THE UPLIFT TEAM
Ben Pitassi, Co-Founder
Ben Pitassi grew up the oldest son of three in a household where both parents were paramedics. In 2001, at the age of 17, Ben’s Grandfather (Papa Rodger) brought he and his younger brother Andrew to a viewing of the Warren Miller ski film, Cold Fusion. During a cameo BASE jumping scene Ben leaned forward in his seat completely captivated by what he was witnessing, out of the corner of his eye he saw his brother Andrew doing the same. They made eye contact and a silent agreement was struck to become BASE jumpers and from there, an obsession with air sports was born. In 2002 Ben joined the military and underwent medic training. He has been on active duty ever since. His passions include people in general, his wife Jen, his teammates and friends, wingsuit BASE jumping, speed wings, skydiving, paragliding (with or without a motor), laughing when friends fall down before he knows if they’re hurt or not and after flight beers complete with story time and video debrief.Blake Robinson, Co-Founder
Blake Robinson is an operations specialist in aviation, primarily in the field of skydiving. He has spent the last 20 years managing and growing parachute centers. His talents extend beyond simply jumping out of airplanes – in addition to instruction and rigging, he also had to become adept at marketing, business analytics, and public relations. He started flying parachutes down mountains with skis on his feet back in the 90s and later decided to take up paragliding as well. In addition to skydiving and paragliding, he is an avid fly fisherman, mt biker, skier, and storyteller.Josh Higgins, Board Member
Josh is a California native and a founding agent of Compass Real Estates in La Jolla. As a fourth generation ARMY Veteran and multi rated Free Fall Instructor, Josh has logged over 4,000 skydives (a handful of B.A.S.E jumps and a few Speed Wing Flights) which has kept him increasingly close to the Active Duty & Veteran military community. Josh’s personal and professional life are ever intertwined having endured the loss of many good friends / clients while witnessing the scars of war. Josh brings years of relationship building and investment strategy to The Uplift Union as he looks to grow the organization and give back to our Veterans. Josh’s additional obsessions are his wife Kathryn and two children Henry & Harper, surfing, skiing and traveling.
Ben Betz, CFO
A financial manager with a passion for helping veterans. As a former Non Commissioned Officer, Ben has expertise in leading teams, advising, directing complex scenarios, mentoring junior personnel, and leadership in vague circumstances. Impeccable teaching and presentation skills and an expert at integrating data from divergent sources. Driven by opportunities to lead new initiatives and revamp existing practices. A dynamic leader with the ability to inspire all team members.Linda Rangel, Board Member
Linda Rangel Maghy has worked as an attorney with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP since 2013. Prior to her placement with Manatt, she worked at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in San Francisco, California. Linda is also the founder of Voxerity Apparel, SPC, a social purpose athletic apparel company that promotes mental health and wellness. Linda graduated summa cum laude from San Diego State University with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration – Finance and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford Law School.
Lin used to be a skydiver but gave that nonsense up to be there for her beautiful daughter, Maddy Sue. Eventually though, the Uplift Team is going to coherence her into paragliding. Actually, with all the material we have dating back to the sixth grade, maybe a better term would be blackmail?
Nick Greece, Board Member
Nick Greece has been flying paragliders for 18 years with over 5000 flights in 34 countries. He’s a two time US National Champion (2014, 2018), 3 time US Team Member (2014, 2016, 2019), Paragliding World Cup America’s Champion (2013), US Open Distance Record Holder (261 miles), and taught and signed off the first two wheeled pilots in US. Nick edits the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine and is vice president of the Cloudbase Foundation which is a non-profit that works with communities where we fly. He’s also an ambassador for KEEN footwear, Ozone Paragliders, and KAVU Clothing.Matt Gerdes, Board Member
Matt Gerdes has worked with Ozone Paragliders since 2004 in marketing, distribution, and project management. He is the founder of Squirrel LLC, a leading manufacturer of wingsuits and BASE jumping equipment, and is the author of the Great Book of BASE. In the past two decades Matt has logged over 2000 skydives, 1200 BASE jumps, and 1600 speed-wing flights, with zero injuries.Dr. Robert Koffman, Board Member
