Ian Oliver

President, Chairman of the Board

Ian is a founder of Goals for Girls, and his career has focused on international enterprise development, managing new market entry, international sales, and brand strategy on behalf of American businesses expanding or establishing investments in Africa and the Middle East. He is currently a founding partner at International Strategy and Implementation Consultants, founder of Africa Talent Management, and a member of the DC/VA District Export Council.

Coupled with his work in export growth and strategy for companies, Ian has an extensive background and network in international development initiatives and impact-driven social change programs. He has structured and led the growth of several large-scale and sustainable public-private-partnerships and corporate responsibility activities in emerging markets on behalf of U.S. government agencies including USAID, PEPFAR, CDC, and the Department of State, as well as large multinational companies and institutions including Johns Hopkins, Johnson & Johnson, FIFA, among others.

Ian believes strongly in aligning corporate goals with social and impact investing and counsels clients on making the business case for impact-investing and public-private-partnerships in emerging markets. He has a passion for giving back through the global appeal of soccer and is the founder of several soccer initiatives including: Ragball International, a financial education project supporting young people across Africa by providing a marketplace for the sale of handmade soccer balls; Goals for Girls, an international initiative of girls helping girls through the game of soccer in partnership with icons of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team; and DC Soccer, a non-profit organization serving the needs of the soccer community in the greater Washington, DC area.

Ian has coached youth soccer for over 20 years in the Washington, DC area.

Jackie Skinner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Jackie Skinner is a co-founder of Goals for Girls, and currently leads the day to day operations of the organization. She’s been leading Goals for Girls initiatives since 2008, and has developed and implemented programs in the United States, Uganda, Peru, Tajikistan, India and South Africa. She is deeply passionate about helping teenage girls around the world realize their potential to make incredible change within themselves, and within their communities.

Jackie is originally from a small town in Northern Virginia. Prior to Goals for Girls, Jackie was a social studies teacher and head soccer coach at a high school in Utah, served as a country director for HELP International in Uganda, worked for USAID’s Offices of Food for Peace and Foreign Disaster Assistance in Washington, D.C., and a field guide and research director for a wilderness therapy program in Arizona. She currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in her free time, she enjoys white water kayaking, practicing her harmonica, and climbing/hiking/skiing the Utah mountains.

Cindy Parlow Cone

Outreach Director, board member

As a member of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, Cindy won two Olympic gold medals, one silver and one FIFA World Cup. Upon retiring from her playing career, Cindy served as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina leading them to a 2012 NCAA National Championship. In 2013, as the head coach of Portland Thorns professional team, she led the team to the inaugural NWSL championship.

After winning the NWSL championship, Cindy realized that her true passion was coaching young girls and impacting their lives on a daily basis. She moved back to North Carolina and currently is the Associate Director for Triangle United and oversees all the girls programming.

Cindy has traveled with Goals for Girls to South Africa (2010, 2018), Peru (2012), and India (2013/14). With the U.S. State Department, Cindy has traveled as a sports envoy to Bahrain (2006), El Salvador (2008), and Azerbaijan (2010). Also through the US State Department, she has hosted and coached both Iraqi (2013) and Jordanian (2015) girls in her home town of Chapel Hill, NC.

Laura Dearden

MARKETING DIRECTOR

Laura is an alumna of Goals for Girls, having participated in the 2009 Uganda Program as a senior in high school. She officially joined the Goals for Girls team as the Marketing Director in 2016, and has traveled to India with Goals for Girls 4 times, South Africa twice, and Uganda as a participant. Laura is a very talented videographer, photographer and graphic designer, and also manages all Goals for Girls social media accounts. Additionally, she serves as a lead trainer at Goals for Girls Leadership Summits around the world.

Outside of Goals for Girls, Laura freelances for the Sundance Catalog, and is a photographer/videographer in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can find her on the soccer pitch playing city league, or out enjoying all the beauty that Utah has to offer.

Patricia Benton

Treasurer

Patricia is one of the founding members of DC Soccer and has served as the Secretary/Treasurer of the organization since 2002. She is the Vice President, Chief Operating Officer for the Salzburg Global Seminar. She is responsible for managing the financial and operational affairs of the organization.  Patricia is the former Vice President and General Manager of Comsat World Systems, a $250 million dollar telecommunications company with over 200 employees. Patricia has also worked as a consultant providing senior financial management services to a number of non-profit organizations: Gender at Work, CIVICUS, The Partnership for Transparency Fund, and DC Stoddert Soccer.  Patricia has an MBA in Finance from George Washington University, a BA in Economics and French from Brown University and she is a CPA.

Lorena Curry

Accountant

Lorena has a degree in accounting from the University of Buenos Aires with several years of financial and contract management expertise. Her most recent experience was five years as the Chief Financial Officer for two local, related non-profit organizations specializing in foreign development and investment. Of particular relevance to DC Soccer, her experience includes generating complex financial statements, budget development, tracking grants, payroll and generating quarterly reports for the Board of Directors.

Jessica Cates-Bristol

Board member

Jessi joined DC Soccer in 2005 as the Scholarship Coordinator. She traveled to South Africa (2007), for the inaugural Goals for Girls program and became a board member in 2008. She returned to South Africa with Goals for Girls in 2017 and 2018.

In 2005, Jessi worked for Grassroot Soccer, an international NGO where she was the Street Children Program Coordinator in Zambia. Jessi received her Master’s Degree in Social Work and her Juris Doctor in 2013 from the University of Maryland. Prior to continuing her education at the University of Maryland, Jessi worked with Maryland Choices. She also completed internships in Senator Ben Cardin’s Office, the Public Defender Service of D.C., and High Road Upper School. Currently, Jessi  works as a School Based Mental Health Therapist for Mary’s Center. Jessi was a four-year D1 college soccer player at the University of Miami & Stetson University.

Annie Hawkin

Trainer

Annie grew up playing club soccer and ODP in Salt Lake City, Utah. After high school, she played Division I soccer at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. She was a 4-year starter and holds 4 individual season records and 4 career individual records there including goals scored and career points. She was also the second player in Gonzaga history to earn First Team All Conference Honors. Her junior year she led the Conference in Goals Scored and was second in points. She also earned NSCAA All Region Third team honors her junior year.

After college, Annie played professionally in Sweden’s top league, the Damallsvenskan. She also played on the USASA National Team and was part of the USWNT pool for 3 years. After playing in Sweden, she returned to Salt Lake City to play for Real Salt Lake Women, a semi-professional team. She’s been the captain of that team for 7 years.

Outside of soccer, she does marketing for a large technology company, train and mentor kids in soccer, and embrace every opportunity she receives through soccer to give back to the world.

Len Oliver

Board Member

Len has a Ph.D. in Adult/Continuing Education from the University of Chicago and served as the Special Assistant to the Chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Len has published two books and some 30 articles and is a spokesperson for the study circle movement in the United States. He has also given motivational speeches linking soccer with organizational life.

Len has spent his life in sports, playing on the U.S. Pan-American and Olympic Soccer Teams (1963-1964), as a professional in the American Soccer League, and on all-star teams in six different cities. He holds the USSF ‘A’ Coaching License and FIFA-USSF Referee License, serves as Director of Coaching for DC Stoddert Soccer League, and as State Staff Coach with Virginia Youth Soccer Association. He continues to coach youth soccer and offers USSF-licensed coaching courses, training over 5,000 coaches from 83 countries.

Len’s honors include: Induction into the Temple University Athletic Hall of Fame (1981), USSF National Soccer Hall of Fame (1996), Philadelphia Oldtimers Soccer Hall of Fame (1998), the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame (2001), VYSA’s “Exemplary Service Award” (1997), and NSCAA’s “Long-Term Youth Achievement Award.” Serves on numerous soccer boards and committees, including DC Stoddert Soccer, DC Soccer, Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame (Chair), NSCAA’s Editorial Board, and NSCAA’s Youth Long-Term Service Award Committee (Chair).