Meet our passionate play team.
The people make the organization. We unite interdisciplinary, bright minds to transform scientific insight into global impact.
Mia Sundstrom
Chief Executive Officer
Mia is a third-generation leader at the Institute and the granddaughter of founder Dr. Stuart Brown. She has been immersed in play-based learning and the research that underpins the field from an early age.
Prior to becoming CEO, Mia served as Director of Play Transformation at NIFPlay, where she worked with organizations and communities worldwide to translate play science into practical tools for leadership and well-being. She also works with University of Denver Chancellor on the Character Dimension Project, developing and delivering programs that explore how play and character support resilient, values-driven lives.
Mia earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Information & Analytics magna cum laude and her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Denver. A former NCAA Division I gymnast, team captain, she returned to the program as an assistant coach for DU’s nationally ranked top-10 gymnastics team.
Movement remains central to Mia’s life and leadership. She thrives on outdoor pursuits and is a two-time Leadville Trail 100 MTB finisher.
Lauren Sundstrom
Chief Operating Officer
Lauren oversees operations and partnerships to support the Institute’s long-term sustainability and impact. She previously served NIFPlay as a Strategic Advisor and Board Member, helping to shape partnerships, secure grant-based funding, and guide institutional growth. She is the author of several publications and has contributed to public conversations on play, purpose, and human development through podcast appearances — often alongside NIFPlay founder Dr. Stuart Brown (her father) and CEO Mia Sundstrom (her daughter).
Lauren’s professional background spans public policy, law, and negotiation. She studied at Colorado College and St. Peter’s College, Oxford University, and spent nearly a decade in Washington, D.C., serving as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens and later as a lobbyist with Holland & Hart. She was also a partner at Western Land Group in Denver, specializing in public-private transactions.
Lauren and her husband, Steve, raised their two children in Boulder, Colorado, where both attended play-based, self-directed schools. A social kinesthete, Lauren loves the outdoors, loves to dance, and is deeply committed to stewarding the Institute’s legacy while helping guide its next chapter.
Tony Christopher
Director of Play Science Knowledge
Tony bridges scientific play research with NIFPlay’s practical applications, helping to ensure the Institute’s work remains grounded in current science while maintaining its credibility as a trusted, evidence-based authority.
As the former Executive Director of NIFPlay, he played a formative role in shaping the Institute’s digital and intellectual foundation, including building its initial website, developing its early library of play research and resources, and launching the NIFPlay newsletter.
Earlier in his career, Tony worked at the intersection of technology, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing, leading teams that developed digital communities and platforms for organizations including Apple Computer, Cisco, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, Fujitsu, and Stanford University. He was also the founding product manager for AppleLink, Apple’s early extranet connecting employees, developers, and partners.
Tony holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford University. His work reflects a longstanding commitment to advancing play as an interdisciplinary field. His own play often takes the form of exploration, thoughtful experimentation, and building systems that invite shared learning — an approach that continues to inform how he curates and connects ideas at NIFPlay.
Christina Boe
Director of Product
Christina supports the design, development, and launch of NIFPlay’s play-based products, helping guide product priorities and go-to-market strategy.
A seeker of knowledge with a passion for lifestyle design, Christina believes play is fundamental to creating the conditions for self-connection, growth, and purpose, and is especially interested in how play can be designed and brought into the lives of others. She brings a background in product strategy, user experience, and data analytics, with experience in simulation-based training, customer success, and relationship-driven sales. She holds a Master’s degree in Communication Management (User Experience Strategy) and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Analytics from the University of Denver.
Christina is also an on-premise wine consultant, a role that reflects her appreciation for craft, storytelling, and human connection. A former Division I volleyball team captain and professional athlete, she brings an embodied understanding of play, competition, and teamwork to her work at NIFPlay.
Matt Meeks
Director of Technology
Matt is a digital transformation leader with over15 years of experience guiding enterprise technology strategy, governance, and growth. He is Corporate Director of Digital Services at PlayCore, where he oversees sales, marketing, and product technologies across 40+ manufacturing brands.
Matt has led enterprise-wide initiatives spanning CRM, marketing automation, product information management, AI governance, and multi-brand digital strategy, consistently improving efficiency, customer experience, and margin performance. Known for building high-performing teams and aligning digital roadmaps with organizational and private equity growth objectives, he brings a practical, systems-level approach to innovation and change leadership.
Outside of work, Matt enjoys playing golf — and is quick to note that he plays golf, keeping it light and fun, in the spirit of play – especially when it’s golf alongside NIFPlay’s Tom Norquist.
Darlene Azevedo
Director of Finance
Darlene has worked closely with founder Dr. Stuart Brown for more than 15 years. In this role, she supports the financial stewardship and operational integrity of the Institute’s work.
In addition to her work with NIFPlay, Darlene is the founder of Horseplay YOUTH, an experiential learning initiative that helps children develop courage, resilience, and social-emotional skills through equine companionship and play-based, embodied activities. Her work integrates horsemanship, play, and nutrition to support both mental and physical well-being.
Darlene is deeply committed to helping children — and the adults who support them — rediscover curiosity, confidence, and joy. She believes that small moments of insight and connection can meaningfully change the course of a life, and her work reflects a lifelong dedication to fostering growth, empathy, and possibility for both humans and animals.
Kevin Votaw
Director of Play Communications
Vanessa Chang
Director of Web & Product Design
Vanessa led the end-to-end redesign and technical rebuild of the NIFPlay website — from information architecture and UX to HubSpot infrastructure, marketing automation, and SEO. With a background in product design and a Master's in Educational Technology from Carnegie Mellon, she brings a rare combination of strategic thinking and hands-on execution to every project.
At NIFPlay, Vanessa doesn't just design interfaces — she diagnoses problems, challenges assumptions, and builds systems that serve the community's long-term growth. She continues to lead web performance strategy and digital marketing initiatives as the organization scales.
Peter Gray
Director of Research
Peter is a research professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. His work spans behavioral biology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education, with a particular focus on the role of play in human evolution and child development.
Peter is widely recognized for his scholarship on self-directed play and learning. He is the author of Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, published in 18 languages, and the author of the internationally acclaimed introductory textbook Psychology (Worth Publishers), which approaches the field from an evolutionary perspective. More recent editions of the textbook (7 and 8) were co-authored with David Bjorklund.
In addition to his academic work, Peter has written extensively for public audiences and is known for bridging rigorous research with accessible, real-world insight. His contributions have helped shape contemporary conversations about education, childhood, autonomy, and well-being through the lens of play.
Peter integrates play into both his scholarship and daily life. He enjoys outdoor pursuits such as gardening, bicycling, kayaking, swimming, skiing, and chopping wood, and approaches creative and intellectual work — including writing and problem-solving — with a playful, exploratory mindset. He views play as essential, self-chosen, imaginative, and intrinsically motivated, and believes that treating work as a form of play leads to deeper engagement and better outcomes. More information about Peter’s research, writing, and public work can be found at his website.
Joe Miller
Director of Services
Joe brings more than 40 years of experience as an executive, consultant, and strategist working at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and organizational change.
Joe has worked with organizations involved in major movements transforming the healthcare industry, including Harvard Community Health, Society of Hospital Medicine, and Virta Health. He was also a partner in a technology market research firm that was later acquired by Gartner.
Joe’s work has focused on strategic innovation, often involving the thoughtful use of technology to support best practices, program design and implementation, and organizational change management. At NIFPlay, he focuses on securing scientific grant funding that supports research and the development of new play science initiatives.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and a Master of Science degree from MIT. He is a proud grandparent and brings a steady, curious, and quietly playful perspective to everything he does.
Board of Directors
Guiding our vision and ensuring institutional accountability.
Stuart Brown, MD
Founder and Board Member
Dr. Brown is one of the world’s leading voices on the science of play. Dr. Brown received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed training in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic, followed by psychiatry and clinical research at Baylor. Early in his academic career, his work took a pivotal turn as he served on the Tower Commission investigating the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting. The Commission concluded the perpetrator’s childhood had been marked by severe play deprivation — an insight that profoundly shaped Dr. Brown’s thinking and future research.
Dr. Brown then studied the life histories of incarcerated individuals alongside matched controls, uncovering an association between severe play deprivation and later dysfunction. His findings reframed play as a biological necessity critical to social and emotional competence.
Inspired by conversations with colleague Dr. Jane Goodall, Dr. Brown expanded his research to include animal play, launching a multiyear project with the National Geographic Society in the early 1990s. His 1994 National Geographic cover story, “Animals at Play,” helped bring play science into public and scientific focus.
That same year, Dr. Brown founded the nonprofit that would become the National Institute for Play. His work has since reached global audiences through worldwide media and his book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, now translated into multiple languages. Across more than 6,000 developmental play histories — spanning Nobel laureates, artists, scientists, and leaders — he observed a strong association between sustained play and creativity, resilience, and fulfillment. He has taught and consulted widely, including co-teaching From Play to Innovation at Stanford’s d.school, advising Fortune 100 companies, and speaking at TED events and major education and health forums worldwide.
Now in his 90s, Dr. Brown still swims and bikes regularly, though he’s quick to say he considers himself more of a storyteller than an athlete these days. He continues to support, inspire, and guide the global study of play.
Tom Norquist
Chairman of the Board, Immediate Past President
A lifelong advocate for play, Tom brings over four decades of leadership experience at the intersection of play science, design, innovation, and public life.
Tom is Senior Vice President of Innovation and Business Development at PlayCore, where he has played a central role in shaping the modern play industry — advancing design, safety, accessibility, and the integration of research into real-world environments. His career began in sales and marketing at GameTime in the early 1990s and has since spanned executive leadership, product innovation, standards development, and global advocacy.
In addition to his industry leadership, Tom serves as the first named Professor of Practice in the School of Industrial and Graphic Design at Auburn University where he has mentored designers, bridging imagination with application. His contributions to education have been recognized with multiple Distinguished Service Awards.
Tom has held numerous leadership roles across the field, including founding board member and two-time past president of the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA), where he launched the Voice of Play initiative — bringing the message that play is essential to human development to millions worldwide. He has also served on boards and advisory committees, including the National Program for Playground Safety, the Recreation Access Advisory Committee, the International Playground Contractors Association, and the U.S. Play Coalition. As a long-standing representative to ASTM International, Tom has helped shape safety and design standards that influence play environments globally.
Beyond his professional roles, Tom is known for living his values. His home in Fort Payne, Alabama, features the “Boneyard,” a hands-on play laboratory filled with prototypes and experiments, and the “Garagemahall,” a workshop and creative studio, serving as gathering places for family, students, and collaborators. A grandfather of five, Tom continues to model a life where play is not a phase, but a lifelong practice.
Elaine Chung
Board Member
Elaine is Founder and CEO of Beyond the Change, where she helps leaders identify and resolve alignment challenges that undermine performance, trust, and execution. Her work focuses on rebuilding the fundamentals of connection, clarity, and collaboration by drawing on principles from organizational behavior and the neuroscience of play.
Elaine is the author of The Illusion of Authenticity and has partnered with organizations including Nike, Sony Entertainment and PlayStation, PBS, Abbott Laboratories, and the U.S. Navy’s NavalX. She has spoken at TEDx, SHRM, DisruptHR, and the Association for Talent Development, and is a lecturer at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
She holds degrees from Duke University and the USC Marshall School of Business. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children, who regularly remind her of the value of a playful mindset. Elaine’s way to play is as an explorer and connecter. You can often find her trying new experiences and bringing people together in meaningful ways.
Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE
Board Member (In Memoriam)
Jane Goodall’s pioneering work on animal behavior helped inform early research into the evolutionary significance of play. Her service as a Board Member and her enduring influence continue to shape the work of NIFPlay.
Board of Advisors
Strategic consultants shaping our innovation and growth.
Coming soon...