2024 Youth Sports Summit

Kenneth Edmonds serves as Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the NFL. In this capacity, he is responsible for a range of legislative and public policy issues impacting the league, including player health and safety, media and telecommunications, stadium security (including flyover ban), and youth sports. Ken also serves as the lead liaison with key Congressional Committees and Member Organizations, such as the Congressional Youth Sports Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus. Prior to joining the league, Ken worked for more than 12 years on Capitol Hill, including as chief of staff and press secretary for a senior Democratic member on the House Committee on Appropriations. He serves on the Board of Directors of a number of Washington, D.C.-area nonprofit organizations, including the Congressional Football Game for Charity, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, and the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation.  Ken was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island and is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Jessica is a Registered Dietitian with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Maryland – College Park. As the National Vice President of Community Health for the American Heart Association, she leads the community health strategy and works with teams across the country to improve nutrition security, reduce chronic disease, and drive health equity. Prior to joining the AHA, Jessica directed the Kids Safe and Healthful Foods Project - a joint initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - where she led research, communications, and advocacy work focused on child nutrition. Jessica’s other past work includes serving as the National Director of the Healthy Schools Program for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, the first Executive Director of the Campaign to End Obesity, the Director of Obesity Initiatives for the American Heart Association, the Manager of National Nutrition policy for the American Academy of Dietetics, a Health Policy Fellow for Senator Jeff Bingaman, and a pediatric nutrition therapist at DuPont Hospital for Children. 

Katherine Bryant graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in educational counseling.  She was a school counselor for 5 years before joining The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi as the director of the high school tobacco program, the state youth advocacy board, and wrote the state high school tobacco education curriculum.  After leaving The Partnership, she joined the American Heart Association as the state government relations director.  Since joining the AHA, Katherine has worked on a broad spectrum of issues through public policy– including tobacco control, acute systems of care, physical activity, healthy food financing and emergency cardiovascular care. Since 2019, she has had the roll of National Sr. Advocacy Consultant with the AHA where she has provided consultation and policy guidance to community, state, and federal advocacy staff on public policy issues having to do with tobacco, Chain of Survival and Quality Acute Systems of Care, but is now solely concentrating on policy issues that fall under chain of survival and Nation of Lifesavers.