Foundation Staff
Jenny Turner Koltnow
Since 2004, Jenny Turner Koltnow has served as the Executive Director of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation. In 2007, the Grizzlies Foundation was honored with the Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Sports Philanthropy Project, and in 2008, was named “Outstanding Foundation of the Year” by the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Memphis Chapter. Jenny directs all Foundation programs, partnerships, marketing and events, and she has facilitated the donation of over $26 million in charitable grants. In addition, Koltnow drives Grizzlies TEAM UP, a community-wide mentoring initiative and leads efforts to engage Grizzlies players and personnel in the community. Prior to her current position, Jenny served as the Manager of Community Investment of the Memphis Grizzlies. A native of Wisconsin, Koltnow completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. She was named “Top 40 Under 40” by the Memphis Business Journal in 2007 and “Top 30 Under 30” by Business TN Magazine in 2005.
Jenny is the current President of the Memphis Grantmakers Forum, and she serves on the boards of The Leadership Academy and the Healthy Memphis Common Table. Jenny and her family live in Germantown, TN.
Alayne Shoenfeld
Alayne Shoenfeld was born in Philadelphia and grew up in New Jersey. She has spent most of her career in education and community service, serving as the community relations director of a small museum and three public school districts in New York and New Jersey.
Alayne moved to Memphis in November 1996 and served for nearly 12 years as Partnership Development Manager at Volunteer Memphis. Since 2002, Alayne has been Manager of the Memphis Mentoring Partnership, a coalition of organizations offering youth mentoring services. MMP, now known as the Grizzlies Mentoring Alliance, is a part of the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation since 2008 and provides training and technical assistance as well as volunteer referral to mentoring program managers.
Alayne earned B.A. (Magna cum Laude) and M.S. degrees in education as well as a Professional Diploma in School District Administration from C.W. Post College of Long Island University. She has been a member of the Executive Board and an active leader in the community service efforts of her synagogue and the National Council of Jewish Women – Memphis Section. She currently serves on the board of Manos de Madres, a foundation promoting women’s entrepreneurship in third world countries. She was honored by Memphis Woman Magazine as one of the “50 Women Who Make a Difference” in 2007.
She has visited 30 countries and has acquired many words and useful phrases in several languages. She lives with two cats – Lolita and Chance – who call her Mama.
Eric Bleier
Eric Bleier has lived in the South his whole life yet somehow never developed a Southern accent. Born in Atlanta, Eric quickly developed roots in Memphis by attending grade school and junior high here. After high school in Plano, Texas, Eric received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Trinity University in San Antonio.
After dabbling in careers in school education and outdoor education, Eric started with the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation as an intern in 2005. Now Coordinator for the Foundation, Eric’s primary duties include coordinating the TEAMmates club for mentors, awareness building and outreach to Memphis area corporations, faith groups, civic organizations and all individuals interested in learning more about the Foundation and about opportunities for mentoring.
Eric lives, works and plays in Downtown Memphis and has nearly given up listening to any music, preferring talk radio and books on CD.
Joel Katz
Joel Katz is a native of Southern California and a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Geography and Sport Management. He is currently working with the Grizzlies Foundation as an AmeriCorps VISTA and oversees the TEAM Mentoring Program. Leaving the Pacific coast wasn’t easy, but he has embraced this change in scenery as just being a part of life’s journey.
Back in California, Joel played all four years of college as goalkeeper for the UCSB Club Soccer team and was a part of the National Championship squad in 2007. He was also co-founder of Gauchosplay.com, official website for UCSB Recreational Sports, and Rec Sports News, the department newsletter that preceded the website. As a Rec Sports employee, Joel managed the student marketing team, served as editor for the newsletter, and was even an Intramural soccer referee.
He has titled this chapter in his life “Walking in Memphis,” and is ecstatic to be a member of the Grizzlies Foundation. Working in professional sports has been a lifelong dream for Joel, but the combination of serving the community through a sports foundation is deal. Before he settles into his career and is still young, Joel aspires to live abroad and pursue more “out of world” experiences.