Our Leadership

The PhilAquatics Board of Directors comprises leaders and advocates who share a passion for and commitment to aquatics. Together, they are working to ensure that the full breadth of community will have access to the life enhancing programming and benefits of the planned Aquatics Center. With expertise in business, health and wellness, education, community, real estate, and nonprofits, the Board is leveraging their professional and personal connections to assemble a broad network of highly aligned stakeholders to support the creation and funding of a facility of this size and scope.

Geoffrey A. Meyer, Executive Director

Geoff brings 60 years of leadership, management, sales, marketing, and fundraising to PhilAquatics and the Aquatic Center project. A lifelong swimmer and self-described “people person”, Geoff most recently served as Director of Fundraising and Admissions for the Regina Academy at St. John the Baptist, raising over $3.5MM in a 6-year timeframe and increasing admissions by 20%. He also has raised funds for Malvern Swim Association, La Salle High School, and La Salle University.

Prior to his nonprofit leadership and development roles, Geoff served as Sales Manager and Sales Associate, as well as Owner- Operator, in the real estate industry. From 1975 to 2010, Geoff worked in various positions for Roach Brothers Realtors (now Berkshire- Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors), including managing both the West Chester and Malvern Sales Offices with record sales results totaling in excess of $350MM. During this time, Geoff also spent 8 years managing his own real estate company, Geoffrey A. Meyer Real Estate, with annual sales in excess of $10MM.

Access to aquatic programming from an early age was life-changing for Geoff, spurring his dedication to create similar opportunities through PhilAquatics for the Philadelphia region. Geoff began swimming at age 8, becoming a team member with the Vesper Swim Team, Philadelphia Athletic Club, La Salle High School, and ultimately La Salle University where he earned a full scholarship for swimming. After leaving swimming for many years to raise 3 children and pursue his real estate career, Geoff got back in the water as a Masters Swimmer in 2005 and continues in that capacity today.

Michael D. Morgan, Board Chair

Mike brings an extraordinary passion for leadership, business development, community, and service. He believes swimming is a skill that not only can save your life, but also can serve as a remarkable sport for life.

Mike graduated from the University of Virginia (UVA) McIntire School of Commerce with a B.S. in Commerce in 1991 and a M.S. in Management Information Systems in 1992. He enjoyed a successful career in business and consulting with Andersen Consulting / Accenture in Communications & High Tech throughout the U.S. and internationally, before leaving the industry for new family and community adventures.

A swimmer since childhood, Mike got an early start as a summer swim coach while in high school. At UVA, Mike played club water polo for 1 year and was a walk-on varsity swimmer in sprint freestyle and butterfly for 4 years. He was a United States Swimming (USS) Senior National qualifier and finalist, and missed 1992 United States Olympic Trials by .01 seconds. Today, he swims USA Swimming Masters.

Now a stay-at-home dad, community volunteer, and coach, Mike channels his talents to furthering the missions of 6 nonprofit boards focused on adult and youth leadership and mentoring, access, and opportunity. He also has coached summer league, high school, and USA Swimming, and has received the honors of “Volunteer of the Year” and “Coach of the Year”. Mike and his wife, Jen, have 2 sons who swim and play water polo and golf.

Stephanie Graaf, Board Vice Chair

Stephanie brings 23 years of clinical experience as a Physical Therapist, practicing across the continuums of healthcare and education, with individuals ages birth to eldercare. Through her work and advocacy, Stephanie works to support and empower individuals with varied abilities and neurodiversity.

Currently, Stephanie works as an Early Intervention Evaluator and Therapist for Delaware County, as well as serving as a clinical consultant and maintaining her own private practice. She brings a contemporary, evidenced based, and collaborative approach to her practice, aligning with the needs and strengths of her client, whether an individual and/or organization. Through her work, and her own lifelong passion for sports and fitness, she understands the meaningful, life-enhancing benefits that aquatics can have on individuals of all ages, and the particular importance of access to aquatic programming for those from economically disadvantaged communities.

Stephanie is an active volunteer in her community, schools, and church, and previously served as the founder and president of a nonprofit education advocacy group for Haverford School District. As a former collegiate lacrosse player at Penn State, she prioritizes physical and mental health and wellness and continues to challenge herself by pursuing new athletic interests like swimming, pickleball, and perhaps golf one day! She is the proud mother of two swimmers and resides with her family in Havertown, PA.

Frank Geraci, Board Secretary

Frank is a seasoned business executive with 11+ years of entrepreneurship, operations, and staff leadership across sectors. Currently serving as President of Cronos Consulting, Frank sets the overall strategic vision and collaborates with clients to drive growth and profitability.

As president of two companies operating in the consulting and software development spaces, he has demonstrated the natural ability to develop growth-oriented strategies, and establish and nurture productive relationships. Frank utilizes effective interpersonal and communication skills negotiation skills, business acumen, systems analysis, project management, and resource management to support efficiency and maximum returns.

Stephen Dougherty, Board Treasurer

Steve is the Finance Director for Airmatic, an industrial distributor headquartered in Malvern, PA. In his 50 years with the company, he has held a number of positions from Customer Service Rep to Accounting Manager to Finance Director.

Growing up in Bensalem, PA, Steve was fortunate to begin swimming as a youth at the Trenton YMCA, the Abington YMCA, and the Philadelphia Aquatic Club. He attended LaSalle College High School (1969) and then Southern Illinois University- Carbondale (1973) where he achieved High School All American and College All-State status. During his high school years, he was coached by Don Sonia at PAC and at SIU by Ray Essick. Steve was inducted into the LaSalle College High School Hall of Athletics in 2015.

Today, Steve is still involved in Masters Swimming. He is the former Treasurer and current Vice-Chair for the Delaware Valley LMSC and has been a delegate to the Annual USMS Convention. Steve is also the Club Rep and Treasurer for Colonials 1776, his local Masters Swim Team. Having benefited greatly from aquatic opportunities at a young age, Steve is deeply committed to developing similar opportunities and access to aquatic programming for the local community and region. Steve resides in Chester Springs, PA.

Allison Therwhanger, Board Member

An avid swimmer throughout her entire life, Allison passionately advocates for the numerous benefits that swimming offers. In her view, swimming is not just a sport but a lifelong activity that contributes to both physical and mental well-being. Believing that swimming is a fundamental skill for safety, Allison emphasizes its importance and encourages everyone to learn and feel comfortable in the water.

Having started swimming competitively before the age of 5, Allison excelled in events such as the 200 IM, 200 Free, and 500 Free throughout her high school years. As an adult, she continued her swimming journey by joining Masters Swim teams and adapting to pool availability during extensive travels for work in various cities and countries. Seeing firsthand the disparities in pool access in cities such as Philadelphia, she advocates for the necessity of more widespread access to pools.

Amid the challenges posed by COVID, Allison discovered a new passion for Open Water Swimming. As a Colorado native, she now eagerly participates in 5K swims each summer in the breathtaking Colorado Mountains, with her favorite being the Castle 5K swim at Wellington Lake. At 8000 feet above sea level, it is one of the highest organized swims in the country.

Allison holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, a Masters in Business (Accounting), and is a CPA, with a rewarding 32-year career in healthcare manufacturing. Currently serving as the Vice President of Innovia – Corporate Sales and serving as Volunteer Chair of Professional Women in Healthcare, she continues to balance her professional success with her love for swimming, finding pools in diverse locations such as Germany, Belgium, and Austria, in addition to a wide variety of cities across the United States.

Allison firmly believes swimming is a personal journey that creates a unique relationship between the swimmer and the water. Swimming teaches self-reliance, confidence, self-motivation, and personal accountability, but also helps foster a sense of community, camaraderie, and teamwork. Considering the added mental and physical benefits swimming offers, swimming greatly enhances people’s enjoyment of life!

Dan Cooke, Board Member

Dan has worked in consulting and professional services for over 20 years. He currently serves as President and CEO of Intellis after starting his own healthcare company, HealthMedPharma, in 2012. He began his career in 1995 in sales leadership with Aerotek, an Allegis Group Company, before continuing with other industries including environmental, engineering, accounting, finance, financial services, and healthcare.

Dan grew up in Easton, PA and has been an avid swimmer all his life. Over the years, he has participated in summer swim leagues, YMCA and USA swimming programs, as well as high school and Division II NCAA collegiate swimming. Dan was a NISCA All- American for Easton Area High School and was inducted into the Wall of Fame in 2017. After high school, Dan went on to swim for Shippensburg University, where he was a member of two PSAC Conference Championship teams, winning two consecutive titles in a row. Dan can often be found swimming laps in the early morning at Lifetime Fitness.

Dan is a founder of the passionate effort to meet the demand of lack of access to aquatic programming and “learn to swim” programs, aquatic therapy, training and competitive pool space for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo in the Greater Philadelphia region.

Kire Filipovski, Board Member

Kire is Founder of Optimus Meta. Previously, Kire worked as a Cloud Platform Architect at Oracle, and earlier for Walmart, designing computing platforms that are transforming the world’s largest company into a digital business. He joined Walmart in 2013 as part of the OneOps acquisition, a company which he co-founded in 2011. Prior to that, he held various software engineering leadership roles at eBay, Half.com, and Infonautics.

Kire is a graduate of Villanova University ’96 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. While at Villanova, Kire was an NCAA All-American and co-captain of the men’s swim team. In addition to his outstanding collegiate achievements, Kire was a long-time member of the Macedonian national swim team representing the country in two Olympic Games‒Barcelona ’92 and Atlanta ’96‒as well as many other top-level competitions.

Kire is deeply committed to creating greater access to aquatic programming for the local community and region at all levels, opening doors to the joys and benefits of aquatics. An active swim dad, Kire enjoys spending many weekends watching his children compete for the Phoenixville YMCA.

Jeremy Gross, Board Member

With an extensive background in swimming, Jeremy believes the joy, camaraderie, and life- changing experiences gained at all levels of swimming should be available to everyone, from learn-to-swim, through high school, college, elite international competition, and well beyond into adulthood. He became involved with PhilAquatics after seeing the need for pool space in the Philadelphia area for training and competition across all age groups, enriching lives for all ages and abilities.

Jeremy is a graduate of Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Civil Engineering. After working as a Structural Engineer for 5 years and obtaining his Professional Structural Engineer License, Jeremy spend the next 25 years in various aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, initially on the construction, commissioning, and validation of large manufacturing facilities, and then focusing on manufacturing and product strategy for Pfizer, Takeda, and now with CSL Behring in King of Prussia, PA.

Jeremy’s competitive swimming career started in High School in Newton, MA where he swam and played water polo. Jeremy was then recruited to Bucknell University for both water polo and swimming, winning 8 individual Patriot League titles across the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly. Jeremy was honored as the Patriot League Co-Swimmer of the Meet in both 1992 and 1993, and he went on to win ECAC championships in the 100 fly and 100 free in 1992, and in the 50 and 100 free in 1993. He set meet records in both events as a senior. In 2008, Jeremy was inducted into the Bucknell University Hall of Fame. After Bucknell, he swam for the Ft. Lauderdale Swim Team, finishing 7th at the 1993 USA Swimming Spring National Championship Meet in the 50 meter freestyle, ranking him 50th in the world that year. Jeremy has been active in US Masters Swimming (USMS) since 2004, both as a competitor and a volunteer. He is currently the Chair of the Delaware Valley Local Masters Swimming Committee and the Vice-Chair of the USMS Colonies Zone.