PAST&E Team

Danice Brown, Executive Director

Danice has over 30+ years of management experience: 10 years as General Manager of West Hills Racquet & Fitness Club; 5 years as CEO of Criticare Professional Nurses; she also spent a number of years working as the Indian Child Welfare Director for the Shoshone & Arapahoe Tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, and as the Executive Director of a Child Development Center in Seattle's inner-city. She has been blessed though out her life with challenging 'work' and loved every minute of it. As a volunteer, Danice served as Captain of Bobby’s Angels –Relay for Life raising over $5000 for the American Cancer Society. She also served a term as president of the Greater Portland Tennis Council, and currently serves on the Tennis Task Force for the City of Portland Park & Recreation. Since her retirement in April, 2006, she joined Global Volunteers, an international volunteer organization that offers unique 'work experiences' in different countries around the world. In the fall of 2006, she spent 3 months in Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, where she worked as a volunteer in the island high school. Danice was selected for Volunteer Team Leader training following her service in the Cook Islands, and she has since served as a Volunteer Team Leader for a group of volunteers in Metcalfe, Mississippi; Malungeni, South Africa, and Ostuni, Italy. Mother of six children, Grandmother to 12 Grandchildren, plus 2 Great Grandsons, Danice still finds time to enjoy the game of tennis with her friends, and she plays in the Greater Portland City League and USTA Super Seniors League.

Fitz Paccione, Program & Development Director

Fitz fell in love with the game of tennis during his senior year of high school. He worked hard to improve his game and was able to play collegiate tennis at Willamette University, in Salem OR. While at Willamette he was a permanent fixture of the singles and doubles line-up for his four years there. Fitz graduated from Willamette University with a BA in Politics in May of 2008. Upon graduating Fitz worked for Nike Tennis Camps in Lake Tahoe for the summer and worked the US Open tournament for Nike Tennis. Fitz moved to Portland, OR in the fall of 2008 and has been working with PAST&E since March of 2008. Within PAST&E, he currently oversees the marketing and media development of the organization. In addition to the business side of the organization, he is also a coach with the Academy and the after-school programs. Fitz is very passionate about tennis and he is grateful for the ability to work in all the varying departments of PAST&E. His passion extends beyond the court and classroom and he still competes in local tournaments and leagues at the 4.5/5.0 level. He is planning on playing in the Pacific Northwest tournament summer series at the 5.0 level this summer.

Grant Bernard, Full-Time Staff

Grant Bernard is a new member of the PAST&E team. He spent most of his life in Milwaukee, WI where he took up tennis at an early age. Playing since the age of 5 and coaching since 15, Grant has always loved the game. He graduated from Geendale Highshool, and went on to play college tennis at the University of Wisconsin-La-Crosse. He graduated in 2008 with a degree in Sociology. The following year, Grant joined the AmeriCorps NCCC program based out of Sacramento, CA. He served a ten-month volunteer commitment ona team of ten in Louisiana, Washington, and California. While serving in the Northwest, Grant fell in love with Portland, and moved her shortly after his AmeriCorps term ended. he has a lot of experience tutoring and mentoring children of varying ages. Grant loves working with children and is excited to be on the PAST&E team!

grant bernard photo bio

Maureen Dugan, Full-Time Staff

After finishing her coursework for her Master's Degree Maureen spent the summer teaching tennis in Buffalo, NY. It was there that Maureen (Mo) realized that she loves to teach tennis. After the summer Mo moved to Portland and finished her degree by the winter (writing a thesis on a chapel designed by Michelangeolo). Mo is very happy to be working with PAST&E and she is a part of our full-time staff with the year-round students!

mo bio pic

Anna Orban, Summer Staff

After graduating from Catlin Gabel High School in 2009, Anna spent five months working in conservation and ecology research in South Africa. While also in Zimbabe and South Africa, she helped to coordinate various camps for children. While not working at PAST&E, Anna is enrolled in course at Portland State University prior to attending the University of St. Andrews in the fall of 2010. Anna is wonderful with children, and we are glad to have her on board with PAST&E. anna orban photo

Richard Courtney, Instructor

Richard recently retired from the Oregonian Publishing Company after a 30 year career in retail advertising sales. The Chicago, Illinois native and University of Oregon graduate has been volunteering with PAST&E since the spring of 2010. "I thoroughly enjoy working with the kids and teaching them life-long tennis skills"

richard courtney

Mari Rittenour, Academy Instructor

Mari fell in love with the game of tennis in her mid-twenties. Over the past 15 years she has played on many teams and leagues throughout the Pacific NW. She currently enjoys playing on many successful teams for the Multnomah Athletic Club. Mari also volunteers her time as a committee member for the Multnomah Athletic Clubs Tennis Committee.

Since she began coaching for PAST&E in January of 2009, her love of tennis has evolved into a passion to teach tennis to the amazing students of PAST&E. She has enjoyed watching them grow into better players and stronger individuals. "I'm truly blessed to be a part of this program. The kids are so much fun to work with and the program has them exceeding above and beyond what I would have imagined"

mari rittenour

Margot Charlton, PAST Tennis Academy Director

Margot's experience comes from the University of Oregon Women's Tennis Team. Her background is retail executive management. She works part time at West Hills Racquet and Fitness club with tennis programming and events. Margot also coaches the PAST Tennis Academy, teaches after school tennis, and coaches the JV2 Benson high school team. She loves working for Portland After School Tennis & Education.

Sean Eberle, Tournament Director

We are very happy to have Sean on our core staff for the summer. Sean taught two years for Nike Tennis Camps in Lake Tahoe and he brings a lot of experience to our tennis program. He is currently our tournament director for the Summer Slam Series of Tournaments.

A little about Sean in his own words:

"I am a sun loving active guy hailing from Canada that has had a passion for both tennis and working with kids for the majority of my life. I play tennis for Portland State University and teach tennis lessons to students of all ages and abilities. I am a certified racquet stringer and I have recently started up my own online racquet customization business. I never shy away from being silly in public and I absolutely love being around positive happy people as much as I can."

sean bio pic

Matt Houser, Summer Staff & JTT Coach

Matt started playing tennis at the age of nine in Vancouver, WA. It was not long before he fell in love with the game. He participated in Jr. Team Tennis, where his team qualified for nationals three times. At the national tournament, his teams placed 5th twice (2001, 2005) and 3rd in 2007. Additionally, he played multiple USTA tournaments and continues to
be an active USTA tournament participant. At Evergreen High School, Matt was the Team Captain and the MVP for four
years. He was able to instill his desire and passion for the game into histeammates, which led to a League Championship. His senior year culminated with a District Doubles Title and a berth into the Washington State Tournament. After graduation, Matt enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, OR where he started in both singles and doubles. His sophomore year he earned the role of Team Captain and was ranked 21st in the West Region for doubles. During the past 2010 season, Matt led his team to the Northwest Conference Tournament finals. This fall he will be entering his senior year at Willamette. Matt is looking forward to sharing his passion for tennis and education with the children of PAST&E.

Maria Aguila, Full-Time Staff

Ms. Aguila has three years experience teaching tennis for PAST. She also teaches in the Portland Public Schools in the Star Base program, bringing math and science technology to elementary and middle school students.

maria aguila

Calvin Cheng, Academy Coach

Mr. Cheng coaches the JV Benson High School students enrolled with PAST. He played men's varsity tennis at Benson for three years and currently attends University of Portland. Calvin also teaches for Portland Tennis Center.

calvin cheng bio

Nina Nguyen, Instructor

Nina is currently attending Benson Polytechnic High School as a junior. She is the varsity captain of the school’s tennis team."Working with PAST&E has been one of the greatest and most fulfilling jobs I have had. To be able to get younger children into reading books is the best part of my job (I am a complete bookworm), and getting them all excited for tennis excites me as well. PAST is a wonderful organization and the staff is great. "