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Mission Statement | Board of Directors | Staff | Demographics

Staff

Heather Wasek-Kurstin – Interim Executive Director
Heather Kurstin has been with the Miami-Dade Sports Commission since June 14, 2004

Prior to joining the Sports Commission, Heather was the Director of Buyer Relations & Marketing for The Super Show®, the largest sports products trade show in the country dedicated to the growth of sports and fitness.  Heather began her career with The Super Show as Special Projects Manager in October of 2000. Working with companies such as Under Armour, Reebok, Nike, Wilson, Spalding, The Sports Authority, and Foot Locker Inc., her marketing and event management experience spread across many facets of the trade show including but not limited to: attendee marketing and promotional programs, the 2001 Sports Product of the Year Competition, the World of Sports Innovation Nike Launch Party, the Red Hot Rewards Program, and Focus on the Fundamentals.

Heather is responsible for all events bid on and hosted by the MDSC in addition to all MDSC marketing, promotional and media efforts. Her event experience with the MDSC includes but is not limited to the FHSAA Football Finals, Miami-Dade Senior Games, the US Fencing Summer Nationals, and the 2006 Florida Sunshine State Games.

Heather is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami. She has received a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Sports Management from Florida Atlantic University. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Florida State University.

Elizabeth Gunn – Director of Media and Community Relations
Elizabeth Gunn joined the Miami-Dade Sports Commission in October of 2007 as Administrative Coordinator, and later assumed the role of Director of Media and Community Relations.

Elizabeth is responsible for actively exposing all MDSC events to the local media and establishing relationships between the MDSC and the Miami community. Her event experience with the MDSC includes, but is not limited to, Miami’s 2022 FIFA World Cup bid, the 2009 NCAA Div. I Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds, and the 2009 USA Volleyball Pan American Championships.

Prior to joining the Sports Commission, Elizabeth worked for the Baltimore Orioles as Fan Services Representative at the spring training home of the Orioles, Fort Lauderdale Stadium.  She was responsible for coordinating season and group ticket sales with the Box Office Manager, promoting special event days, and ensuring retention and overall growth of the Orioles south Florida fan base.  While with the Orioles, her duties expanded into a larger role of the overall operation of the facility, working closely with the Florida Operations Manager to execute day-to-day operations.  Beyond baseball operations at the stadium, Elizabeth assisted in bringing outside events to Fort Lauderdale Stadium, including the Broward County Fair. She has also held positions at the TD Banknorth Garden and with the Miami Dolphins.

Elizabeth is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, where she received her Master’s degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Sport Management. She received her undergraduate degree from Bryant College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Craig Stedman – Director of Business Development 
Craig Stedman started working with the Miami-Dade Sports Commission in October of 2010.

Prior to joining the Sports Commission, Craig was the Vice President of Ticket Sales for the Texas Legends, a new NBA D-League team in Frisco, TX. Craig began his 7 year career in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers as an Account Executive of ticket sales. After a successful 10 month period, Craig then accepted a senior level ticket sales role with the Miami HEAT as an Account Manager. While with the HEAT, Craig experienced great success selling season tickets, partial plans, group tickets, fan experience packages, and event tickets to local businesses and clients. In 2008, Craig was then promoted to Inside Sales Manager where he was responsible for the recruiting, hiring, training, and development of the largest Inside Sales department in the NBA. His experience in running the day-to-day operations of a sales department then led him to the Texas Legends where he was responsible for creating the infrastructure, implementing policies and procedures, and hiring and managing the sales department for a start-up basketball franchise.

Craig is responsible for all business development and partnership opportunities with the MDSC in addition to all MDSC marketing and promotional efforts in regards to event tickets.

Craig received his Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology, from Indiana University with an emphasis on Sport-Communications.

Carla Colato – Director of Marketing – Promotions 
Carla Colato Joined the Miami-Dade Sports Commission in October of 2010 as a Marketing Director. Carla is responsible for all promotional programs and events, ensuring retention and overall growth for sporting events MDSC oversees.

Prior to joining the Sports Commission Carla worked as a Brand Marketing Associate at Pirate Brands, Honest Tea and Vita Coco. She was responsible for implementing PR efforts, coordinating events, merchandising and executing marketing plans to maximize brand awareness. While working in the Consumer Goods Industry she also sought partnerships with media networks, local business sponsorships and community involvement.

Carla received her Bachelor’s degree from Florida International University.

Claudia Drago – Communications Director 
Claudia Drago joined the Miami-Dade Sports Commission in October 2010 as a Marketing Director. Her position manages all MarCom related, creative and production-related jobs. She is also responsible for the Social Media and Web strategy.

Prior to moving to the USA, she worked for Reader’s Digest Argentina and Sedeco Networks/Infonet (now BT Alliance) in Buenos Aires. While at Sedeco Networks, she had the opportunity to create branding initiatives and worked closely with Infonet HQs to manage the marketing communications and PR strategy in Argentina. She coordinated Sedeco Networks participation in Telecom Americas and organized seminars and workshops for the IT community.  

In 2005 Claudia moved to USA to join Body Up Fitness as a Sales Manager. Responsible for all aspects of the business for the Flagship store in Miami, she assisted in the e-commerce website development and coordinated Body Up participation in trade shows and events in order to build brand awareness within the fitness community.

Claudia holds a Bachelor degree in Communications with a specialization in Institutional Communications from the Journalism School at the National University of La Plata inArgentina.

Vanessa Faedo – Office Manager 
Vanessa Faedo joined the Miami-Dade Sports Commission in March of 2011 as the Office Manager. Vanessa manages all of day to day business operations of the Sports Commission and also serves as the volunteer coordinator during events. Prior to joining the Miami-Dade Sports Commission Vanessa worked as the Operations Manager for Centrust Group of Companies for over 5 years. She was responsible for the overall administrative operations of multiple companies, the supervision and management of several projects sites as well as the bookkeeping for the Group. While at Centrust, she assisted in developing new policy and procedures, maintained projects on schedule and trained staff. Vanessa received her Bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Florida International University.