By Mark Aesch
Chief Executive Officer
TransPro has always been about Transformation – of all kinds.
We started TransPro 11 years ago to support and honor public sector executives committed to transforming the organizations they lead to produce measurable results. Today we are proud to support hundreds of organizations across North America and the executives that lead them on their journey.
On that path, we have met people who have changed our lives, inspired us to be better, and truly upped our game to become better.
In this spirit, our longtime dear friend and TransPro Advisory Board Member Ray Melleady and I decided to form a foundation to honor people who have genuinely raised the mark to make us better leaders, improve our organizations, and truly inspire us to become better people. We named it The Rays the Mark Foundation to honor people who have precisely done that and yet today have seen their life’s path come to more challenging times.
Our first honoree was retired NFL defensive back, Sonny Gordon. Sonny played with the Ohio State University (OSU) from 1983 to 1986. As a natural-born leader, it was no surprise that he rose to become the team Captain, leading the Buckeyes to the Cotton Bowl championship during his senior year. Following his time at OSU, Sonny was drafted to the NFL by the Cincinnati Bengals and went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He rounded out his career in the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders. In recent years, Sonny has been a member of the United Safety and Survivability Corp. (USSC) team.
This year, Sonny was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease. The diagnosis was a shock to Sonny and his family, but in true Sonny fashion, he has approached this battle with relentless drive and positivity to fight this battle.
On April 30, as part of the APTA Mobility Conference in Columbus, OH, nearly 100 friends, family, and believers in Sonny Gordon joined together to recognize how Sonny has truly “raised the mark” for all of us. We were collectively proud to present Sonny and his family with a check for $60,000 to honor him for the value he has brought to all of us.
At TransPro, we are proud to support The Rays the Mark Foundation and proud that Sonny Gordon was the first honoree of the Foundation.
We are all about honoring those who have the courage to transform, challenge the status quo, and look for a way to become better. Sonny Gordon inspires us and makes us work harder as people, as leaders.
To learn more about The Rays the Mark Foundation, please visit raysthemarkfoundation.com
