black Girls Rock! Young, Gifted & Black honoree in 2013. In 2008, she received the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts.
Copeland studied at the Lauridsen Ballet Center, the San Francisco Ballet School, and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive Program.
Alonzo Mourning Jr.
Alonzo Mourning Jr., vice president for player programs for the Miami Heat Basketball Organization, a position he has held since 2009.
Mourning played with the Miami Heat from 1995 to 2002 and from 2005 to 2008 and was a member of the team that won the 2006 NBA championship.
Previously, he played for the New Jersey Nets and the Charlotte Hornets.
Mourning is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2014. He is a seven-time All-Star, a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1999. In 2009, he became the first Miami Heat player to have his number retired.
He is a founder of a number of charitable organizations, including the Mourning Family Foundation, Athletes for Hope, Zo’s Fund for Life, and the Overtown Youth Center.
Mourning received a bachelor of arts degree from Georgetown University.
Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray, host of a syndicated daytime television show “The Rachael Ray Show,” who is also founder of the lifestyle magazine “Every Day with Rachael Ray” and creator of her own brands of cookware, cutlery, kitchen tools, and signature food ingredients.
In 2008, she created a line of pet food called Nutrish, from which she donates her proceeds to help support animals in need.
In 2007, Ray launched Yum-o!, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering kids and their families to develop healthier relationships with food and cooking.
Her television shows have received three Emmy Awards.
Robert Shepardson
Robert Shepardson, a partner with SS+K, a New York-based public relations, marketing and advertising firm he co-founded in 1993.
He worked for the Obama for America campaigns in 2008 and 2012 as well as for First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! and Joining Forces initiatives.
Previously, he was a managing director at the Sawyer Miller Group from 1988 to 1993.
Shepardson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and several business and charitable boards, including the New York advisory board of Enterprise Community Partners and the advisory board of the Center for Health Communication at Harvard University’s School of Public Health.
He received a bachelor of arts degree from Franklin and Marshall College and an master of public policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
â–ª President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition
