Staff Members
Executive Director
Maureen Colburn
Maureen is the Executive Director of JTI and a lifelong advocate for justice and equity. She has spent her career in the non-profit and education sectors creating and developing programs that advance opportunities for young people.
Maureen spent eight years as the Founding Executive Director of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women (BLSYW) an innovative all girls public charter school in Baltimore. In addition, to her work in Baltimore, Maureen opened three Young Women’s Leadership Schools in New York City and launched the College Bound Initiative, a program that places full-time college counselors in New York City public schools. Both programs continue to educate
and empower over 5000 students each year.
Maureen is inspired by the work of JTI; supporting families fighting cancer, empowering young people to help others and confronting inequities in our healthcare system. As a leader and strategic thinker, Maureen knows that JTIs resources are precious and she is dedicated to working with our team and partners to maximize our support to families.
Maureen completed her first (and only) triathlon at the age of 30 with five friends she has had since elementary school. Her greatest accomplishment as a child was building and sustaining those friendships over a lifetime. Maureen enjoys running, cooking and spending time with her husband and eight-year-old twins, Thomas and Grace.
Chief Operating Officer
Eliza Botti
Eliza has spent her professional career in finance, and has worked with several organizations focusing on financial planning and analysis. For the past ten years, she has helped coordinate treasury and cash management at Development Alternatives.
Eliza first discovered JUST TRYAN IT as a spectator, when she would take her boys to Landon School to cheer on friends and other race participants. (Her oldest son has since completed two JTI triathlons of his own, and is anxious for his little brother to join him!) Eliza is proud that her sons have embraced JTI activity, and remains profoundly moved by the dedication of all young participants, who do so much for so many families wrestling with the challenges of childhood cancer.
Growing up, Eliza was active in multiple sports, including basketball and softball, and went on to play both field hockey and lacrosse in college. (After graduation, she tried to keep up with the youngsters by joining a club lacrosse team—for a time.) Her own positive experiences with sport led her to coach youth lacrosse in the DC area, an experience she found particularly rewarding as she tried to guarantee a healthy environment that would allow girls to discover the joys of teamwork, sportsmanship, and the experience of the game itself.
Director of Programs
Deb Povinelli
Deb Povinelli is the Director of Race Operations for Just TRYAN It. She was previously the Race Director for the Alexandria race and a Run Captain for the Bethesda race for 2 years. Deb’s background includes being a mom, a physical therapist, a personal trainer, a running store owner, a race director and a consultant. She is still not sure what she wants to be when she grows up, but knows that it has to include helping those impacted by pediatric cancer and finding ways to help others stay healthy, so Just TRYAN It is a perfect place for her!
Deb loves to work out, whether it’s running, riding her bike, swimming, or doing some sort of strength training – for the mental health as much as the physical health benefits. Her first triathlon was one her dad organized for all the family and friends who lived in their summer community and she is proud to be continuing the tradition for more than 30 years. Her greatest accomplishment as a kid was probably winning a trophy at a 5K she ran in her grandparent’s golf community in Florida – it confirmed that there is a place for slow people to succeed too! When not working or working out, Deb is busy with her three kids, two dogs and husband!
Board Members
Kristen Abrams
Kristen Leanderson Abrams is an international human rights advocate. Throughout her career, she has led initiatives to combat human rights abuses in global supply chains, secure justice for victims of human trafficking, and leverage technology and data to drive progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Kristen was introduced to Just TRYAN It in 2015 when her oldest daughter participated in her first JTI triathlon, racing with a group of friends in honor of a dear family friend who was beginning a race of his own with pediatric cancer. Since then, Kristen and her family have been active JTI supporters, racing, fundraising, and volunteering at the Bethesda races. Kristen has also served on the Bethesda Host Committee.
Kristen holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University. She lives in Chevy Chase, MD, with her husband, Ben, and their two daughters.
Mollie Darby
Mollie Darby’s background is in interior Architecture. Mollie took 11 years off to raise 3 boys and is now back in the work world designing again!
JUST TRYAN IT is very near and dear to her heart because Ryan is her middle son. When Ryan was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009, an amazing group of women came together to support not just her family, but other families in similar situations. She LOVE’s what JUST TRYAN IT does and looks forward to what the future holds.
Mollie isn’t sure what her greatest accomplishment was as a child. She wishes that it had something like JUST TRYAN IT to compete in and to give back to. Maybe she would remember swimming, biking and running for a GREAT cause!
Andrea Duvall
Andrea Duvall is a Buffalo, New York native who has lived in Alexandria, Virginia for almost 25 years with her husband Tyler and their two daughters, Olivia and Julia. Andrea graduated from the University of Virginia with high distinction with a B.A. in Philosophy and Government Affairs, and from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review. After law school, Andrea joined the Hogan and Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) law firm in D.C., where she practiced antitrust law, focusing on merger investigations. She has since worked part-time with Hogan Lovells for many years while raising her two daughters, Olivia and Julia. She has served on the Boards of Grace Episcopal School and Casa Chirilagua, a non-profit in Alexandria, and currently serves on the Greater Washington Regional Board for UVA.
Andrea and her family got involved with JTI when it worked to expand its triathlons to Alexandria and have been actively involved with JTI since. Both girls led the JTI club at their high school, St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes, and Olivia started a JTI club at Wake Forest University as well. Andrea is excited to join JTI and hopes to help expand its reach in the Northern Virginia area.
Kunoor Jain-Spangler
Kunoor Jain-Spangler is a passionate advocate for equitable healthcare and community empowerment. With a background in medicine and a deep commitment to social impact, Kunoor brings a unique perspective to the JUST TRYAN IT Board. She is dedicated to advancing the organization’s mission of supporting families facing pediatric cancer by fostering compassionate, community-driven solutions.
Kunoor’s connection to this cause is deeply personal. Her beloved son, Brij, was diagnosed with colon cancer and passed away at the age of 9. Brij faced his illness with incredible courage, joy, and grace, inspiring all who knew him. His legacy fuels Kunoor’s commitment to helping other families navigate the unimaginable challenges of pediatric cancer. Through her work with JUST TRYAN IT, she honors Brij’s spirit and channels her grief into purposeful action.
Kunoor is honored to join the JUST TRYAN IT Board and looks forward to contributing to its vision of inspiring young athletes and mobilizing communities in support of families in need.
Treasurer
Philip LaRosa
Philip is currently an Audit Manager for WithumSmith+Brown, PC in their Bethesda, MD office. As an audit manager, Philip works with several clients to assist them with the preparation of their financial statements and various compliance documents. Philip first discovered JUST TRYAN IT through co-workers who had participated in the JTI races. After hearing the mission of JTI and his passion of helping families that are impacted by pediatric cancer, Philip could not wait to get involved with JTI.
Philip loves the outdoors and spends his free time hiking, camping and golfing. Before starting his professional career, he attended Virginia Tech, where he was a member of the swim team.
Vice Chair
Dalia Mack
Dalia Mack, PharmD is the Associate Director for Maestro Care for Research in the Duke Office of Clinical Research (Duke School of Medicine). In this role, Dalia leads a group of Senior IT Analysts responsible for the development, support, and maintenance of the Maestro Care electronic health record for over 800 Duke clinical research faculty and staff. She celebrated 10 years at Duke in 2021 and prior to transitioning into healthcare informatics in 2011, Dalia worked as a Pharmacist Educator and Clinical Pharmacy Professor.
Dalia has a passion for building strong teams and creating a fun working environment. Outside of work, Dalia loves to travel with her family. She also enjoys playing the violin and guitar and you can regularly find her making music with her husband and son. She also tried her hand as an author by writing and publishing a children’s book. Dalia fell in love with the JUST TRYAN IT mission while supporting her son’s fundraising efforts and noticing his passion for helping families in need.
Gina Maxham
Gina Maxham has worked in health care since 2008. She has a B.S. in Biology and an M.P.H in Behavioral and Community Health from the University of Maryland. She currently works for a hospital system promoting health equity and wellness through needs assessments, community engagement, and education.
After learning about JUST TRYAN IT, Gina was drawn to their mission of supporting families in need so they do not have to choose between paying for basic needs such as housing, and medical treatment for their child.
Gina grew up in Maryland and currently lives in Olney, MD with her husband and dog. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, traveling, and baking.
John Powers
John Powers is a 30-year public servant who recently joined the Office of the Historian (OH) at the Department of State. John first learned about JUST TRYAN IT when his kids were in elementary school and one of their classmates was diagnosed with cancer. He has volunteered with JTI in a number of ways but is best known as the pet parent of Oreo (Lil’ Cookie), his beloved dog, who raises funds through an annual postcard campaign for JUST TRYAN IT.
John has a B.A. in International Relations from the College of William and Mary and a M.A. in American History from George Mason University. He speaks German and Italian and enjoys traveling in his free time. John and his family live in Washington D.C.
Joe Rice
Joe is a software developer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For the past 8 years he has worked at HelioCampus as the primary software developer for a higher ed benchmarking platform.
Joe was involved with JUST TRYAN IT from the very beginning when his sister-in-law Carrie Norry started the race in Bethesda. His first job was shoe tying for racers leaving the pool. When the race moved to Chapel Hill, Joe became the head of the swim section of the race and has been doing that job ever since. All three of his kids have been racers and volunteers over the years.
In his free time, Joe enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains of western North Carolina and is happy to leave competing in triathlons to the kids.
Tisha Schestopol
Tisha has served on various charitable event committees and led charitable fundraising efforts to benefit pediatric cancer research and other causes. She serves on the Boards of a few non-profit organizations with missions important to her and her family.
Tisha holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from Emory University and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School. She and her husband Marc reside in Chevy Chase, MD with their three children, Bram, Celia, and Max, who was a micropreemie and is a cancer survivor.
Secretary
Rosemary Thomas-Mohtat
Rosemary Thomas-Mohtat, MD is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. She was introduced to JUST TRYAN IT through local advertising for the race and was motivated to sign up her two children because she believes children can do hard things- be it fighting cancer or participating in a triathlon. Her kids have been participants and enthusiastic fundraisers for over 3 years now. Everything about JTI and the triathlon speaks to the Mohtat family- the challenge of the race, fundraising to support families who might be stressed financially while already under emotional stress from their child’s illness, giving back to their local community.
Rosemary was born in India, raised in New York City, and has been in the DC-Maryland area since 2012. When she is not in the emergency department taking care of sick children and educating the next generation of physicians to do the same, she loves to travel internationally with her family, find and attend arts and cultural events especially free ones locally, and celebrate ethnic festivals of all groups year-round at home. At her core, she is a motivated doer and giver- who loves to build community and bring people together around communal interests.
Board Chair
Olivia Tomoff Hudson
As a sibling to her brother, Ryan, Olivia has lived through the family challenges of his five cancer battles since his original diagnosis in 1996. As a result, she has developed a deep empathy and awareness for the childhood cancer experience and its impact on the patient, siblings, and family dynamics. She first connected with JUST TRYAN IT as a volunteer and LOVES the idea of kids helping kids, especially when paired with exercise and the outdoors! Just as similar organizations uplifted her family for many years, Olivia is looking forward to connecting with and giving back to others facing similar challenges.
Olivia grew up in Maryland, where she played soccer for fifteen years, culminating in a collegiate career at JMU. Since graduating from college, she has loved staying active, completing many half marathons, two sprint triathlons, and one marathon. Completing a half Ironman (70.3) is next up on the bucket list! She currently resides in the Washington, DC, area.
Sarah Ward
Sarah is Senior Director of Marketing at Spoonflower, one of JTI’s largest and longest supporters. Brand storytelling and community development are her passions. She connects consumers and their value systems through creative exploration, delivering on the expectation of personalized, data-driven eCommerce and digital experiences. Sarah and her family have been committed to JUST TRYAN IT for over five years; racing, fundraising and volunteering at the Chapel Hill race. Sarah has served on the Chapel Hill Host Commitee and as a Race Captain for several years. JUST TRYAN IT’s mission of promoting and giving children the skills to be empathetic and teaching them to be good steards of their health, wellbeing, and abilites is what resonates most with Sarah. To learn more about Sarah, check out her LinkedIn profile.
Doug Wixted
Doug is the proud father of two boys, Caleb and Samuel. Together with wife and mom, Krista, the Wixteds have participated in races in Chapel Hill and Bethesda for several years. JTI is special to Doug and his family for myriad reasons, including the impact of childhood cancer close in their communities in Durham, NC and the DC area where they both grew up.
Doug works at Duke University, where he is the director of the Center for Precision Health (CPH) leading programs, projects and people in population health and genetics research. He earned a Master of Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCI) from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BS in Integrated Science and Technology (ISAT) from James Madison University.
In addition to his board position with JTI, Doug is a volunteer coach with SwingPals, helping Durham youth build confidence, focus, and emotional resilience through mindfulness, mentorship, and golf. He also coaches youth lacrosse with Oak City Lacrosse and loves nothing more than experiencing his sons grow into fine young citizens of the world.
