WISE Tampa Bay Welcomes Tara Battiato, Elizabeth Frazier, Dr. Michelle Harrolle, Melanie Lenz, Meredith Scerba, Amanda Vandervort and Tracy West on Inaugural Advisory Board
The WISE Tampa Bay Advisory Board is a community of leaders and industry professionals that are passionate about the WISE mission. This Advisory Board serves the WISE Tampa Bay community by providing insight, guidance and connectivity. WISE Tampa Bay officially welcomes Tara Battiato, Vice President of Community Impact and Executive Director of Glazer Vision Foundation at Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Elizabeth Frazier, Executive Director of the Lightning Foundation and Executive Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Initiatives at Tampa Bay Lightning; Dr. Michelle Harrolle, Director of the Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management Program at University of South Florida; Melanie Lenz, Chief Development Officer at Tampa Bay Rays; Meredith Scerba, Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations at University of South Florida; Amanda Vandervort, President of United Soccer League Super League; and Tracy West, Valspar Championship Tournament Director and Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Pro Links Sports. Please join us in welcoming the WISE Tampa Bay Advisory Board!
Tara Battiato
Tara Battiato is the Vice President of Community Impact and Executive Director of the Glazer Vision Foundation. In her role, Battiato oversees the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ community impact efforts, including programming and volunteerism carried out by the team’s players, coaches, staff, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation, as well as the team’s support for league charitable initiatives. In addition, she serves as the Executive Director of the Glazer Vision Foundation, which is committed to full-treatment vision correction for underserved children. To date, the Glazer Vision Foundation has provided more than 200,000 free eye screenings and more than 20,000 free prescription glasses to children throughout Tampa Bay. Battiato originally joined the Buccaneers organization in 2014 as the Cheerleading and Mascot Manager, where she oversaw the team’s gameday entertainment, fan engagement and community outreach efforts. Annually, Battiato also coordinated international military appreciation tours, as well as, the Junior Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleader program, which engaged more than 400 children in educational sessions and gameday performances.
She received a Bachelor of Science in Communications, Interpersonal Communication, Radio and Television Production from Boise State University. She was born and raised in Littleton, Colorado.
Elizabeth Frazier
Elizabeth Frazier is in her twelfth season with the Tampa Bay Lightning, serving as Executive Director of the Lightning Foundation and Executive Vice President of Philanthropy, Community Initiatives & Social Impact. Elizabeth has led a transformation of the Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Relations departments under the ownership of Jeff Vinik, and is responsible for the strategic planning and leveraging of the Lightning’s philanthropic contributions, fundraising, overseeing community events and sponsorships, and facilitating relationships with community leaders and non-profits. Elizabeth also oversees the Lightning’s Hockey Development team and its ice and ball hockey programming out in the community.
Elizabeth led the development of the Lightning Community Heroes program which has distributed nearly $30M to more than 500 unique non-profits, an organization-wide employee volunteer program through which employees have donated over 50,000 hours, player community events and fundraising initiatives, and the creation and management of dozens of impactful community partnership programs through multiple community impact areas.
Elizabeth is a native of Tampa and prior to working with the Lightning, Elizabeth lived in the Washington D.C. area. Elizabeth has a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature with a Certificate in European Cultural Studies from Princeton University and a Masters in Business Administration from Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. Elizabeth is a community volunteer and has traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, North and South America, Africa, and Europe.
Dr. Michelle Harrolle
Dr. Harrolle serves as Director of the Vinik Sport and Entertainment Management Program at the University of South Florida and teaches courses in marketing, sales, and fundraising in sport and entertainment. From 2018 - 2021, Harrolle served as president of WISE Tampa Bay. She has spent the past seven years at USF dedicated to 100% student residency/fellowship/job placement. She has presented over 60 peer reviewed conference presentations and has been published in 15 research journals including the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly and the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. She’s also the co-author of the book Business of Esports: The Wild Wild West on Fire. Harrolle has conducted consumer behavior and economic impact studies research projects for numerous sport and entertainment organizations across the world including the Baltimore Ravens, 1Huddle, Tampa Bay Lightning, Valspar Championship, New York Yankees Spring Training, FELD Entertainment, Women’s Tennis Association, Arena Football League, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, just to name a few.
Harrolle earned a PhD, master's and bachelor's degrees from the University of Florida where she was an All-American Honorable Mention collegiate swimmer. On a personal note, Harrolle is an avid rock climber and enjoys traveling with her husband, Ryan along with rock climbing with her son, Landon.
Melanie Lenz
Melanie Lenz was named chief development officer in January 2018. Lenz joined the Rays in November 2006 and was responsible for managing the design and construction of the Rays spring training facility in Charlotte County. In addition to the management of capital projects for the Rays, she oversees the organization’s key strategic initiatives including the Rays brand extension within the television market, management of key business relationships, business analytics activities and long-term facilities planning. Lenz attended the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and received her master’s degree in urban and regional planning in 1999. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University in 1995. She serves on the board of directors for the Downtown Tampa Partnership, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership and Zoo Tampa. Melanie and her husband, Kurt, reside in St. Petersburg with their two sons.
Meredith Scerba
Meredith Scerba the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations is entering her fourth year as part of the USF Athletics senior leadership team. Her role oversees marketing, communications, digital, creative, TV/Radio/Broadcast and multimedia rights for all 15 USF Sports for the Division I FBS program. Scerba, who brought nearly 20 years of experience in sports and event management to USF, came to the Bulls from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where she served as Director of Community Relations managing all aspects of the organization’s player outreach programs and events, as well as those for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Foundation and Glazer Family Foundation.
Prior to joining the Buccaneers organization, Scerba served as the executive director of the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, FL.. Responsible for the overall planning, staffing, fundraising and management of the championship, she managed an $8.5 million operating budget and raised $3.5 million in sponsorship and event revenue as the event provided a $25 million economic impact in the area. Scerba also had a highly successful 10-year tenure at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, rising to senior vice president of marketing and operations. Scerba began her career with the Cleveland Cavaliers/Gund Arena Company as a group events coordinator. Scerba is a 2001 graduate of the University of Findlay with a BA in marketing and business management. A four-year varsity swimmer at Findlay, she was named captain of the team Freshman and Sophomore years.
Scerba extracurricular interests have continued to impact the sports industry and the community she lives in. She was chapter president and a 13-year member of the Cleveland chapter of Women in Sports and Events (WISE) before playing an integral role in launching the WISE Tampa Bay chapter. She has been a WISE member for 20 years and currently serves on the WISE Tampa Board and Co-Chair of the Events Committee. She is a Class of 2019 Leadership Tampa Bay Member and served on the local advisory committee for 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa. Scerba was a 2013 recipient of the distinguished sales and marketing award and had been a University of Findlay Sport Management Advisory Board member since 2012.
Amanda Vandervort
Amanda Vandervort is a soccer coach, player, and sports business executive with a 20+ year track record of soccer leadership stretching across the youth, high school, college, and professional game. She is the President of the USL Super League, a new professional women’s soccer league in the U.S., and she leads all aspects of the organization’s distinct youth-to-professional women’s soccer pathway including the Super League, W League, USL Academy, and Super Y League for girls. The USL is headquartered in Tampa, FL, and includes both men’s and women’s professional soccer.
From 2019-2021, Amanda worked as the Chief Women's Football Officer at FIFPRO, the global football players' union located in the Netherlands. For nearly a decade prior, she was the Vice President of Fan Engagement at Major League Soccer (MLS) where she oversaw the league’s social media, consumer data, email, and mobile marketing. She worked directly with MLS Club leadership to drive fan growth and revenue.
Amanda was a member of the United Soccer Coaches (previously NSCAA) Board of Directors for 10 years and in 2016 became the fifth female President in the Association’s 75-year history. She was the Head Women's Soccer Coach at New York University for four years, and before that, the Graduate Assistant at The College of New Jersey. Amanda holds her United Soccer Coaches Premier Diploma and a B Coaching License from U.S. Soccer. She was a goalkeeper at NCAA Division I University of Wyoming.
Amanda spent four years as an instructor in FIFA Women’s Football Development, leading marketing and communications workshops in South Asia, the Caribbean and Africa. She was a FIFA Women’s Leadership Development Program mentor, and currently serves on the boards of several global non-profit organizations dedicated to transforming communities through soccer.
Tracy West
Tracy West is the tournament director for the PGA TOUR’s Valspar Championship. In her role she leads the strategic and overall management efforts for this official PGA TOUR professional golf tournament, played at Innisbrook Golf Resort. The event is the largest signature sporting event in Pinellas County, annually attracting over 130,000 patrons, 350 corporate partners and 2,000 volunteers and raising over $2 million annually for 80 regional charities.
She is co-founder, executive vice president and partner of Pro Links Sports since 1993 and is responsible for the company’s PGA TOUR division with the general oversight of the PGA TOUR’s Wells Fargo Championship and 3M Open as Assistant Executive Director and various other company projects. She has been involved in management of 65+ pro tournaments throughout her career including tournament management nationwide for PGA TOUR Champions Tour events and U.S. Senior Opens.
West serves on the governance board for The First Tee of Tampa Bay, AMPLIFY Clearwater (regional Chamber of Commerce), Tampa Bay Sports Commission, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Truist Local Advisory Board (Pinellas County); advisory boards for WISE Tampa (Women In Sports & Events), Lake Superior State University Lukenda School of Business, and the National Leadership Council for Women of Color Golf; and executive committee of the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl. Additionally, she served on the board for PGA TOUR Tournament Advisory Council, Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties, the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four Local Organizing Committee and as an honorary commander of Hanscom Air Force Base. West has an MBA in Marketing from Michigan State University and a B.S. Finance & Economics from Lake Superior State University.