About

Executive Director

Phone: (559) 647-6191

Email: mthomas@thefirstteefresno.org

Morgan was born and raised in Fresno. She graduated from Clovis West High School after winning four Golf Valley Championships. In 2014, she graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Sports Event Management. As a walk-on, she earned a partial monetary golf scholarship after her freshman year. She was the Communication and Development Coordinator at The First Tee of Fresno since 2016. Morgan’s favorite parts of the organization are planning the fundraising golf tournaments, the field trips for the kids to Pebble Beach, and coaching the Girls Only Classes. Since her retirement from competitive golf, she wants to impact the participants at The First Tee of Fresno by passing along the life and golf skills she has learned.  She has expanded the outreach through new programs and initiatives for participants, created new fundraising strategies, has become the Tournament Director for the historic Len Ross Memorial Junior Golf Tournament, and more.  Morgan has been the Executive Director since 2020 and is currently a PLAYer Certified coach.

Program Director

Phone: (559) 708-3386

Email: mparayno@thefirstteefresno.org

Megan was raised and grew up in North West Fresno graduating Central West in 2011.  She attended Cal State Monterey Bay on a golf scholarship where she earned her B.S. in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science.  At Cal State Monterey Bay Megan was a Student Athlete Advisory Committee Member.  Currently she is pursing her Master’s in Sports Administration from Fresno Pacific University.  Megan started her career with The First Tee of Monterey County in 2014 where she was a Lead Golf & Life Skills Coach along with being the Tournament Club Coordinator.  At Monterey County she was able to bring their Tournament Club back alive with having more than 60 participants in a single tournament and created a partnership with the largest junior golf tour in the United States, Hurricane Junior Golf Tour.  Megan transferred to The First Tee of Fresno in June 2016 as the Program Director where she is responsible for 52 NSP and DRIVE elementary schools, Golf and Life Skill classes at 6 different golf courses, creating lesson plans, parent meetings, volunteer orientations, and outreach.  She has also been a Recognized The First Tee Coach since 2018.  Megan is excited to give back to the Fresno community where it all started for her.

Tobenna Okeke was raised in Missouri City, Texas. Growing up one of five children he played multiple sports such as track, basketball and football. He attended Fresno State University where he also played football. Tobenna was a business major and got his degree in Sports Marketing. He was a 3 year starter at the linebacker position while at Fresno State and received all conference honors his senior year. He led the team in sacks and 2nd on the team in TFL’s as a senior.  After college he played professionally with the Tennessee Titans, Hamilton Tiger-cats, and Dallas Renegades. On his free time he loves to play video games, shoot photography and workout. He is excited to be apart of First Tee family!

Chairman

Email: kberry@playriverside.com

Born and raised in the Central Valley Keith Berry has been in and around the golf business for over 25 years. A former amateur golf and scholarship Fresno State student-athlete. He joined the PGA of American in 2011 as a Class A professional and have spent the past 18 years working for CourseCo Inc, currently as the General Manager at Riverside Golf Course. His family has been in Fresno for over 120 years with deep ties to the community. He is seasoned and experienced in the game of golf and has a strong passion for this community. Keith has been married for 8 years (Carly) with two children (Rowan and Quinn). He firmly believes using golf as a foundation for kids in need is key to their future and the success of the industry.

Treasurer

Email: shad.winters@mossadams.com

Shad was born and raised at a young age in Orange County, CA until he moved to the local foothills at the age of 12.  After graduating from Yosemite High School, he joined the military and ended up in San Diego where he attained his Bachelor’s Degree from San Diego State University in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting.  After graduating, he came to Fresno where he became a CPA and has worked in public accounting since 2004 and is currently with Moss Adams LLP as a Senior Manager.  He also graduated with his Master’s in Taxation from Golden Gate University.  Shad’s hobbies include being outdoors, golfing, snowboarding, and surfing local lakes,  He also enjoys watching profession sports and most importantly watching his son play sports.  Shad has had the opportunity to help coach for The First Tee of Fresno where he developed the passion for introducing the Nine Core Values to kids through the game of golf.

Director

Email: tosh.nitta@gmail.com

Tosh was born in the Japanese Relocation Camp in Poston, AZ.  After the war, his parents returned to Orange County, CA where he grew up.   He spent his childhood summers visiting grandparents, aunts and uncles in Reedley, so he was familiar with the Central Valley when he moved his family here in 1986. 

A 40 year career in education included classroom teaching – Chemistry and Biology, coaching many sports – predominantly Football and Track and Field and twelve years as an Athletic Director for Clovis West and Clovis East High Schools. Teaching life skills to his students and student athletes was a constant in his career. 

Tosh loves the game of Golf and all that it brings to individual and team pursuits.  As a retiree, he fully enjoys being able to be a part of The First Tee of Fresno helping impact the lives of our youth in the community through the First Tee programs of Life Skills, Core Values, and the game of Golf.

 This year Tosh and wife Diane celebrate 47 years of marriage.  They have two children and five grandchildren.

Director

Email: kbhinton@comcast.net

Kelly was born and raised in Fresno and currently lives in Selma. He attended college at Fresno State earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business.

Director

Email: rafa.g.gonzalez@gmail.com

Dr. Rafael Gonzalez is a community physician in the Fresno region who has been volunteering with The First Tee of Fresno since the beginning of September 2018.  Originally from Salinas, CA, an agriculural city with a large immigrant Latino population, Dr. Gonzalez is a product of youth programs.  He was involved with Boys Scouts of America as a young man and earned the rank of Eagle Scout.  He attributes his commitment to the community service from the lessons learned as a boy scout, as well as his leadership skills that he continues to use to this day.

After high school, he went to community college at Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA and transferred to UC Davis where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology.  He ultimately was accepted to the UC Davis School of Medicine where he served as a mentor for many student who also aspired to become physicians.  He also served as the Operations Director for the USCF-Fresno Mobile Health and Learning Clinic, a mobile clinic established to provide a clinical experience for medical and undergraduate students of the San Joaquin Valley as all as treat at-risk and underserved patient populations in the region.  Dr. Gonzalez is also involved in other community initiatives: he and other faculty from UCSF-Fresno, in collaboration with a  Fresno County rural school district, have written grant proposals seeking to engage high school students to address the health and educational needs in their community.

Dr. Gonzalez continues to mentor countless high school, college, and medical students to assist them in achieving their goals, and hopes to do the same with the children of The First Tee.  He is hopeful that he can bring his ideas, skills, and enthusiasm to the Board of The First Tee of Fresno.

Director

Email: noelle.willbanks@gmail.com

Noelle is a licensed civil engineer, a graduate of California State University Fresno, and founder of Willbanks Environmental Consulting, Inc.  She has lived in the Fresno Area since 1988 and has three grown children, one young son, and three grandchildren.  Noelle has served in various board positions for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) since 1998 and also serves as a Director on the Board of North Fresno Rotary.  Noelle enjoys golfing, traveling, and gardening in her spare time.  Noelle was not introduced to the game of golf until adulthood and believes that boys and girls alike should be exposed to the game and the life lessons it teaches.

Director

Email: paul07ladwig@gmail.com

Paul’s roots started in the south. Born in Columbus, Georgia, this is where Paul’s intrigue of people, places, and sports began.  Because Paul’s father was in the Air Force, he lived in 11 different cities the first 15 years of his life, including three years in Panama. Different became the norm for Paul.

Paul’s family settled in St. Louis, Missouri where he became a diehard St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, and back in the day, a St. Louis Cardinals football fan. Paul grew up with one older brother and one younger brother allowing the three of them to play ball and attend games with each other. Paul attended high school and college in St. Louis and started his professional career at a radio station in Morgantown, Kentucky. After several radio stops, Paul found his love in television production and became an accomplished videographer and editor. Those skills enabled him to travel the world working for news magazine shows, CBS sports, and ESPN. He cannot pinpoint the highlight of his professional production career, but working the 1998 Nagano Olympics and producing college football and basketball games are among the top.

While on a job interview in Phoenix, Arizona, Paul’s soon-to-be-new boss took him to the Phoenix Open. Not only did he fall in love with the Valley of the Sun, but he also fell in love with the game of golf; playing golf, buying new clubs, and watching golf became passions.

While in Phoenix, Paul’s career changed directions. Over the next 20+ years, he worked at Ohio University and Fresno State. At both institutions, he and his team built radio and television networks and retooled the marketing and communication offices. While in Fresno, his love of golf and the need to give back and impact the community, lead to the opportunity to sit on the board of The First Tee of Fresno, eventually chairing the team. 

After retiring from Fresno State, Paul had the opportunity to take his marketing and communication skills and partner with California Relocation Network, becoming a licensed real estate agent working for Better Homes & Gardens Goldleaf. Paul is married to Carol Vande Kerkhoff an educator at Clovis East High School. They live in Clovis, and their two Labradors, Buc and Brutus, rule the home.

Director

Email: casey.chad.k@gmail.com

Chad was born and raised in metro Detroit, Michigan and migrated to California roughly ten years ago to attend law school in San Diego. Chad now works as an in-house attorney for a local farming company and previously ran his own law firm for several years in San Diego. Chad was a three-sport athlete in high school and played college football at Albion College. Having spent the majority of his childhood in one sport or another, Chad understands and values the positive impact youth sports can have on a child and their family. Although fairly new to Fresno and the Central Valley, he is looking forward to connecting further with the community and is honored to help mentor the youth of Fresno through the great game of golf.

Director

Email: logan@coopllp.com

Logan R. Howard, Esq., is an attorney based out of Fresno who was born in Clovis, California. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, for his father’s work as a missionary. He graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a B.S. in Communication and Public Relations.  While attending the William H. Bowen School of Law in Little Rock, he began working for The First Tee of Central Arkansas and fell in love with the organization and the values it teaches young people through the game of golf. After graduating law school, he and his wife moved back to the Central Valley for good.

Logan understands the importance of mentoring the next generation, and the significant role that The First Tee of Fresno plays in doing so. The First Tee of Fresno is a wonderfully run chapter of the organization, and he hopes he can play some part in helping it continue to excel and change lives.

Trustee

Ms. Rico is a founding partner of Entravision Communications Corporation, a diversified Spanish language company utilizing a combination of television, radio, and outdoor to reach approximately 80% of the U.S. Hispanic population as well as the border markets of Mexico. Entravision is the largest affiliate group of the top rated Univision television network, with outlets in 18 of the nation’s top-50 Hispanic markets. The company also operates the nation’s largest centrally programmed Spanish language radio network which serves 23 markets via 57 owned and operated radio stations and 47 affiliates. Entravision’s shares of Class A Common Stock are traded under the symbol: EVC. Ms. Rico is also President of Weber BMW that is located in Fresno, CA. Weber BMW is an exclusive BMW Full Service Center that sells New BMW’s, Certified Pre-Owned BMW’s and other luxury vehicles. It has been in business since 1970 and supports many local charities. Ms. Rico is one of eight children from Mexican born immigrant workers, and currently resides in Fresno, CA. She is the author of the recently published book “La Vida Rica”, and sits as a director on various boards.