"providing academic assistance, life skills and tennis to New Orleans public school children"
ABOUT US
A's & Aces' team of volunteers includes:
Board of Directors
Officers
Staff
Partner University Coaches
Youth Advisory Board
Consultants
David Schumacher founded A's & Aces and is responsible for its overall management and strategic direction.
Mr. Schumacher played junior, collegiate and professional tennis and had an 18-year litigation and appellate practice legal career. He is a USPTA pro who has taught the game to thousands of New Orleans children and has coached at the middle school, high school and college levels. He guided the never-ranked Tulane women’s team into the top-10, was five-times named “Louisiana Coach of the Year", and was named Conference USA “Coach of the Decade”.
Dr. Bertrand is co-founder and former Director of the Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer and is Wisner Professor of Public Health, at Tulane University, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. He served as the Vice President for University Planning, Research & Innovation, Tulane University (1994-1998).
In 2001, he was appointed to the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council, the principle advisory body of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council.
Dr. Bertrand has consulted for several major development organizations and has served as Principle Investigator on projects funded by NIH, PAHO, USAID/OFDA, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Xerox Foundation, the Department of Education and the Zaire School of Public Health, among others.
Dr. Bertrand earned his Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography from Tulane University.
Ms. Monhartova graduated Summa Cum Laude from Tulane University and received her Ph.D. from Tulane’s Payson Institute for International Development and Technology Transfer. Her academic interests include social capital formation and the effect of children's participation in extra-curricular activities on good citizenship. She co-founded A's & Aces and is Director of Programming.
In 2007, Ms. Monhartova was inducted to Tulane University Athletics Hall of Fame. A top-10 nationally ranked college player, Ms. Monhartova was selected as the Conference USA "Player of the Decade". Ms. Monhartova was awarded the Tennis Magazine-Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sportsmanship & Leadership Award for the Southwest Region two years in a row; in 2008, she received the Tulane Athletics Torch Award for promoting the ideals of balancing academics, athletics, life pursuits, and contributing to the revival of the community.
She served as the as the Men’s & Women’s Assistant Coach at Xavier University and Women’s Assistant Coach at Tulane and has taught players of all levels for almost ten years.
Prior to college, Ms. Monhartova was a member of the Czech national team and was ranked top 30 in the world junior rankings. She made appearances as a junior at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the French Open.
The corporation’s secretary is Margaret Silverstein, a native New Orleanian who graduated from the Tulane University School of Law. Associated with the firm of Baker, Donaldson, Mrs. Silverstein is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and her practice areas include business law and investments.
Mrs. Silverstein and her husband, Jimmy, have two children, Caroline and Robert. Robert is a member of the Ben Franklin High School tennis team that won the State Championship in 2008. Ms. Silverstein is a 3.0 NTRP player.
President/CEO David Schumacher
Vice-President Anna Monhartova, PhD
Secretary Margaret Silverstein
Treasurer Linda Collins
A Certified Public Accountant, Ms. Collins holds a BBA in Marketing (University of Mississippi), a BS in Accounting (University of Southern Mississippi), and a Masters of Business Administration from Loyola University, New Orleans. Ms. Collins has worked for KPMG New Orleans in private business group and for the Rouse Company where she was responsible for all accounting functions, developing 5 year financial forecasts and reviewing lease deals and development plans. Since 1995, Ms. Collins has worked at Entergy Corp and currently serves as the Director of Corporate Planning for Entergy Corporation where she is responsible for developing 5 year financial forecasts and regulatory strategy support. Ms. Collins is a 3.0 NTRP player.
Marketing, Public Relations Henry Crocker
& Development
Development & Grant Writing Renee Melchiode
Henry Crocker is a USPTA certified tennis professional and a member of the USTA. Mr. Crocker is a former director of tennis at Metairie Country Club. He has worked in sales, marketing, public relations, and management for the last 15 years. Mr. Crocker’s passion for tennis has him back involved teaching lessons at City Park.
Crocker served as a captain of the De La Salle H.S. tennis team for two years and played college tennis at Nicholls State University. He competed on the Satellite tour in Europe and Canada.
He and his wife, Stephanie Sarrat, M.D., have three children who are actively involved in tennis.
Renee Melchiode, JD
Renee Melchiode participates in numerous New Orleans outreach activities. She has been a grant writer for Lusher Charter School and served as the Co-Chair for Lusher Charter School Capital Campaign. Mrs. Melchiode raised over $1.5 million to construct a Multipurpose Arts Center by identifying donors, soliciting donations, successfully writing grants and recruiting volunteers.
In 2005, Melchiode organized the 1st Annual John Hainkel, Jr. Memorial Gala, a very successful through an on-line auction. She served as the Norman Playground Capital Campaign Director and initiated and cultivated its grass roots fundraising campaign for this NORD facility. She oversaw the design, purchase and installation of equipment and received the Algiers Person of the Year Award.
Melchiode received a law degree from University of Maryland School of Law. Prior to her fundraising and community outreach activities, she worked as an Associate in a trial and litigation practice for Hoffman, Sutterfield, Ensenat & Bankston (1992 - 1997) and then as a Contract Attorney for Taylor, Wellons & Politz, PLC (1997-1999).
Partner University Coaches
Xavier University Alan Green
University of New Orleans Burzis Kanga
Alan Green
Men's & Women's Head Coach
Xavier University
Coach Green received a M.A. degree in Counseling from Xavier University. Since 2002 he has been the Head Coach for the Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams at Xavier. Since Coach Green took over the teams, both the Gold Rush and the Gold Nuggets has qualified for the NAIA Region XIII Tournament every year. Coach Green brought the teams to their highest national ranking ever and in 2007 became the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) Coach of the Year. His men have a four-year record of 62-53 in dual matches and won two GCAC championships. The women's team reached the second round of the 2008 NAIA National Championship.
Coach Green was a standout player at Xavier. He and his wife, Brandy, have two daughters.
Burzis Kanga
Men's & Women's Head Coach
University of New Orleans
Burzis Kanga is the UNO's head coach for the restored men's and women's tennis programs and previously coached at UNO from 1986-89 and again from 2003-06 before the program was halted due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina.
A native of Tanzania in East Africa, Coach Kanga played at UNO from 1980-1983, prior to earning his Bachelors of Science in Business in 1984. Coach Kanga is a USPTA Professional 1.
A long-time Board Member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation, Coach Kanga served as the Sports Commissioner for Tennis for the 1996 AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Youth Advisory Board
College Students
Alex Faust Princeton University
Charlie Jones Vanderbilt University
Taylor Fogelman University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
High School StudentsWilliam Schumacher Benjamin Franklin High School
Alex Faust
Sophomore, Princeton University
Alex is a former Jesuit High School (New Orleans) student-athlete.
Charlie Jones
Freshman, Vanderbilt University
Charlie is a former student-athlete from Destrehan High School.
Consultants:
Marketing Harish Sujan, PhD
Harish Sujan, PhD
Marketing/Behavior
Dr. Sujan is a member of the faculty at the Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business. He received a Ph.D.in Marketing from University of California at Los Angeles.
Professor Sujan has taught Marketing, Sales Management and Behavior; prior to Tulane, he has taught at Penn State, Duke, Florida, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands, and UCLA.
His academic interests include the motives that drive volunteerism, altruism and consumer behaviors. At the core of these research areas is an interest in the psychology of human development; how through motivation humans can develop their intelligence, consequently their performance and well-being.
Professor Sujan is an avid tennis player.