Executive Committee
team

Brian Gisel (CAN)

Vice President

team

Volker Bernardi (GER)

Secretary General, non-voting

Robert Rauch (USA)

President

Board member: 1988-1997, 2006-present
Current term ends: 2025

Robert “Nob” Rauch was an active Ultimate player from 1976 to 1994 and has been involved in positions of leadership in flying disc (frisbee) sports since 1987. He was the National Director/Executive Director of the Ultimate Players Association (the UPA, now USA Ultimate) from 1988 to 1990 and was chairman of the UPA’s Executive Committee in 1991-1992. He has also served as president of the World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) from 1992 to 1994 and from 2011 to the present, and as Chair of its Ultimate Committee from 1988 to 1992. As an athlete playing on Ultimate teams in Chicago, Boston, and New York, Rauch won six US National Championships and five World Championships, and he was elected to the Ultimate Hall of Fame in 2006. He also was a contributing author for the book “Ultimate: The First Five Decades” for Volume 1, published in December 2005, and Volume 2 in January 2019. A long-time New Yorker, Rauch retired this year from a 43-year career in finance and investment banking specializing in debt restructurings in global emerging markets and is currently pursuing a PhD in Sport Management from the Deutsche Sport Hochschule Köln in Germany. He received his bachelor’s degree in political economy from Williams College and master’s degree in finance and international business from the Kellogg School of Northwestern University. Rauch is married to former Ultimate player Katie Shields Rauch and has three adult children.

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Brian Gisel (CAN)

Vice President

Board member: 2002-2007, 2009-present
Current term ends: 2021

Brian has been a WFDF board member since 2009 and previously from 2002-2007, serving as the Ultimate Committee Chair from 2004-2007. He was tournament director of the 2008 World Ultimate and Guts Championships and the 1997 World Ultimate Club Championships and has run several Canadian National Championships. He was the Vancouver Ultimate League Board President from 2009-2012 and has also served on the Ultimate Canada board. Brian is currently the General Manager of BC Ultimate. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Economics and Political Science.

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Kate Bergeron (USA)

Treasurer

Board member: 2014-present
Current term ends: 2021

Kate rejoined the Board as WFDF Treasurer in 2014, having held this position previously from 2008 through the end of 2012. She served as a WFDF board member since 2007 and has held numerous functions at the Ultimate Players Association (now USA Ultimate) including serving as its President from 2002 to 2004. Kate has worked as a coach for several Women’s Ultimate teams and recently won the Silver medal at 2014 World Ultimate Club Championships in the Women’s Masters division with Godiva. Kate is the Vice President, Hardware Engineering for Apple Inc. in Cupertino, CA. She has and an Executive MBA and BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Responsibilities Include:

  • Serve as a member of the Executive Committee (with a monthly conference call), involving strategic definition and review of day-to-day activities of Executive Director
  • Chair Standing Finance Committee
  • Develop Budget
  • Propose membership fees
  • Monitor the collection of WFDF receivables
  • Supervise accounting
  • Supervise financial reporting and distribute a quaterly financial report to the Board
  • Prepare WFDF annual financial report for Congress
  • Authorize paying of WFDF bills
  • Ensure that WFDF obligations to the relevant tax authorities are met
  • Research legal/liability issues
  • serve on the Working Committee and shall act as the treasurer and controller of WFDF. (by-laws)
  • have the care and custody of all the funds and securities of WFDF. (by-laws)
  • deposit all such funds in the name of WFDF in such bank or trust company as the Board of Directors may elect. (by-laws)
  • keep an account of all monies received and expended for use of WFDF, (by-laws)
  • sign all checks, drafts, notes and orders for the payment of money authorized by the Board of Directors. (by-laws)
  • also negotiate all loans and/or other financial transactions on behalf of WFDF at the direction of the Board. (by-laws)
  • maintain an up-to-date list of members in good standing,
  • present a report on the financial affairs of WFDF to the annual meetings of the Congress and the Board of Directors, (by-laws)
  • be responsible for the filing of all tax returns (if any) as may be required from time to time. (by-laws)
  • prepare a report to the membership to be published in the newsletter each year. (by-laws)
  • The Board may, in its sole discretion, authorize the Treasurer to make such payments as may be customary and normal in the ordinary course of business; all extraordinary disbursements must be approved by the Working Committee, subject to the discretion of the Board. (by-laws)
  • Read all correspondence on wfdf-executive mailing list
  • Board member tasks

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Thomas Griesbaum (GER)

Secretary

Board member: 2012-present
Current term ends: 2022

Thomas has been involved with disc sports since 1981, beginning with freestyle, disc golf and field events and later with Ultimate. He served as a WFDF board member from 2001-2006 and rejoined as Secretary in 2011. He has been President of the European Flying Disc Federation since 1990 and was a co-founder of Deutscher Frisbeesport-Verband for which he served as President from 1989-2000. He organized the first Ultimate exhibition in the World Games in 1989 and served as WFDF’s technical delegate at the 2005 World Games. Thomas is currently a staff member of the Faculty of Informatics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and holds a Dipl.-Ing. degree.

Responsibilities Include:

  • Serve as a member of the Executive Committee (with a monthly conference call), involving strategic definition and review of day-to-day activities of Executive Director
  • Supervise and develop membership services
  • Oversee organization of annual Congress (give notice and call for agenda items, collect and distribute Congress materials)
  • Ensure minutes are taken at meetings of the Executive Committee, Board, and Congress (oversee Executive Director), obtain revisions and approvals, and distribute
  • The Secretary shall have the duty to see that all notices are duly given in accordance with the provisions of the Bylaws or as required by law, shall keep the minutes of the meetings of the Board of Directors and the Congress in a book or books provided for such purposes, and shall maintain a file of such other books and papers of WFDF as the Board of Directors may direct. (by-laws)
  • The Secretary shall prepare, under the direction of the Board of Directors, periodic reports as may be required under state law. (by-laws)
  • Read all correspondence on wfdf-executive mailing list
  • Board member tasks

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Volker Bernardi (GER)

Secretary General, non-voting

WFDF staff member since 2011
Current term ends: Not an elected position

Volker Bernardi has been the Executive Director of WFDF since 2011. He was educated as a sports lawyer and has been serving as Senior International Sports Administrator and Consultant for a period of more than 21 years supporting the development of several national and international Sports Federations. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the International World Games Association (IWGA). He is a former Administrative Director of the International Canoe Federation and his professional stages include the position of Sports Coordinator for High competitive sports, national/international sports coordination with the Ministry of the interior affairs/sports Saarland. He has also represented several cases in front of the International Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS). Bernardi holds a MEMOS Master degree (Executive Master of Sports Organisation Management) from the University Claude Bernard Lyon (France). He graduated from first and second state examintation as lawyer from the University of the Saarland, Saarbrücken.

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