Board of Trustees

Charles Penley, MD, FASCO, is a medical oncologist, and a partner with Tennessee Oncology, in Nashville, TN. Dr. Penley earned his medical degree in 1982 at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine and his internship, residency, and fellowship at Vanderbilt University.  Dr. Penley is a Diplomate of American Board of Internal Medicine, with certification in Medical Oncology.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Penley has maintained associations with numerous professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of ASCO 2013-2015.  His ASCO service includes terms on the Cancer Education Committee, Public Issues Committee, and Special Awards Selection Committee. Dr. Penley has been a member of the Conquer Cancer Foundation (CCF) of ASCO Board of Directors since 2005, has served as the CCF Treasurer, and was Chair of the CCF Board from 2013-2015.  He has served two terms on the Board of Trustees of the Association of Community Cancer Centers.  He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he obtained his undergraduate degree.  He is proud to have been recently named to the Board of Trustees of Casting for Recovery, and looks forward to working with other volunteers engaged in providing vital support for breast cancer survivors.

Dr. Penley enjoys a wide variety of outdoor activities, including hiking, fly fishing, and white water rafting.  He and his wife Connally reside in Nashville, TN.

From growing up on a farm in Eastern Oklahoma to the Big D in Texas, Roni Briggs has never forgotten her love for the simple things in life: enjoying family, our native land, including rivers, and lakes, laughing out loud and the sense of place you find in your community.

Roni is a seasoned business executive. Her business insights were honed through years of increasingly higher leadership experience in a vast number of disciplines and industries. Before co-founding The OSIYO Group, Briggs was VP Business Capabilities & External Affairs for Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business. She also held leadership positions in communications, professional consulting, healthcare, and energy industries.

A Cherokee Nation tribal citizen, Ms. Briggs graduated from Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and Native Entrepreneurial Studied professional certification Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, and professional accreditation in Cultural Heritage Tourism, from George Washington University.

Kristin Mellinger is the owner of V3 Strategic Solutions, LLC. Specializing in assisting clients in creating and growing value, Kristin provides management and organizational consulting services, and strategic planning leadership to Boards of Directors and executive management teams. Through V3, Kristin has also led a number of equity transactions by providing buy- or sell-side advisory and due diligence services. Before founding V3, Kristin served as Executive Vice President / Chief Financial Officer and finally Executive Vice President / Chief Operating Officer of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC). With revenues of approximately $2.4 billion and more than 10,000 employees worldwide, ASRC’s business activities include energy services, construction, petroleum refining, government contracting, and passive investments. Kristin worked for the ASRC family of companies for 18 years, serving as Chief Financial Officer at several subsidiaries until being appointed Chief Financial officer of the parent corporation. In addition to managing the Corporation’s financial functions, support service center, and then operations, Kristin was a member of the executive team, which contributed to the Corporation’s growth from $1 Billion to $2.4 Billion in revenues.

Kristin is the Secretary / Treasurer on the Alaska Industrial Hardware Board. She also serves on several not-for-profit boards, including the Kenai River Sportfishing Association, Casting for Recovery Kenai Peninsula, and is Chair of the Kenai River Women’s Classic. Kristin is a pilot, certified flight instructor, and an avid fisherman and hunter. She and her husband live on the banks of the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska.

Missy is a partner in the Dallas based photography business, Sprouse and Neuhoff.  She has been a professional photographer for over 26 years.  Missy also owns a small transportation company, The Big Love Bus based in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Missy lives with her husband, Kerry in rural Crowheart, Wyoming where they spend their time fly-fishing, riding and enjoying the outdoors.

Kerry and Missy share their love of Wyoming and the mountain west with their family.  There are a bunch of boys in the Sprouse house….5 sons and 5 grandsons.  Missy first had the opportunity to photograph the Wyoming CfR Retreat in 2012.  She fell in love with the incredible mission, values, women and all folks involved with CfR.

Missy’s passion for life, all things outdoors and one-one-one connection to people make working with Casting for Recovery and its mission a true joy.

Linda’s passions are her family, friends, the outdoors and her career. Her love of the outdoors started when she grew up on an Iowa farm and was her Dad’s most trusted farmhand. From driving the tractor at age 10, to showing livestock at the Fair, to high school sports, if she could be outdoors that was her happy place.

Linda is vice president of Emspace + Lovgren, a public relations and marketing strategy group, formed when she sold her 40-year old company and merged it into the new entity. She has a degree in English and Communications from Indiana University with certifications as an accredited public relations counselor and public outreach facilitator. She was elected the first woman board chairman of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Omaha Business Hall of Fame and has chaired numerous community and professional boards.

Linda discovered Casting for Recovery while reading a fishing magazine during recovery from  breast cancer surgery. It was 2010 when she, along with friends and fly fishing companions, began the CfR Program in Nebraska. Linda has witnessed first-hand and embraces the difference these retreats can make physically and emotionally for participants. The Nebraska program holds two retreats annually and continues to be dedicated the CfR mission.

Linda and her husband, Bob, have an adult son and daughter and seven grandchildren. The family loves to hike and fly fish together. Bob and Linda are travel enthusiasts and are working on visiting as many of  the country’s national parks as possible.

As a young child, Caitlyn overheard her father and one of the founding CfR members discussing the complexities of caring for women during and after breast cancer treatment. Little did she know that these conversations would lead to CfR becoming the incredible organization that it is today. She is delighted to be in a position to further the mission to reach more women in their journeys to wellness.

Caitlyn graduated with honors from Colgate University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and worked in New York City and Boston for several years in the field of life science investor relations and communications. She came to her senses in 2017 and earned a master’s degree in education, specializing in teaching adolescents. She now lives in Somerville, Massachusetts and teaches 8th grade science to a challenging but captivating student body.

The exhilaration of fly fishing in Wyoming and Montana is very different from her early experiences with a worm and hook on quiet lakes in New Hampshire where she spent her childhood. She cherishes both experiences as healing and restorative and is grateful for the opportunity to work with a multidisciplinary team that is dedicated to a mission of healing for women with breast cancer.

She escapes to New Hampshire with her Bernedoodle on the weekends where she can relax and run with her dog off the leash.

Scott Cassity is the Chief Administrative Officer and a Managing Director of the SANS Institute, the global leader in cybersecurity training, certification, research and education which is based in the Washington, DC area. He is responsible for Finance, Human Resources, Analytics and also has leadership responsibility for two business units, Global Information Assurance Certification and SANS.EDU where he is also a Board Member and Committee Chair. In these roles, Scott provides general management, strategic direction and leadership for his teams and the company.

Scott was previously a principal/partner of a Tennessee based healthcare real estate development and consulting firm, Realty Trust Group. His business expertise includes growing new businesses, financial analysis, risk assessment and a genuine interest in new business ventures. Scott has also worked in the securities and healthcare industries. He is the Past Chairman of ChildHelp of East Tennessee, a children’s advocacy organization. Scott holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, and a BBA from University of Kentucky.

Scott and his wife, Cindy split time between Tennessee and Montana. He loves fly-fishing and bird dogs and hopes that his time with CfR can help grow its mission and outreach to many more women on their recovery journey from breast cancer.

Dr. Daniel F. Hayes is the Stuart B. Padnos Professor of Breast Cancer Research at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

Dr. Hayes received undergraduate, master’s and medical degrees from Indiana University, followed by a residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School/Health Science Center/Parkland Memorial Hospital and a fellowship in medical oncology at Harvard’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). He has led the breast cancer programs at DFCI (1991-1996), Georgetown University’s Lombardi Cancer Center (1996-2001), and the University of Michigan from 2001-2016.

Dr. Hayes’ research interests are in the field of experimental therapeutics and cancer biomarkers, especially in breast cancer. His work has been particularly focused on development and validation of cancer biomarker tests, such as HER-2, CA15-3, circulating tumor cells and pharmacogenomic markers. He has been instrumental in establishing international guidelines for the use of tumor biomarker tests, including criteria for their clinical utility.

He has served as chair of the SWOG Breast Cancer Translational Medicine Committee, and he was an inaugural member and chaired the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Tumor Marker Guidelines Committee. Dr. Hayes served on the ASCO Board of Directors, and served a 3 year term as President of ASCO from 2016-2018. He is a Fellow of ASCO, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a past Komen Scholar, and a member of the Association of American Physicians and the American Clinical and Climatologic Association. He was the inaugural recipient of the ASCO Gianni Bonadonna Award in breast cancer and received ASCO’s Allen Lichter Visionary Leadership Award in 2021.

As early as she can remember, Dani conventionally fished with her grandfather. She discovered fly fishing on a business trip to Estes Park several years ago. She eventually went from the once-a-year trout fisher to an all waters, all species, 60 days on the water fly angler.

She got involved in teaching fly fishing when some fishing friends invited her to be an instructor for a North Texas retreat. The mission of Casting for Recovery aligned well with Dani’s mission of being a
lifelong learner and serving women in fly fishing.

Dani’s fly fishing affiliations include: Fly Fishers International-Casting Instructor Candidate, Texas Council Fly Fishers International-Education Director, Dallas Fly Fishers – Trustee, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – Fly Fishing Instructor, Texas Women’s Fly Fishers – Member, United Women on the Fly –Member and Fort Worth Fly Fishers – Member.

Dani balances her fly fishing passion with her role at Microsoft, where she serves as the Director for Manufacturing and Software Digital Platforms for the Western US Corporate division. She leads a team
of Account Executives that help their customers transform with AI.

Fly fishing is a family affair, as Dani’s two adult daughters also enjoy fly fishing, which makes family vacation planning easy. She is a proud graduate of Earlham College in Richmond, IN, with a BA in Religion.
Dani lives in the DFW metroplex. She is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, both on and off the water.

Jennifer Sparks is a dedicated community leader, philanthropist, and the founder and CEO of Sparks & Rec LLC, a boutique consulting group based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With a passion for thoughtful integration and philanthropy within the community, Jenn has played a pivotal role in supporting families, businesses, and entrepreneurs in the greater Jackson Hole area.

In her role at Sparks & Rec, Jenn has partnered with a diverse range of clients. Her insights and commitment to community development have made Sparks & Rec a valuable resource for those seeking to make a positive impact in Jackson Hole.

Before her entrepreneurial venture, Jenn Sparks spent over 24 years at the Brandywine Mutual Fund – Friess Associates, where she held the positions of Senior Partner, Portfolio Manager, and Equity Analyst. Her experience in the financial sector equipped her with an understanding of investment strategies and market dynamics.

Jenn actively serves on several not-for-profit boards. Currently, she holds positions on the Snake River Fund and the Teton County Search and Rescue Foundation. Jenn also served as a long-time Trustee of the Jackson Hole Land Trust,  just recently exiting as the Treasurer. In addition, Jenn has been a volunteer with Teton County Search and Rescue for over 25 years, where she serves as a backcountry rescuer. 

Beyond her professional and philanthropic pursuits, Jenn finds solace in the mountains, where she explores unmarked trails on foot or skis. Her love for the outdoors extends to the waters of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, where she enjoys fishing, camping, and rafting with her husband, Ari, and daughter Beatrix.

Benita Walton, MD is the co-founder of Casting for Recovery. Her general surgery training was at Mary Hitchcock Medical Center (now Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center) and her plastic and reconstructive surgery training at University of Wisconsin, both with highly acclaimed surgeons. She completed each program as a chief resident. Her subsequent training was in Scotland where she learned to fly fish using a spey rod, a very different experience from the spinning rods of her youth.

During her practice in plastic surgery and breast reconstruction, Benita recognized that care of breast cancer patients went well beyond the treatment phase—a potentially long standing set of concerns. As a result, Benita, her co-founder Gwenn Perkins Bogart, and the initial team, developed a fly fishing program with the goal of engaging women who shared the traumatic and potentially life-altering experience with breast cancer. The desired setting and activities would be in nature, learning a set of skills, hatching new desires, and feeling understood.

Benita’s career morphed into psychiatry. She returned to DHMC to train in psychiatry and is currently a Staff Psychiatrist at Dartmouth College. Benita attends as many CfR retreats as possible and wishes she had more time to fly fish.

A New England native, Cindy was raised with a love for being outdoors, and especially being on and around the water. This affinity led her to a career in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer. Following her retirement in December 2016 as Rear Admiral, she became exposed to the healing power of fly-fishing, including as a participant in a CfR retreat. She has been “hooked” by the CfR “family” ever since!

While in the Navy, Cindy deployed in all major ocean areas and was one of the first women to command a combatant ship. Other command assignments included multi-national and multi-ship organizations, including an overseas Destroyer Squadron and one of the Navy’s three Expeditionary Strike Groups. She also held senior positions in strategy and policy, education and training, and maintenance and readiness. Since retiring from the Navy, Cindy has focused much of her time on support to non-profits at both the local and national level.

Ever since experiencing her own Casting for Recovery retreat in 2017, CfR has held a special place in her heart with its opportunities for women to find inspiration, discover renewed energy for life and experience healing connections with other women and nature. She is honored to have the opportunity to “give back” by serving on the Board of Trustees.

Bob Tompkins is a partner with the law firm, Holland & Knight, LLP and co-chairs the firm’s National Government Contracts Practice.  His clients span all six US time zones and include Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiian Organizations and Indian Tribes.

He took an interest in fly fishing as a teenager after coming across some old bamboo fly rods in his grandfather’s basement in Southwestern Virginia.  He took his first western fly fishing trip 30 years ago and hasn’t looked back.  He has since expanded his reach to New Zealand, Chile and the Julian Alps in Slovenia.

Bob and his wife, Elena, and their two children are active in their community in Washington, DC, including through supporting Georgetown Ministry Center, and during the pandemic, Feed The Fight, a non-profit effort Elena started in her “spare” time.  Feed the Fight provided nearly a million dollars’ worth of meals from local restaurants to local healthcare workers and later to community shelters.  They spend the bulk of their summers in central Idaho enjoying all that Mountain West provides

Bob earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Trish grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast learning to fish as a toddler.  Some of her fondest memories are sitting on the wooden pier beside her grandmother, cane pole in hand, “keeping her eye on the bobber!”  Trish’s passion for fishing followed her well into adulthood, but it wasn’t until she attended a Casting for Recovery retreat as a breast cancer survivor in 2004 that she discovered the allure and magic of fly fishing.

Trish is a retired Orthopedic Surgeon.  She earned her undergraduate degree at Baylor University and her medical degree from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.  She completed her residency training in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Kansas Health Sciences Center followed by fellowship training in Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy at the Orthopedic Research Institute of Virginia.  Trish was in private practice in Seattle, Washington for the first half of her career before heading out on an adventure to Anchorage, Alaska, where she served as Chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.  While in Alaska, Trish traveled throughout the state to small, remote villages, providing orthopedic care to the Alaska native indigenous population.  A village trip often included travel via float planes, snow machines, small boats, and the occasional dog sled team.

Trish splits her time between Bend, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. She enjoys snowboarding, fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and jazz drumming.  Trish is passionate about all things CfR and is a strong believer in the healing power of nature.