Scott is the founder of Uplifting Athletes and served the 30 million Americans that comprise the Rare Disease Community as the Executive Director from when he launched Uplifting Athletes as a national nonprofit in 2007 until December, 2018.
Uplifting Athletes was built on Scott’s rare disease journey that started in 2002 when his father, Don Shirley, was diagnosed with kidney cancer. When Scott’s Penn State football teammate, Damon Jones, learned of the challenges the Shirley family was enduring, he suggested that they do something since they were in a position to shine their spotlight on those who needed a voice.
The Penn State football team rallied around the idea of leveraging a summer strength and conditioning competition into a fundraising event called Lift For Life®.
After graduating from Penn State with a B.S. and Masters degree in Engineering, Scott held his “dream job” as a Project Engineer with Clark Construction Group in Washington D.C. He didn’t envision leaving that job so soon, but when Uplifting Athletes started to take off, Scott quit his job and started a full-service nonprofit.
Scott also founded a sports inspired for-profit company in 2015 called PledgeIt and is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) responsible for strategic planning, investor relations and daily operations.
The Central Pennsylvania native is married to Stephanie, has two children and in his spare time serves on the AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union Board of Directors, is a member of the Board of Directors at his church and is also a Kellogg Executive Scholar in Nonprofit Management.
