Our Staff

DRowan@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2305

Dave Rowan joined BLOCS in September 2019 as the Chief Executive Officer. Rowan has over 30 years of experience in the Sports and Entertainment industries. Most recently, Rowan served as Chief Operating Officer of the National Lacrosse League (2016-2019), and previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of the Philadelphia Union (2010-2016).

Notably, Rowan made his mark as Vice President of Corporate Sales and Service for the Eagles in 1998 and played a major role in closing one of the largest stadium naming rights deals in NFL history with Lincoln Financial Group, as well as the largest deal for a team practice facility with NovaCare Rehabilitation. His department continued to thrive during the inaugural season of Lincoln Financial Field, establishing the Eagles as one of the top revenue-producing teams in the NFL.

Rowan spent three seasons as the Director of Corporate Sales for the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he helped to develop the corporate sales plan for the team in its first year of existence. Rowan’s Staff quickly established the Jaguars as the model for future NFL Expansion in revenue generation and event creation. Rowan developed the Jaguars Training Camp as a business model that is now in place for most NFL teams.

The 1984 Penn State graduate has also held esteemed positions with the Philadelphia Phillies, Spectacor Management Group and CBS. Rowan, a Conshohocken, PA resident, and his wife, Celeste, have four children, Courtney, Drew, Maggie and Kylie.

taicher@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2306

Since 2016, Ted Aicher has served as BLOCS’ Chief Financial Officer, where he is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s corporate finance function. A key member of the BLOCS Executive Management team, Aicher was instrumental in spearheading the program’s expansive growth, which now provides over 16,000 partial tuition scholarships to Philadelphia-area families in need.

kharvey@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2307

Kathleen Harvey joined BLOCS in 2013 as Senior Financial Analyst responsible for the organization’s accounts payable/receivable, financial and fund reporting, audit preparation, as well as handling deposits, payment processing and bank reconciliations, and was promoted to Controller in September 2020.

Harvey’s ‘can-do’ attitude and willingness to take on increased executive leadership of daily finance and accounting operations, rendered her a prime candidate for promotion to Controller. In her new role, Harvey will manage the financial aspects of the tax credit program’s special purpose entities, (LLC’s) as well as leading the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) Economically Disadvantaged Schools program; projects for which she has already assumed responsibility and in which she has excelled.

Kathleen led the Board of Directors’ Scholarship Committee through the process to remove the “red tape” associated with the organization’s Emergency Scholarship Fund (ESF), to process and fulfill more than 2,200 emergency scholarships requested in only a few months, in response to COVID-19 related hardships. This demand exponentially eclipses the previous number of scholarship requests — less than 200 for the entire year. She will also serve as the team’s primary contact for the firm appointed to handle the annual audit.

With nearly thirty years of experience in corporate accounting and finance in healthcare, industrial services and insurance industries, Kathleen specializes in the development of detailed reporting systems and bookkeeping, allowing the organization to properly forecast, analyze and track all revenue and expenses. Having managed the financial and human resource aspects of various companies over the course of her career, her skills lie in working both independently as well as collaborating with internal and external constituents to increase productivity and improve the company’s overall operating efficiencies.

Her previous roles included bookkeeping, office manager and Controller for Pyramed Health Systems, Bookminders, Meehan Construction Services, Personal Health Care, The Gleason Agency, Ceco Filters and Amerigas.

Harvey is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (1991). She and her husband Matt reside in King of Prussia, PA with their two children, Madalyn (18) and Matthew (16).

jdowney@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2304

jgibson@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2303

kthornton@BLOCS.org
(484) 704-2301

Katie Rose Thornton joined the BLOCS team as Director of Marketing & Communications in January 2020. In her role, Thornton will develop a mission-based comprehensive Marketing and Communications Plan, inclusive of all social/digital and public/community relations strategies and tactics. Thornton will also spearhead all the planning and execution of special events, namely the Annual Gala.

Katie Rose brings extensive experience in strategic marketing communications, development and fundraising in higher education, professional sports and collegiate athletics. Her expertise lies in working collaboratively across channels, at all levels within an organization, both internally and externally. She has demonstrated success in every facet of external operations, namely revenue generation. As a former athlete, her competitive mindset fuels her desire to set, communicate and achieve buy-in around strategic goals.

From 2017-2019, Thornton served as the Vice President, Strategy & Account Management for POV Sports Marketing where her team developed sports sponsorship strategy for: Stroehmann, Firstrust Bank and Wawa. Thornton held marketing and development positions with Villanova University and Miami University (OH); as well as account management roles with Cramer-Krasselt, LevLane Advertising and J. Walter Thompson, helping to manage the regional advertising plans for brands including Porsche, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, KFC & Taco Bell. Thornton began her career as a member of the corporate service and sales team with the Philadelphia Eagles, after which she was Executive Assistant for former Eagle Wide Receiver Terrell Owens.

In the spring of 2019, Thornton was named the first female President of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Delaware County Chapter as well as Executive Vice President overseeing the Eastern PA Region Chapters. In her role as President, she manages all fundraising, marketing and special events for the chapter, leading a board of twenty-two directors.

Thornton is a 2003 graduate and former Division I field hockey player at Columbia University in New York and resides in Newtown Square, PA.

JHoey@BLOCS.org 
(484) 704-2308

Joseph Hoey joined the BLOCS team full-time in June of 2018 as Staff Accountant and System Administrator after serving as an intern in the finance department (2017-2018). In September 2020, Joe was promoted to his current position as Development & Business Analyst as a result of having emerged as a self-starter, quick to learn, develop and implement new reporting systems and technologies which are critical for both the team’s accounting and business development efforts.

Under little staff supervision, Hoey self-trained on all aspects of the company’s Salesforce CRM, resulting in the development of an entirely new and timely tax credit reporting system. His leadership in educating himself on all aspects of the EITC/OSTC programs has qualified Hoey as a critical member of the business development team as well, fielding and answering donor questions regarding tax credits, while also assuming his own portfolio of corporate donors.

On the finance and accounting side, Hoey now leads the auditing process of the Tax Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), a cumbersome process in which Hoey has flourished – having successfully completed the preparation and processing of more than 1,000 donor tax forms with zero errors.

Joe now assists Kathleen Harvey with daily reconciliations between the CRM and General Ledger systems, ensuring operational efficiencies. This process includes the reconciliation of thousands of donor designations which are critical to BLOCS’ tax credit award process.

A 2018 graduate of Cabrini University, Hoey was a 4-year starting defenseman for the Cavaliers lacrosse team. In 2015, Hoey was honored as the All-Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) Rookie of the Year. Over the course of his career as a student-athlete at Cabrini, Hoey earned All-CSAC First Team (3x), All-CSAC Second Team, IMLCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region Honorable Mention, USILA Honorable Mention All-America (2x) and USILA Scholar All-America honors.

Hoey returned to his alma mater, Springfield (Delco) High School in October 2018, to serve as an assistant boys’ lacrosse coach and resides in Springfield, PA.

lscheuerle@blocs.org
(484) 704-2302

Laura Scheuerle was named Administrative Assistant in April 2021. Scheuerle, (pronounced “Shirley”), will handle all administrative support for the CEO & CFO, special project management and marketing support.

Scheuerle’s career spans thirty years in executive event management, consulting, and sales. Her expertise lies in planning and executing corporate networking events, Board of Directors meetings, program development, corporate communications, sales and marketing, negotiation and providing project management oversight to affiliate organizations.

Prior to joining the BLOCS team, Laura held positions with the CEO Alliance of Philadelphia, Elizabeth Maar Boutique, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), KYW Newsradio 1060AM, Eagle 106.1FM and Smooth Jazz WJJZ.; as well as Volunteer positions as Mother’s Club President of St. Joseph’s Prep and Women’s Committee member with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Scheuerle is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She and her husband reside in Gladwyne, PA. Laura, a proud mother to four boys, enjoys spending time at her home in Longport, NJ.