Grounded in purpose.
Built for GRIT.

Jamelle Austin brings more than a decade of experience in athletic administration and educational leadership to the T.H.D. GRIT Initiative. He currently serves as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director at Riverdale Ridge High School in Thornton, Colorado, where he leads athletic programs, student activities, and school operations.

Jamelle's career has centered on a belief that mirrors GRIT's own foundation: young people thrive when they're given both structure and opportunity. He has built his work around strong relationships with students, families, coaches, and community partners — grounded in the same values of integrity, accountability, and excellence that GRIT builds its programs on. His leadership focuses on shaping positive culture, expanding opportunities for student involvement, and treating athletics as an extension of the classroom, not separate from it — the same "AND, not OR" philosophy at the heart of GRIT.

Jamelle holds a Master of Science in Sports Management, along with bachelor's degrees in Political Science and African American Studies, and is a Certified Athletic Administrator (CAA). He is passionate about mentoring coaches and developing the next generation of leaders — on the field and off.

Outside of his professional work, Jamelle enjoys spending time with his wife and their two sons. He believes strong families, meaningful relationships, and servant leadership are the foundation of lasting success — in schools, and in community.

Justin Adams is an award-winning journalist, two-time Heartland Emmy Award nominee, and play-by-play broadcaster based in Denver, Colorado. A graduate of a Denver-area high school and a former University of Colorado football student-athlete, Justin has lived the same "AND, not OR" reality GRIT exists to build for the next generation — a scholar and an athlete, a storyteller and a competitor.

Over the course of his career, Justin has worked with CBS News Colorado, Altitude Sports & Entertainment, the Mountain West Network, Pac-12 Network, FloSports, KOA NewsRadio, and SiriusXM, building a reputation for storytelling that informs, inspires, and connects communities through sports and journalism. He also serves on the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame voting committee, reflecting his ongoing commitment to preserving and elevating the stories of athletes and the communities that shape them.

As Secretary of the Board, Justin brings the same precision and integrity that define his broadcasting career to GRIT's governance — ensuring the Initiative's story and records are told, and kept, with accuracy and care.

Justin's own path — from a Denver-area classroom to national broadcast booths — reflects exactly the kind of access and opportunity GRIT exists to create for the next generation of young leaders.

John Noble II believes young people rise to the level of investment adults are willing to make in them — a conviction that shapes everything he brings to the T.H.D. GRIT Initiative. As Director of Community Programs, John is responsible for building relationships within the communities GRIT serves, identifying real needs on the ground, and aligning programming to meet them — turning GRIT's five pillars into action where young people actually are.

John's approach is grounded in years of hands-on experience working directly with students and educators. As a Restorative Practices Coordinator in the Cherry Creek School District, and more recently as a District Trainer for a statewide system-development grant, he has trained hundreds of educators in relationship-centered practices — circle facilitation, conflict mediation, and data-informed intervention — all aimed at keeping students engaged and connected rather than pushed out. That people-first approach is also shaped by a varied career in school safety, security leadership, and logistics coordination in the U.S. Army, giving him a practical, ground-level understanding of coaching, de-escalation, and building systems that actually work.

John extends this same philosophy beyond the classroom as a football coach at the high school level, mentoring student-athletes with the same conviction that drives his work in schools: young people are strongest when adults draw them in — through mentorship, coaching, and genuine relationship — rather than pushing them out.

At GRIT, John's role is simple in purpose and significant in impact: connect with the communities we serve, listen to what they actually need, and make sure GRIT's programming meets them there. Whether in a school hallway, on a football field, or in a community meeting, John is committed to being an adult who shows up.

Jariya Phanpaktra is a Product Manager and communications professional with extensive experience in digital marketing, social media strategy, and product management. She has managed social media and communications for organizations across higher education, sports teams, and nonprofit initiatives — building the kind of content strategies that don't just get attention, but build real community connection.

As Director of Communications, Jariya oversees GRIT's communications and social media efforts, leading content strategy, digital storytelling, and community engagement initiatives that carry the Initiative's mission and impact to the people it serves — and to the people who make that work possible. She is passionate about using technology, creativity, and strategic communication to inspire, inform, and connect people, ensuring GRIT's story reaches communities with the same clarity and purpose the Initiative brings to its programming.

Caylynn Lewis brings more than a decade of experience building operational excellence at the highest levels — from high-growth AI startups to investment firms to schools serving under-resourced communities in Denver — and she brings that same rigor to the T.H.D. GRIT Initiative as Vice President of Operations.

Most recently, Caylynn has served as Executive Business Partner and Operations Lead at fast-growing technology companies, leading people operations, financial forecasting, compliance, and cross-functional workflows for teams spanning multiple countries. Before that, as Chief of Staff at a boutique investment firm, she managed client services, compliance, and strategic operations — experience that gives her a rare fluency in building the systems and processes that let an organization scale without losing sight of its people.

Caylynn's foundation, though, is in education. She began her career as a classroom teacher before rising to Senior Team Lead and then Elementary Assistant Principal at schools serving under-resourced communities, where she led instructional coaching, data-driven improvement plans, and school-wide strategy that moved schools from "Accredited on Probation" to "Meets Expectations" in a single year. She holds a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Colorado–Denver and a Bachelor's in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

That dual foundation — operational excellence and a deep understanding of how young people actually learn and grow — is exactly what she brings to GRIT. As Vice President of Operations, Caylynn ensures the Initiative's programs, people, and systems are built to scale with the same discipline and care that have defined her career, so GRIT's mission can reach further without losing what makes it work.