Altius Sports Partners Hires Kim DeCarolis and Kelly Navarro

Bolstered by New NCAA Guidelines ASP Hires Kim DeCarolis as Vice President, Athlete Partnerships to Support the GM Program in Athlete Management and Operations;

Recruiting Expert Kelly Navarro Joins to Help Bring Top Talent to In-House, On-Campus GM Roles Across Partner Schools

CHICAGO, Ill. (November 3, 2022) – Altius Sports Partners (ASP) is putting significant resources behind its full-time, on-campus NIL General Manager (GM) program to support partner schools by hiring highly respected athlete marketing executive Kim DeCarolis as Vice President of Athlete Partnerships and recruiting expert Kelly Navarro as Director of Talent Acquisition. DeCarolis will focus on athlete management and operations as well as managing outside agents. Navarro will lead recruitment efforts to find exceptional GM program candidates for placement on campus.

Joining from Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment, the for-profit venture of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, DeCarolis served as Director of Athlete Relations and oversaw negotiation and integration of athletes into new media opportunities. Navarro comes to ASP from integrated research organization Circuit Clinical where she was responsible for full lifecycle recruiting from sourcing to onboarding for all roles.

Brittney Whiteside, ASP VP of Collegiate Partnerships, stated: “The value of the ASP GM program is reinforced by the new NCAA guidelines – and it starts with hiring top talent and then administering best-in-class advisement and operations. Both Kim and Kelly bring exceptional experience in their areas of influence and will play pivotal roles working directly with our in-house, on-campus GMs. Kim’s talents across marketing, branding and management are huge assets to bolster our team and athletes. Kelly, of course, will help us identify the top candidates to strengthen the whole GM operation across all partner schools.”

Launched in July 2022, the ASP GM program now has eight athletics departments including Cincinnati, LSU, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, USC and Virginia, adding full-time, trained ASP personnel on campus. The GM program centralizes NIL support services as a standalone vertical within athletics departments and includes comprehensive education of all stakeholders, as well as a customized approach for each department to identify opportunities and provide support toward the execution of those opportunities based on institutional risk tolerance and applicable rules.

“Having watched ASP’s impressive growth in the NIL space over the past two years, I’m very excited to join this industry leading organization,” said DeCarolis. “I’m confident ASP’s unparalleled industry knowledge, coupled with comprehensive on-campus programs we are launching, will allow the next generation of athletes to create powerful brands and capitalize on exciting opportunities.”

Prior to Hall of Fame Resort and Entertainment, DeCarolis spent over a decade as a marketing agent for professional athletes and talent agent for sports media personalities. She spent five years at NFL player representation firm Element Sports Group as Vice President, Media & Marketing. Previously she was Vice President, Broadcasters, Talent Representation at management and marketing firm, CSE. A graduate of The University of Georgia with a BBA Marketing and BSEd Sports Management, DeCarolis resides in Atlanta.

Navarro’s expertise also includes providing recruiting and DE&I services to small and mid-size companies in Western New York as an independent contractor. Additionally, she was Talent Acquisition Lead for Pegula Sports & Entertainment where she streamlined business areas around the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and hospitality properties in New York and Florida. Prior to PS&E, Navarro was spearheaded leadership recruiting across business verticals at Gigafactory 2 for Tesla Motors. She earned a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Government from the University of Miami.

“I’m excited to bring my expertise to the ASP team and help support the growing GM program,” said Navarro. “Identifying the best leadership is paramount for any new business and considering the enormous opportunities before us in the NIL landscape, placing the right folks in-house at our partner schools will reinforce all business operations long term.”

ASP prioritizes development of athlete NIL while fostering collaboration with institutional partners and university supporters in identifying brand prospects and enhancing existing multimedia rights partnerships. The GM initiative is an extension of ASP’s services, which are rooted in navigating and keeping school partners ahead of the curve and compliantly optimizing NIL activities for their athletes. As ASP expands its GM Program, it will continue to support all school partners through an advisory role in addition to providing ongoing innovative and strategic guidance on policy and initiatives and customized educational support.

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About Altius Sports Partners

Altius Sports Partners (ASP) is a leading NIL launch platform and external innovation department that delivers consulting, strategic planning, compliance support and education to its clients. An official partner of premier collegiate athletic departments and sports properties, ASP provides strategic solutions on topics ranging from NIL to the shifting landscape of employment and media rights within college athletics. ASP currently represents athletics departments at Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Cincinnati, Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, LSU, Marquette, Miami, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nevada, Northwestern, North Alabama, North Carolina, Oakland, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, South Carolina, USC, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, Villanova, Virginia, and Wisconsin. ASP has also partnered with Women Leaders in College Sports. Providing all stakeholders – athletics departments, coaches, and college athletes – with resources they need to thrive in the new age of college athletics, ASP leverages its deep reservoir of sports business sophistication to help those impacted to prepare and excel. It has built a team of cross-disciplinary leaders to reach higher levels of education, higher access to opportunities and higher standards of excellence.