Board of Directors
Dan Harrell, Board President & Founding Board Member
In 1980, Dan Harrell left a career in banking to begin a partnership with Michael Blanton. Over the next 30 years, they founded Blanton Harrell Cooke & Corzine (managing artists Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Juice Newton, Rich Mullins, Kathy Troccoli, Billy Sprague, Point of Grace, Kim Hill, Ashley Cleveland & Aaron Shust); began Reunion Records, which they sold to BMG; and served as co-presidents of the Entertainment Division of Gaylord. Dan is currently co-manager for Amy Grant, a consultant for the Lipscomb University College of Business and president of Fore Artist Management for Cal4 Entertainment. He is a member of NARAS, the CMA and the GMA; chairman of the board of Challenge America, a non-profit organization supporting disabled veterans, and founding board chair of the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation. A 1971 graduate of Lipscomb, Dan and his wife of 38 years, Kathy Grant Harrell, have five children and four grandchildren.
Derrick Williams, Board Vice President & Founding Board Member
Derrick Williams has served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army, first as an Armored Cavalry Officer and later as a strategist, including time served in the White House as a military aide. Derrick's father, who also served for over 20 years, introduced Derrick to military life at a very young age. For the first 40 plus years of his life, Derrick spent time on military bases all over the world, including in the United States, Greece, Italy and Belgium. Throughout his personal military career, Derrick was stationed in numerous postings, including West Germany and, later, Germany. While stationed in West Germany, he was able to witness the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The extent of Derrick's service extends both to the demise of the Iron Curtain and current affairs within the Middle and Far East. With his vast knowledge of, and involvement within, the U.S. Army at home and abroad, Derrick provides a perspective that is both unique and insightful to Challenge America.
Although Derrick no longer serves in the U.S. Army, he now works as a strategic planner for TASC, Inc., where he continues to assist the U.S. in seeking solutions to real-world security challenges and threats. Derrick currently resides in Vienna, VA, with his wife and daughter.
Kevin Berg, Board Secretary-Treasurer & Founding Board Member
Kevin Berg is chairman of the River North Group, a marketing agency holding company located in Chicago, Illinois. River North includes Legacy Marketing Partners, one of the top experience marketing agencies in the country; Marketing Drive, rated in the top five shopper marketing promotion agencies in the country, and Premium Surge Promotions, a global incentive and premiums company.
Prior to River North, Kevin was president, promotional marketing for the Draft Worldwide Chicago office and its promotional, retail and event/experiential marketing division. In this capacity, he led strategic growth for all Chicago operations, including expanding business with existing clients, providing strategic insights for key accounts, and pursuing capability or geographic expansion opportunities to better serve client needs.
Prior to his president role, Kevin was president and CEO of KBA Marketing, a former subsidiary of DraftWorldwide that specialized in lifestyle marketing. He was a key architect behind the 2001 integration of KBA, Group3 and the DraftWorldwide promotions team, a step that dramatically expanded the agency’s overall promotional offering.
Kevin was a founder and former Chairman of Effen Vodka, a leading premium vodka, which became a top brand under Kevin’s leadership and eventually sold to Constellation Brands, a global wine and spirits company. Kevin is also highly involved with several charitable organizations. As well as being a founding board member of Challenge America, he sits on the board of directors of Challenge Aspen as well as the Rush University Medical Center’s “Cancer Committee.” Through Legacy Marketing Partners, he also provides sponsorship support to Autism Speaks, handling all of the Autism Speaks events hosted within the Chicago land area, including the annual Walk-a-Thon at Soldiers Field and the annual “Hero’s Ball.”
Houston Cowan, Founder
Houston Cowan received his B.A. in political science from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. Upon entering the business world, he was first a financial futures trader on the Mercantile Exchange and later the owner of a successful commercial real estate development company in Chicago. His life was changed forever on July 6, 1991, however, when he read a one-paragraph blurb in Skiing magazine about a blind skier in Aspen. Touched by the skier's story, Houston liquidated his company and moved to Aspen to learn to teach blind people how to ski. Four years later, he co-founded Challenge Aspen, a non-profit with the mission of making possibilities for people with disabilities. In 2001, Challenge Aspen programming extended to working with disabled veterans, a service that began to grow exponentially after the start of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, eventually leading to the creation of a new division within Challenge Aspen called "C.A.M.O." (Challenge Aspen Military Opportunities). Contact with the injured soldiers and their families revealed a lack of coordination of resources and information between programs for all military across the country, making it difficult for warriors and their families to locate the services needed for a successful transition from military to Main Street. Recognizing the gap and the need for coordination of services on a national level, the idea of "challenging America" to find ways to connect military with the resources needed to establish a "new normal" life was born, and Challenge America the organization was founded.
Sharon Funk
Sharon Funk was born in Houston, Texas, where she also received her B.A. from the University of Texas and, later, her business degree from the University of Houston. Throughout her early career, Sharon worked on the Reagan-Bush campaign as a volunteer coordinator, was recruited by a law firm, and has owned her own catering business. Sharon, who is also the wife of PGA Tour professional Fred Funk, has herself established a strong presence within the PGA Tour. Along with her involvement with Challenge America, Sharon devotes a great deal of her free time to PGA Tour charities located throughout the country. When Fred and Sharon are not on tour, they live in Ponte Vedra, FL, with their two children, to whom Sharon now dedicates a majority of her time to homeschooling.
Jimmy Yeager, Founding Board Member
Jimmy Yeager received his B.S. in accounting, finance, and psychology from Syracuse University in 1982. For several years, he worked as a fully licensed commodities trader and retail broker for Shearson Lehman Brothers. In 1997, Jimmy established Fierce American Food Co., LLC d/b/a Jimmy’s, an American Restaurant & Bar, located in Aspen, CO. In addition to being a board member of Challenge America, Jimmy has served on the advisory board and board of directors for the Silver Lining Ranch, formally known as "Kid's Stuff,” and currently serves as the president of the board of directors for Challenge Aspen. Another role Jimmy performs each year with great panache is that of “auctioneer” at the annual Challenge Aspen Golf Classic gala.
