CLEVELAND - The Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) will welcome the following individuals to its Board of Directors following the 2024 Symposium – Reyna Gilbert-Lowry (Virginia Tech), Lenny Kaplan (New Jersey Institute of Technology), Deborah Rogers (Tuskegee University), and Ayanna Tweedy (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). 

Reyna Gilbert-Lowry (complete bio) was promoted to Executive Associate AD/Inclusive Excellence and Alumni Engagement in the fall 2023 at Virginia Tech University. She serves as the Executive Director of the Monogram Club (the Virginia Tech Athletics Letterwinner organization), is the Senior Women's Administrator for Virginia Tech, develops strategies and initiatives to promote diversity, inclusion, and belonging within the Virginia Tech Department of Athletics, represents Virginia Tech as the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee on a variety of committees, and serves as Chair for the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Council. She is the oversight for the Women's Soccer, Men's Tennis, and Women's Tennis programs. She also serves on the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Education Committee and is departmental liaison to Student Conduct.

Gilbert-Lowry has a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Northern Illinois University, 2001 and a master's degree in Sport and Exercise Psychology, minor in Counseling, 2004, from Ball State University. She was a four-year letter winner at Northern Illinois, where she was a member of the women's gymnastics team and earned MVP her senior season.

Lenny Kaplan (complete bio) currently serves as the Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) after leading NJIT's division of physical education and athletics since August 2000.Kaplan has been instrumental in guiding the program's growth, first at the NCAA Division II level and, since late 2002, in its successful reclassification to NCAA Division I. A highlight in Kaplan's career was being named Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in 2018 and in September 2015, he was lauded at the annual Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Honors Luncheon as one of two named Administrator of the Year in Division I.

Throughout Kaplan's tenure, NJIT has enhanced the athletics program, particularly in areas that benefit the student-athletes directly. Today, NJIT's sports offerings have expanded from nine sports and 125 athletes in 2000 to the current 19 varsity programs and over 325 athletes. NJIT's growing success in Division I competition has been accompanied by a continued commitment to excellence in the university's rigorous academic environment. The combined grade point average of Highlander student-athletes has been above 3.0 for 26 straight semesters through Fall 2022.

Deborah Rodgers (complete bio) is in her first year as Deputy Chief Athletic Director at Tuskegee, where she will serve as the compliance liaison for the school among her many duties. This position continues a progression for Rodgers, who has a storied career in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as a student-athlete, coach and administrator. At Tuskegee, Rodgers will be responsible for the development and communication of strategic annual and long-term plans in the athletic department. She will lead efforts for Development, Corporate Sponsorship, Strategic Communication, Community Engagement, and Ticketing, along with handling day-to-day compliance tasks.

Rodgers comes to Tuskegee from Morehouse College, where she served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Senior Women's Administrator for three years beginning in 2019. She led day-to-day operations in the absence of Director of Athletics, also managed athletic events, coordinated athletic facilities and developed schedules. She also was in integral part of the athletic department's strategic planning and project management.

Ayanna Tweedy (complete bio) enters her second complete athletic year as the first full-time athletic director at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Tweedy joined the Rose-Hulman athletic department in January 2022 and has full-time administrative responsibilities to help coaches, other staff members and student-athletes achieve department and personal development objectives. Tweedy also oversees compliance to federal government, NCAA and conference regulations and policies, helps build relationships with internal and external audiences, and collaborates with enrollment management, advancement, and other offices to achieve the institute's strategic initiatives. 

Tweedy, a native of Chesterfield, Virginia, most recently served as the associate director of athletics and campus wellness along with being senior women administrator at Wabash College, a NCAA Division III college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. In these roles she helped supervise the athletic department's business, compliance, DEI initiatives, equipment, facility and game day operations, sports performance, and sports medicine/athletic training. Tweedy served the head administrator for five athletic programs, supervised 12 coaches, and assisted Wabash's COVID-19 management and testing team that implemented health and safety protocols for game day management and administered the weekly testing of 800 students, faculty and staff. Tweedy's passions are in student-athlete and coach professional development, along with program and policy implementation for diversity, equity and inclusion.  

The following is a complete list of the Board – click here. 

About the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association: Administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association promotes equitable employment opportunities for minorities in the athletics industry through the exchange of ideas, the creation of networking opportunities and the avocation of an increase in employment for minorities in athletics administration positions at all levels of the sports industry. The association also promotes cultivating a sports environment that supports the values necessary to accept aspiring professionals from all walks of life. For more information on the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association, please visit www.moaaweb.com.