Meet the board.
Vaughn Bigelow, Sr.
Vaughn currently serves as the Vice President of Manufacturing for a start-up business developing carbon-free concrete and other building materials, Prometheus Materials. He graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in Civil Engineering and a BA in Social Relations in 1997. He was a recruited Division I swimmer who played water polo on the club team. After college, Vaughn went into the construction industry, working on large commercial and heavy civil construction projects nationwide. In late 2001, he moved back to his home state of Colorado to join a small manufacturing company, where he was awarded multiple US patents prior to landing in his current position.
Vaughn is also an active board and committee member of multiple corporate and partnership organizations, offering particular insight into his field of expertise.
Vaughn resides in Broomfield, CO, with his wife, Meghan, and two sons, Cooper and Asa. Vaughn and Meghan have created Big Waves Foundation Inc. in memory of their oldest son, Vaughn Jr., who was lost in June of 2018 to a violent gun crime.
Ashley Wilkinson
Ashley is the triathlon coach at Lifetime Fitness in Westminster. She enjoys coaching the athletes as well as competing in races herself. Ashley has completed 2 full-Ironman triathlons and 9 half-Ironman triathlons. She was an athlete through college; so continuing to stay active after graduation was a necessity for her. Her favorite thing about sports and coaching is pushing physical and mental boundaries to achieve goals that grow us as people. Ashley believes that sports help everyone, and especially kids, learn important life skills.
She played multiple sports throughout her youth and learned lasting lessons regarding how to handle winning with grace and humility as well as losing with dignity, knowing she did her best. She learned about how to work with a team, how to take instruction (and criticism) from coaches, and self-talk to work through the demons of self-doubt.
Ashley Wilkinson resides in Westminster, Colorado, with her husband, Scott, and two children, Maddie and Will. She is originally from Iowa and moved to Colorado in 2003 after graduating from Simpson College with her BA in Physical Education and Wellness.
Ashley is extremely proud and honored to be working for Big Waves to help young athletes achieve their goals and dreams through the scholarship program as well as other philanthropic avenues that Big Waves explores.
Joseph Perrotto, III
Joseph is a Principal of Burden Incorporated and its Chief Financial Officer. He is also a licensed Colorado Real Estate Broker. Joseph graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Union College in Schenectady, NY in 1995. He received his MBA from Northeastern University’s Graduate School of Business Administration in 2000. Over the past 24 years, Joseph has worked in finance in a variety of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1,000 service-related companies.
In the 10 years prior to joining Burden Incorporated, he managed, led, and fiscally turned around organizations within the healthcare industry in Massachusetts and Florida through his positions as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance. Joseph is a member of the Board of Directors of the Longmont Downtown Development Authority.
Joseph resides in Broomfield, CO with his wife Emily, son William, and daughter Elena. Both of his children are active participants in the Rocky Mountain Neptune’s Water Polo Club in the North Denver metro area. Big Waves will allow Water Polo to thrive in Colorado beyond the junior high level.
Joseph’s interests include participating in and training for Ironman and Half Ironman races, flying a variety of different aircraft, sailing/boating, and skiing.
Joseph Youngblood, III
Joe is a Principal of New Lazy, Inc., a network of La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery stores throughout the state of New Jersey, as well as its commercial real estate investment arm, Hamilton Equity Partners, LLC. He currently serves as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of both entities. Joe graduated from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 1996 and went on to attend Widener University School of Law where he met his wife Lisa and earned a J.D. in 2000. He is licensed to practice law in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and during his many years in private practice has represented a wide variety of clients in virtually every aspect of the business lifecycle.
Joe resides in Margate City, New Jersey, a small seaside community with his wife and daughters Julia and Allie. When he’s not spending time with his family, Joe enjoys surfing, offshore fishing, and anything related to Philadelphia sports.
Sean Whalen, DDS
Dr. Sean was born and raised in Eastern Iowa. He and his wife fell in love with Colorado after being married in Glenwood Springs and now consider Colorado their home. Dr. Sean attended the University of Iowa for dental school and his advanced training in pediatric dentistry. He has been part of Children’s Dentistry for over a decade.
Dr. Sean is active in the Colorado Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry; he is Board Certified in Pediatric Dentistry. Although Dr. Sean now considers Denver his permanent home, he will always be an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan.
Dr. Sean and his wife, Brandy, live in Denver and enjoy an active lifestyle. Dr. Sean and his wife have three boys: Ewan, Holden, and Emmett.
Christy Schaefer
Christy grew up in Arvada, Colorado, and received an MS in Mathematics at Colorado State University. She spent 10+ years in the printing industry as a QA Engineer and Project Manager until leaving to follow her passion for health and wellness. Christy and her husband, Jeff, have three daughters and love their community in Erie. Since their middle daughter had successful heart surgery in 2013, they have been huge supporters of Children’s Hospital Colorado and have been involved in the Courage Classic each year since.
Christy’s current role is as the creator and writer of Slides & Sunshine, a resource for parents providing opportunities for families to stay active and play together.
Brian Hoven
Brian currently works as the Vice President of Marketing with Lennar. Lennar has built over one million new homes for families across America since 1954. Originally from Parsippany, New Jersey, Brian moved to the West Coast after completing his B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University. His career includes positions with Price Waterhouse, Paramount Pictures, Icebreaker Clothing and XTERRA focusing on ecommerce and brand marketing. He lived in Los Angeles, where he worked on many large Hollywood films and an award-winning documentary. Here, Brian met his wife Amy and soon after moved to his current home in Portland, OR. He loves the Pacific Northwest and all that it offers.
Brian and Amy have two daughters who take up most of their free time. He is also passionate about photography and music.