management Team

Mike Kerns
Founder & CEO

Mike, a passionate believer in the "wisdom of the crowds," founded the company in 2004 with the idea that sports fans together are more knowledgeable than any single expert. As CEO, Mike is focused on developing strategic relationships and partnerships, helping to guide corporate and product strategy, and evangelizing Citizen Sports to the world.

Mike began his career as an Associate at Angel Investors, L.P. In 2001, he became the Chief of Staff at Steinberg & Moorad Sports Management, a premier sports representation firm, where he led new business efforts for the firm, assisted in player contract negotiations, and helped manage operations. Mike is a graduate of the University of California Los Angeles with a BA in history.

Jeff Ma
Co-Founder & VP, Research

With a tremendous passion for sports, Jeff co-founded the company in 2004 and is a tireless evangelist for the Citizen Sports mission. He has been the technology lead for two internet startups and was an options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. He gained notoriety as the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, the story of the MIT blackjack team.

Jeff is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Steve McClelland
VP, User Experience

Steve joined the company in 2004 and initially served as the company's chief architect, and then moved over to the product organization to drive product strategy and site design. He was previously with Interdimensions, a company he founded where he designed and architected a range of advanced products including online game engines, web publishing systems, web site registration systems, and personalization engines.

A die-hard Steeler fan, Steve received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Mark Kamal
VP, Strategy & Operations

Mark Kamal joined the company in 2005 and runs its corporate development and research efforts. Prior to Citizen Sports, he worked at Bain & Company in San Francisco as a management consultant with a focus on technology clients. Mark holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering Computer Science (EECS) from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. in EECS from MIT, and an MBA from MIT. He is an avid fan of Cal football and the Washington Redskins, both of which he watches from his basement which features 14 televisions, a 110" HD projector, and about 10,000 miles of cables.

Rachael Parsons
VP, Product Marketing

Rachael joined the company in March 2006 from NYC-based Zagat Survey where she ran consumer marketing for the company, including the direction of product, marketing and design for Zagat.com. She helped convert the site to a subscription model in 2002 and led the redesign of Zagat.com several years later.

Rachael received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Pomona College. She's happy to be back in California where she never has to worry about where she's going to watch the next Niners' game.

Patrick Albano
VP, Sales

Patrick Albano has led the Digital Sales and Marketing efforts for startup, midlevel and Fortune 50 Media and Technology Companies. Prior to joining Citizen Sports as VP of Sales, Patrick was the Director of National Digital Sales at Sports Illustrated, focusing their 50 person sales team on revenue growth leveraging SI’s internet, mobile, social networking and VOD platforms. During his time managing this team, they were ranked the #1 Sales Organization in the Online News & Sports Category, acknowledged by clients and agencies in the Jack Myers annual Survey of Internet Professionals. He has also led digital sales leadership roles with other leading content and commerce web sites, including the New York Times Company’s About.com.