Why Work With Us

Kenny Booker brings more than five decades of experience in athletics, education, officiating, business and youth development to the John R. Wooden Award Foundation. He played basketball for Coach John Wooden at UCLA and was a member of the Bruins' 1970 and 1971 NCAA National Championship teams, later earning selections in both the NBA and ABA drafts. Booker went on to coach Verbum Dei High School to league and CIF Southern Section championships. He has also officiated high-school basketball in Southern California for more than 30 years and was named Referee of the Year by the Orange County Sports Association in 2009. Beyond athletics, Booker has enjoyed a lengthy real-estate career and has spent more than 40 years teaching and discussing Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success with young people in school and youth settings.

 Denise Curry is a UCLA basketball legend, Olympic Gold Medalist and Hall of Famer whose career combines elite athletic achievement with extensive coaching and mentoring experience. She helped UCLA win the 1978 AIAW National Championship and remains the program's all-time leader in career scoring and rebounding. Her #12 jersey was among the first four basketball jerseys retired by UCLA. Curry won Olympic Gold with Team USA at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, played professionally in Europe and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame. Following her playing career, she spent approximately 15 years coaching at Division I universities, including California, Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State. Curry first encountered Coach John Wooden at his basketball camps as a youngster, beginning a lifelong connection to his principles.

 Sue Enquist is a UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer, 11-time national champion as a player and coach, and longtime educator and leadership mentor. She spent 31 years in UCLA softball, including 27 consecutive years on the coaching staff and 18 seasons as co-head or head coach, compiling an 887-175-1 record and .835 winning percentage. Enquist helped co-found UCLA Athletics' Wooden Academy, created to develop leadership among Bruin student-athletes. She continues to teach at UCLA as a Senior Fellow in the Transformative Coaching and Leadership master's program, helping prepare future coaches and leaders. Her expertise has also reached the international stage: she served as a culture consultant and mental-performance coach for the U.S. Women's Volleyball Team during its 2020/2021 Olympic gold-medal and 2024 Olympic silver-medal campaigns. Enquist had a close personal relationship with Coach John Wooden and has carried his principles throughout her career. 

Larry Farmer brings more than four decades of coaching, teaching and student-athlete development experience to the John R. Wooden Award Foundation. As a UCLA player under Coach John Wooden, Farmer was part of three consecutive NCAA National Championship teams and completed his varsity career with an extraordinary 89-1 record. He later returned to UCLA as an assistant coach and became head men's basketball coach, leading the Bruins to a Pac-10 championship. Farmer also served as a Division I head coach at Weber State and Loyola Chicago and held coaching or player-development roles at several other universities, as well as with the Golden State Warriors and Kuwait National Team. Since 2022, he has coached girls' basketball at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart. The author of Role of a Lifetime, Farmer regularly shares Coach Wooden's lessons about preparation, character, leadership and competitive excellence.

 Tony Fuller brings approximately four decades of coaching, teaching, mentoring and student-development experience to the John R. Wooden Award Foundation. A former professional basketball player drafted by the Detroit Pistons, Fuller spent roughly 24 years coaching at the collegiate level, with positions at Pepperdine, UCLA, San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State and Stanford. In 2006, he moved into secondary education, serving as a varsity basketball coach and classroom teacher at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix. He later joined Maricopa High School, where he coached and taught physical education, college and career technology, and students needing academic-credit recovery. By 2021, Fuller had accumulated at least 16 years of documented high-school teaching experience. He also has a longstanding connection to Coach John Wooden and has worked with Craig Impelman for decades presenting Wooden's principles of character, leadership and personal responsibility to young people. 

  Jeaney Garcia brings approximately four decades of experience in education, coaching, athletic administration and youth leadership. Her career has included roles at Lake Forest Academy, The Webb Schools, Brentwood School, Punahou School and Bosque School, where she has served as a teacher, coach, athletic administrator and director of athletics. In boarding-school settings, her responsibilities also included residential supervision, giving her extensive day-to-day experience supporting students beyond the classroom and playing field. Garcia has been deeply involved with Positive Coaching Alliance since 1998, serving in leadership roles and conducting hundreds of workshops for student-athletes, coaches, parents and administrators; a professional biography credits her with more than 500 motivational workshops worldwide. She has also led student-athlete teams on seven international tours. A Certified Master Athletic Administrator, Garcia was personally mentored by Coach John Wooden over many years and has maintained a close relationship with the Wooden family.

 Karen Givvin is an educator and researcher who brings approximately 15 years of UCLA faculty experience and specialized expertise in teaching, learning and Coach John Wooden's instructional philosophy. She earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from UCLA, a master's degree in Educational Psychology from California State University, Northridge, and a Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. Since joining the UCLA faculty in 2011, Givvin has taught undergraduate and graduate courses ranging from developmental research methods to seminars examining the psychology and legacy of Coach Wooden. She currently teaches in UCLA's Transformative Coaching and Leadership program. Her teaching has earned the UCLA Psychology Department Distinguished Teaching Award and the UCLA Honors College Eugen Weber Award for Distinguished Collegium Teaching. With researcher Ronald Gallimore, Givvin has also published peer-reviewed research examining Coach Wooden's instructional methods through the framework of deliberate practice.

Debbie Haliday brings more than three decades of experience coaching, teaching, mentoring and supervising students and student-athletes. A former UCLA student-athlete, she competed in basketball and softball and was part of national championship teams in both sports in 1978. At UCLA, she knew Coach John Wooden personally and benefited from his encouragement and instruction. Haliday went on to coach girls' high-school basketball for 25 years, serve as a K-12 athletic director and teach middle- and high-school students. She also spent five years as head women's basketball coach at Biola University and 11 years as Southern California Regional Camp Director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. From 2013 to 2019, she worked with UCLA Women's Basketball, mentoring student-athletes and supporting camps, clinics, community service and team-building. Today, she is Executive Director of The WEST Project, strengthening leadership, communication, trust and service through sports.

Greg Hayes is a longtime educator and coach whose career combines decades of classroom teaching with a direct connection to Coach John Wooden. A UCLA graduate with degrees in History and Educational Administration, Hayes taught high-school students for at least 28 years, including courses in social studies, government, AP Government and AP Human Geography. In parallel, he accumulated 29 years as a high-school head basketball coach and also coached soccer and track and field. Hayes has directed youth basketball camps in the Santa Clarita Valley since 1991 and previously coached at UCLA and The Master's University. Of particular significance, he worked directly with Coach Wooden at summer basketball camps for 12 years, observing Wooden's approach to teaching and character development firsthand. Hayes later captured those experiences in his book, Camp with Coach Wooden, and has spent decades sharing the Pyramid of Success with students, athletes, coaches and organizations.

 Mary Hegarty brings more than four decades of experience in education, collegiate coaching, student-athlete development and athletic administration. A former UCLA basketball standout, she earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from UCLA and a master's degree in Physical Education/Coaching from Humboldt State University. Her collegiate coaching career included positions at UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Humboldt State, Chapman University and Long Beach State. At Chapman, she spent 10 years as both an instructor and head women's basketball coach; at Long Beach State, she led the Division I program for six years and earned Big West Coach of the Year honors. Hegarty later taught and coached at Fullerton College and served in athletic leadership at Long Beach City College, including coordinating its Student Athlete Success Center. She subsequently became Athletic Director at Santa Ana College, continuing a career centered on teaching, mentoring and supporting student-athletes' academic, athletic and personal success. 

 Craig Impelman has developed customized professional, personal, and team development programs from his 33 years of learning from his grandfather-in-law, John Wooden. He has successfully implemented these programs through 30 years of coaching youth basketball, 12 years of coaching college basketball, 20 years of leadership development training in the business sector. An avid historian, Craig has invested decades of research into John Wooden, legendary coaches, women and diverse leaders, historical figures, and business/leadership experts to author over 700 issues of Wooden’s Wisdom. He maintains the largest collection of John Wooden videos and is widely considered to have the Wooden family's best understanding of John Wooden's ideas and philosopy.

 Brian Lowenthal brings more than 16 years of classroom facilitation and student-development experience, together with decades of business, leadership and organizational-development expertise. He earned an undergraduate degree in Business Education and an MBA before building a career in human resources, consulting and leadership development. Since 2010, Lowenthal has served as an Advisor and Classroom Facilitator for Junior Achievement, helping teenagers build character and practical skills for productive, purpose-driven lives. His youth work increasingly centers on Coach John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Through Improving the Odds and Mindset 4 Success in Nashville, he has helped translate Wooden's 25 character and life skills into practical conversations, exercises and behaviors for students. Lowenthal has also participated in Nashville's Leadership Public Education program and Youth Career Exploration and Alignment Opportunities Task Force. His work demonstrates how Wooden's principles can support school culture, student leadership and character development.