OUR STORY

In 2016, Tech Exposure and Access through Mentoring Inc. (TEAM Inc.) was founded to empower underrepresented and historically excluded young people by leveraging their passion for sports as an entry point to build data analytics and STEM skills and expand opportunities for their future career aspirations.

Workforce diversity in major professional sports leagues is as low as 33%, while gender diversity averages 37%. TEAM Inc.’s program intentionally disrupts the sports industry’s hiring practices by training a diverse group of next-generation tech professionals and supporting them to pursue careers in the industry and beyond.

Too frequently, well-meaning adults counsel young sports enthusiasts to “get realistic” and come to terms with the idea that a professional sports career is not feasible. TEAM seeks to challenge that narrative and harnesses the power of sports to prepare young people for careers in various industries within and outside of sports.

ANWAR McQUEEN
Co-Founder / CEO

Anwar McQueen grew up in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington D.C., raised by his single mother in the 1980s, during the height of the crack epidemic. His talent and drive as a basketball player offered him a path to different opportunities in the form of a full scholarship to UC Berkeley, where he played alongside future NBA legends like Jason Kidd, Lamond Murray, and Shareef Abdur Rahim. Anwar realized that basketball wasn't his only path to power and, after a coaching career and earning his Master’s in Sport Management, became an executive at Hudl. He helped develop the sports software company into the biggest player in the U.S. market.

In founding TEAM, Anwar is building on two decades of experience in the Bay Area as a technology executive, and on his own firsthand experience of urban poverty to help underrepresented youth see the technology field as a potential home for their talent, ambition, and commitment to social change.

ALEXIS MUSANTE
Co-FOunder / Program Director

Alexis Musante is a third-generation Oakland resident and former collegiate basketball player. She has always felt a deep commitment to build community through sports, which led her to pursue a master’s in sport management while working in education and youth development in Oakland. Building upon 10 years in the education and nonprofit sectors, Alexis was passionate about creating an organization that intersects education, sports and impact through an equity lens.

Justin Tanisawa
Curriculum design / Instructor

Justin Tanisawa is a Bay Area native and his career has been dedicated to helping professionals harness the insights that video and audio can reveal in order to improve teamwork and communication. His experience as a Video Coordinator for the University of California and San Diego State Men's Basketball Teams made for a natural transition as the second member of the US Client Success Team for a performance analysis software company focusing on the NBA, NCAA and Olympic team sports. About five years later, Justin was afforded the unique opportunity to work with analytic leaders in a variety of domains outside of sports such as Kaiser Permanente, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, and the Exploratorium. After over fifteen years working with coaches, clinicians and researchers at the top of their fields, Justin loves giving back to his community by empowering youth with a STEM skill set and real-world application that has served as the foundation for his own career.

Jason Brown
program associate / Instructor

Jason Brown is a Bay Area native and current senior at the University of San Francisco studying business management. Jason joined TEAM in 2016 as a high school student in their inaugural cohort. Since then, Jason has gained experience as a video analyst for organizations such as the Golden State Warriors, USA Basketball and USF Dons Men’s Basketball, in addition to being a peer instructor with TEAM, leading programs the last 3 years. As a former basketball player, Jason believes in the power that video and analytics can have towards helping a team, especially how those skills can help underrepresented individuals fill those ever growing positions in sports organization. As a product of TEAM's mentorship, it is important to him to reach back and help build others while pursuing his own journey because he knows firsthand the impact it can have.