Women in Sports Leadership Panel

Dr. Kelly Childs, Ph.D.

Oak Knoll Athletic Director

Prior to becoming Oak Knoll’s Athletic Director in 2016, Childs, a former two-year captain and NCAA Division 1 athlete for the College of the Holy Cross softball team, served as an Assistant Commissioner for the Big East Conference. She also worked as both an Assistant Athletic Director and Associate Director at Seton Hall University.

At the Big East, O'Neil focused on student-athlete programming, development and conference-wide marketing initiatives. She also worked closely with each of the 10 member schools. At Seton Hall, she was integral in spearheading several outreach and marketing initiatives, including the "Reading with the Pirates Program," which promoted the value of reading by having student-athletes visit area schools. She also developed and executed a social media strategy to increase fan engagement and sport coverage across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

She earned a bachelor’s in English from the College of the Holy Cross, a Master of Business Administration from Iona College and a doctorate in Education Leadership, Management and Policy from Seton Hall University.

Katelyn Glory, a senior from Randolph, NJ, is the current Athletic Council President. Katelyn served as a varsity soccer captain in the fall and is currently a varsity basketball captain. Katelyn was just named the 2022 Women in Sports Award recipient at Oak Knoll. This award is presented annually to a senior who exemplifies everything that makes an Oak Knoll student-athlete special, with a particular focus on leadership and using one’s athletic platform for the greater good. Her toughness and dedication to improving as a player and leader continue to positively impact those around her. An active member of the youth group at her church, Katelyn also created her own fundraiser for the Interfaith Food Pantry and is a team member for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Kaitlin Bierce '06

Yale University ’10, Squash

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth 2015

Kaitlin graduated from Oak Knoll in 2006. In middle school and high school, she competed in national-level junior squash tournaments and was nationally ranked through high school.

She later played four years of varsity squash at Yale, where she was named a scholar-athlete. At Yale, Kaitlin was a member and social chair of Pi Beta Phi sorority and volunteered at Squash Haven, an after-school youth enrichment organization located in New Haven. After college, she served as a Junior Board member and volunteer fundraiser for the organization.

After receiving an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 2015, Kaitlin worked in the pharmaceutical industry (Bristol Myers Squibb and Allergan, now Abbvie) as a product manager in the cardiovascular and psychiatric disease divisions. Her joB responsibilities included managing brand budgets of over $200M, analyzing the effectiveness of promotional efforts (such as speaker programs designed for promotional medical education), organizing brand efforts at national conventions, and creating promotional materials utilizing clinical trial and real world data. Kaitlin also served as the Alumni Engagement Lead for the Bristol Myers Squibb Marketing Leadership Development Program, and she represented BMS as a Panel Member for the Tuck 2016 Women in Business Forum.

While competing in sports, Kaitlin experienced significant stress and anxiety but she was not diagnosed with an anxiety disorder until adulthood. She now recognizes how her condition impacted her performance, and her life, and is passionate about helping others who face the same challenge. She has decided to change her career focus and will be pursuing a master’s degree to become a licensed counselor. She hopes to work with high school and college students, particularly student-athletes.

Kaitlin lives in Summit with her husband, two young kids, and their dog (named Phil!). She fondly remembers her time at OKS as a peer leader and member of the calligraphy group, Scribes. Oak Knoll didn’t have a squash team at the time, so most of her time outside of school was spent playing squash at the Chatham Club. Kaitlin is still close friends with many of her OKS classmates – with three of them serving as bridesmaids in her wedding in 2016!

Dr. Andrea Hubschmann '02

Georgetown University

Dr. Andrea Hubschmann grew up in Summit, NJ, and attended Oak Knoll School from 6th-12th grade. She was a member of the field hockey, swimming, and softball teams. Andrea served as a field hockey captain and was part of one of the first teams that won the Union County Conference Championship and broke into the “Star-Ledger Top 20.” Andrea also held the leadership position of Campus Ministry President her senior year. 

After high school, Andrea attended Georgetown University and transferred to the School of Foreign Service, and graduated with a degree in International Political Economy. While in college, missing competitive sports, Andrea trained for the Disney Marathon. After graduating from Georgetown she taught Middle School in New York City for one year, and completed the NYC marathon! She credits her experience as a teacher for inspiring her to switch career paths to something where she would work directly with people. 

Andrea attended Columbia University to complete her pre-med requirements and eventually earned her medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. While in medical school, Andrea married her husband Brian whom she had first met in 6th grade at Oak Knoll! At the end of medical school, she matched into Ob/Gyn residency at New York Presbyterian- Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. Her first two sons were born during her residency and are now in the Oak Knoll Lower school in Kindergarten and First Grade. 

After residency, the family moved to Summit and Andrea joined Summit Health and Overlook Medical Center as an Ob/Gyn physician. She had her third son shortly thereafter and her fourth son arrived 3 months ago! Andrea admits that not much can prepare you mentally for what it is like to be a part of a medical emergency, but she is constantly reminded of her athletic experiences at Oak Knoll, especially what it was like out on the field hockey field, needing to anticipate the next move, trust her teammates, and communicate with them efficiently and clearly. While the stakes are higher in her medical job, the skills learned as a student-athlete at Oak Knoll are incredibly similar. We practice and train with our colleagues so that, when the time comes, we are part of a well-oiled machine. Many of the procedures we do become part of our muscle memory. We train for 8 years before becoming independent physicians. As with sports, simulation, preparation and practice are critical to becoming a competent doctor and surgeon.

Kerri Moran ’13

Cornell University, Basketball 

Financial Sales Specialist at IBM

Kerri Moran is a Financial Sales Specialist at IBM based in New York, NY. As a Financial Sales Specialist, she works closely with CFOs and procurement executives to structure leases, loans and deferred payment plans to make IT acquisitions more affordable for her clients. Kerri holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Economics and Management with a concentration in Marketing from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. At Cornell, Kerri was a two-time captain of the Varsity Women’s Basketball Team, where she finished her career ranked 3^rd all-time in assists at Cornell. Kerri was also an elected member of the Big Red Leadership Institute and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), where she developed valuable leadership skills. Outside of basketball, Kerri served as an Honor Board member in her sorority, Delta Gamma, and was a member of Greeks Go Green and Society for Women in Business.   

Prior to IBM, Kerri interned at BGC Partners, a brokerage firm based in New York City. At BGC, Kerri shadowed brokers on nine different product desks and was exposed to several asset classes. Kerri also held an internship at DDI Capital Inc., a technology leasing company, where she collaborated with members of the sales team to collect accounts receivable, as well as cold call potential clients. The summer after her freshman year of college, Kerri spent a summer studying abroad in Florence, Italy through a Fairfield University program.

During her tenure at Oak Knoll, Kerri played on the Varsity Basketball team where she served as captain her Junior and Senior seasons and was Most Valuable Player her final three years. Kerri scored 1,000 points her Junior season and currently holds the record at Oak Knoll for most points scored in 4 years. She was the Union County Player of the Year her senior season and received multiple county and state recognitions throughout her four years. Kerri was also a member of the Varsity Soccer team for 3 seasons, the Cross Country team for one season, and Spring Track for one season. Aside from sports, Kerri was the Student Body Athletic Council President, a member of the Red Cross Club, Operation Smile, HOPE Committee, and Math League.

In her free time, Kerri enjoys traveling, skiing, going to the beach, cooking, and reading.

Tory Sharpless

University of Delaware, Field Hockey 

Assistant Athletic Director of Events and Scheduling at Rutgers University

Tory Sharpless has been with Rutgers Athletics and the facilities department since 2015. In her current role, Sharpless oversees the operations of the Scarlet Knight gymnastics, track and field, field hockey, and women's basketball programs.

Sharpless also assists with operations for the football program and oversees the use of the Bauer Track and Field Complex and the Jersey Mike's Arena. Sharpless’ other responsibilities include management of Olympic sports operations and championships. 

Prior to Rutgers, Sharpless was an Athletics Facilities and Operations Assistant at the University of Delaware. Sharpless also served as an assistant field hockey coach for two years (2013-15) at Division III Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Sharpless received her bachelor’s degree in human services from the University of Delaware in 2013, where she was a four-year letter winner, scholarship athlete, and captain for the Blue Hen’s field hockey team. Sharpless earned her master's degree in sports leadership at Northeastern University in 2018.

Laura Zito Dodds '11

Lafayette College ’15, Soccer

Technical Program Manager @ Harry’s Inc.

Laura Dodds is a Program Manager at Harry’s Inc., a consumer product goods company in New York, NY. Laura is responsible for new product development for the Harry’s & Flamingo brand, owning end-to-end development throughout the product life cycle. Over the last few years, Laura and her team have managed some exciting launches for Harry’s, including a new women’s razor, a men’s razor, a new disposable shaving razor, and have prioritized making their products with more sustainable materials. All of Harry’s product launches in January 2022 incorporated sustainable materials into their product. The team has also worked to expand from being an online direct-to-consumer business to being available internationally and in stores like Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Costco, and more.

Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering as well as a minor in Architectural Studies from Lafayette College in Easton, PA. At Lafayette, Laura was a member of the Varsity Women’s Soccer team where she was an Academic All-Patriot League member. Laura served as a lead for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as well as the President of the non-profit Athlete’s CARE.

Prior to Harry’s, Laura worked for Colgate-Palmolive. Laura started with Colgate as an intern, then following graduation entered their Leadership Development program where she worked in three different roles for four months each learning various aspects of the major CPG company. Following the leadership program, she was then a Process Development & Innovation Engineer working in Oral Care. Laura worked with the R&D Team to develop, and then scale-up oral care products (Toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.) to mass manufacturing.

While at Oak Knoll, Laura played Varsity Soccer where she served as captain of her Junior and Senior Seasons, was a three-time MVP, multi-year all-state and county player, as well as Union County Player of the Year her senior season. Outside of soccer, she played a variety of sports at Oak Knoll, including basketball, lacrosse, and track. While at Oak Knoll she received the Bridget B. Gibbons award as well as Athlete of the Year. Outside of sports, Laura was also the Student Body Vice President.