Board President: Julie Bardin Hewitt is a licensed mental health counselor in the Des Moines area. She enjoys working to build confidence in young women and directing them to follow the direction of their goals. She think that breaking the gender norms is an important process in building a foundation of strong, successful women in today's society. 'Allowing options for girls and women in football is a piece of a bigger puzzle that is great to be a part of'.
Julie has non-profit experience working with girls and women of all ages and backgrounds. She has a Bachelors in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University and most recently received a Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Drake University. Originally from the Chicago area, she currently reside in Grimes with her husband.
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Board Vice President: Sherry Olson- Justice has previously held positions as a board VP and as a Director for the MN Chapter of Dockdogs (Dockdogs Northern Stars).
She reside in MN, is married to Bryan for 25+ years, has a daughter (Amber), and 3 dogs (Shaylee, Malcolm, and Beaux). She has a bachelors degree in clinical research from George Washington University School of Medicine (graduated summa cum laude in 2016). She has worked at Medtronic for 16+ years in the clinical research realm, currently working on dialysis treatments. In her spare time she loves travelling, photography, camping and hanging with our dogs and friends (and coming to watch football games in Iowa!).
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Board Secretary: Alycia Comer is a 39 year old single mother to an awesome 9 year old boy, Jaxon. They currently reside in Ankeny but her son attends Timber Ridge Elementary in Johnston.
She was born and raised in Johnston, Iowa (Des Moines suburb), attended Grand View College, and graduated with a degree in Human Service, minor in Psychology and certificate in Art Therapy. She also attended Kaplan University for graduate school, studying Psychology with an emphasis in addiction counseling. After using her degree for a few years as a dual diagnosis counselor for adolescents she now moved on to work at The Iowa Clinic in Medical Imaging doing preauthorizations.
She grew up in a sports family. Her father played football for the University of Iowa, pre Hayden Fry. He also played semi pro football in his later years. So football is life but she did get to play other sports when football wasn’t in season. Her older brother played hockey, football, and baseball. Her older sister played softball and was in cheerleading. Alycia played softball and volleyball. She had always wanted to play football and wrestle but was told it was a boys sports. Fortunately, last season she found women's tackle football and is excited to see where this journey takes her.
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Board Treasurer: Ashleigh Battin is a mother of 2 young children and wants to be a part of creating opportunities for children as they grow. She wants her children to know that there should not be limits on what they can do, including in athletics since they have played such a large part in her life.
Her athletic endeavors began at the age of 4. Through her younger years she was involved in softball, basketball, volleyball, season team, and dance team. As an adult, Ashleigh continues to play adult-league softball and has been involved with football for the past 5 years.
Ashleigh has work experience in insurance, marketing, retail management, and mental health program management. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in social work from Wartburg College, and a Masters of Public Administration from Drake University. She currently resides in Windsor Heights with her boyfriend and kids.
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Board Director of Marketing: Daniel Mussell is passionate about serving his communities. From ten years serving the United States in the US Army, to his current professional position writing software that ensures the safety of all fliers in one of the world’s largest aerospace company, Dan’s drive has taken him from homelessness to holding a degree in engineering and a master’s in business with a concentration in marketing. It is this drive that propels Dan to continue to serve his communities.
Dan has volunteered his time and his voice in three different singing groups in the Cedar Rapids area and while singing with the Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale, he served three years on the Chorale’s Board of Directors. More recently he has brought Dockdogs to the Cedar Rapids Freedom festival. Seeing the love that Dan has for the Dockdogs community and the excitement with which he presents the event to the greater Cedar Rapids area, the Executive Director of the Freedom Festival invited Dan to apply for a position on the Freedom Festival Board of Directors, a position that is now entering a fourth year of service.
Dan also has a passion for photography. He is an affiliated photographer for Dockdogs serving that community by giving competitors most of their pictures for free. This has led him to becoming the team photographer for women's football in Iowa the past 2 seasons. Capturing images from the sidelines has shown Dan a new aspect of the game of football. Watching the fun, desire and passion with which the women in the league play with has shown Dan, also a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers, a new love of football.
To contact the board, email directors@iowagfa.com