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.

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.

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.

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.

Diane is the Senior Director of Employee & Community Engagement at Simms Fishing Products. She’s been with SIMMS for over twenty-seven years. During her tenure at SIMMS, Diane has also managed Marketing/Brand, Product Development, and Customer Service.

Diane has championed the relationship between SIMMS and CfR for almost a decade through unique product promotions and as a National Sponsor. Diane is currently serving as Vice Chair for Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation Board of Directors, serves on the Board of Directors for the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, and was appointed to the Get Outdoors Montana Advisory Council in 2019 for a 2-year term. She has also served on the board for the American Fly Fishing Trade Association and the International Women Fly Fishers. Along with her board roles, Diane is also a program volunteer for the WQW Fishing eXperiences and Casting for Recovery retreat programs. Diane, along with SIMMS, was recently recognized by Greater Yellowstone Coalition for her role in helping to protect the Yellowstone Ecosystem with the successful passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act.

Diane has a BA in Psychology from Western State Colorado University. Diane and her husband, Bruce, are avid fly anglers, they also enjoy hiking, camping, skiing and many of the other outdoor activities that Montana provides.

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.

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.

Marc Levey is a partner in the New York office of Baker & McKenzie. He has over 30 years of experience in international taxation and is a nationally recognized expert in his field, particularly in structuring and defending transfer pricing strategies.

He has frequently been acknowledged by Euromoney as one of the “World’s Leading Tax Advisors,” included in its “Best of the Best” global tax experts. Marc’s practice focuses on transfer pricing and cross-border transactions; tax controversies and litigation; general corporate, international and partnership taxation, and restructuring multinational company’s global operations.

He has also worked extensively in various capacities with not for profit organizations, as both counsel and as a Board Member. Marc and Janie have been married for 32 years and have 5 sons and 6 grandchildren. Janie has taught him to fly fish, but says he is still a novice at best. However, Marc is an avid skier and tennis player.

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.

Kate is the principal of KCW Global Research, a qualitative research consultancy established in 2006, which focuses on helping Fortune 500 clients become more successful in their ability to develop products and convey product messages through packaging and other communication mediums in a thoughtful, strategic, and effective manner on a global scale.

Her involvement with Casting for Recovery began in 2007 as a hospitality helper at retreats and a volunteer at alumnae retreats. The time she spends with the women serves as reinforcement of the need and positive impact of what Casting for Recovery provides for its participants – and has fueled her desire to be more involved in helping further strengthen the organization.

Kate’s passions for fly fishing and travel can only be outdone by her love of connecting with others, be they an excited brown trout, someone in the checkout line, or someone in a small town outside of Timbuktu.