Thanks to the Smith Brothers Family Foundation we’re able to provide more kids access to life-changing mentorship opportunities. With their donation, we’re able to provide more than 30 underprivileged children…
We’re thrilled to share that the generosity of our newest sponsor, Tycho Howle, will fund 40 PowerUp scholarship students for a year! Tycho is a Clemson University and Harvard Business…
We’re excited to announce the addition of Beatriz Illescas Putzeys Claugus to our Board of Directors. Beatriz boasts an impressive resume. She founded and ran a pre-school in Guatemala, taught…
With the help of Expert Institute, we’ve been connected to leading clinical neuropsychologist Kimberley Lakes. Based out of California, she conducted the first-ever scientific study linking martial arts training with…
We’re pleased to announce that Connor Cook has been appointed to the role of PowerUP’s Executive Director!We’re super excited to have Connor and his expertise on our team. As we…
We’re proud to share that Expert Institute has signed on as a Yellow Belt level sponsor!Expert Institute provides custom expert recruiting, high-touch consulting, and robust data profiles on subject matter…
We are very excited to announce Hg Capital as a "Black Belt" level sponsor! Hg's contribution is enough to fund all of our existing students for a full year! …
Edited: we found our Executive Director - read more here: A Warm Welcome to Connor Cook, PowerUP's New Executive Director Original post is below Thanks to the dedication of our…
We never would have thought how PowerUP would be able to operate in a digital environment, but thanks to some quick thinking and action by Tom Rawls (Board Member) and…
PowerUP board directors Stéphan Donzé and Mike Auzenne recently sat down Zoom-style with our Senseis to talk about what martial arts has meant in their lives, and what they are…
Mike is currently a senior director in strategic marketing at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Inspire Brands company. Previously, Mike was a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”), and an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mike was matched as a Little Brother by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta with Austin in 1997, and has been a Big Brother himself twice. Mike holds a BA from Colgate University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mike is married, and lives with his wife in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta. He enjoys training for marathons.
Mike is currently a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”). Prior to BCG, he spent several years on Wall Street with Bank of America Merrill Lynch focused on the insurance industry. Mike was matched as a Little Brother by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta with Austin in 1997, and has been a Big Brother himself twice. He is also a member of the Young Leaders Council with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. Mike holds a BA from Colgate University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mike is engaged to be married, lives in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta, and enjoys training for marathons.
Trey spent 30 years at Delta Airlines in various customer service roles, and worked part time in event security for 20 years while at Delta. Trey has been a black belt for over 15 years, and started volunteering his time teaching karate in the after-school program at Garden Hills Elementary, where his two sons attended. That volunteer work prompted Trey to follow his true passion, teaching martial arts and helping kids. Trey has an AS degree from University of West Georgia, and completed his martial arts training at Kaizen Martial Arts under Sensei Nathan McCleskey. Trey lives near the gym, and is married with two sons, both of whom help at the gym.
Richard Trammell is a world champion in Shidokan Karate and Kickboxing. He has won national and international titles in Kickboxing, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do. Richard started Trammell Fitness and Martial Arts in 1999 Shidokan Atlanta in 2001. Trammell Fitness and Martial Arts provides services in fitness and martial arts. Richard has promoted amateur boxing, kickboxing, karate, judo and professional MMA events. Richard is also the author of “How To Be A Champion”.
Joshua White is a multiple time national champion in Judo. He hold black belts in in Judo, Ju Jitsu, and Karate. He is the NFC Welterweight MMA Champion. He is a volunteer coach for Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta. He has coached kids in national and international championships for Judo and promotes annual youth tournaments.
Stéphan is a software entrepreneur with 20 years of experience, first with Exalead (founded in 2000 and acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2010), and now as founder and CEO of AODocs, a new generation cloud document management platform. Born in France, Stéphan moved to California in 2009, before relocating to Atlanta in 2019. He has two passions in life, entrepreneurship and martial arts, and earned his karate black belt in 2018. His three children are all martial artists as well.
Tom spent his legal career in Atlanta focusing primarily in the areas of video entertainment, internet and cable TV law. He retired in 2015 after 30 years as in-house counsel for AT&T and Bellsouth. In addition to his work with PowerUP, Tom serves on the board of Tapestri, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to supporting immigrant victims of human trafficking and domestic violence. Tom also serves as an advisor to New American Pathways, Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network, and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. Tom earned a B.S. in Management from Georgia Tech and a J.D. from Emory School of Law. Tom is married with three grown children. He enjoys martial arts and is a black belt in Taekwando.
Over the past 20 years, Austin has split his time roughly evenly between running software companies in different operating roles and buying software companies. Austin founded Razorhorse Capital in 2012, and since that time has acquired or invested in over 60 companies with several different private equity sponsors. Austin has been a Big Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program twice and has served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta. Austin holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Austin lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and middle-school aged son. He and enjoys martial arts training.
Tom spent his career in investment banking and venture capital in Atlanta. He retired from Raymond James in 2016. In addition to PowerUP, Tom is on the board of KIPP Metro Atlanta (Knowledge is Power Program). KIPP is an open enrollment charter school dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. Tom earned a BS in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tom is married with three grown children, and lives north of Atlanta. In addition to serving his community, Tom is enjoying traveling the globe with his wife.
For over a decade Connor has worked to spread messages, organize causes, and help make a positive impact in his community. Before coming to PowerUP, Connor worked for a variety of grassroots political campaigns and nonprofits as well as large institutions like Emory University and CCS Fundraising. Having grown up in combat sports himself, Connor understands the importance of the discipline martial arts can give a child. He takes great pride in helping kids find their own mentors to help them harness their skills and succeed. Connor holds a BA from the University of Alabama, and, when he is not helping organizations do good, he spends his off time coaching strength and conditioning classes..
