Here are just a few of our dedicated volunteers.

John M. Lenti, Chairman, CEO

Mr. Lenti earned an engineering degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MBA from Farleigh Dickinson University, and a Masters in Military Art and Science from the Army Command and General Staff College. He is a graduate of the US Army War College.   He was a member of the staff and faculty at West Point for seven years designing and teaching Leadership and related courses. He has been an adjunct faculty at USC since 1976. He is the recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star w/V, 5 Legions of Merit, the Purple Heart, ARCOM w/V and other awards for exceptional service.  His military career included assignments in Special Operations, high level staff and as an instructor at West Point.

Mr. Lenti is the past director of the SC Small Business Development Center Program. The program coaches entrepreneurs in methodologies to turn a business idea into reality or enhance an already existing enterprise.  He helped develop similar business assistance programs in Poland, Hungary and Germany for the Small Business Committee of the US House of Representatives.  John, as an adjunct faculty member of the Moore School of Business, designed and teaches a highly regarded leadership course. 

Jack Lovelady, President, COO

Mr. Lovelady, a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, has served as President of the Celebrate Freedom Foundation since its inception in 1999. Mr. Lovelady additionally holds an Associate Degree in Science and numerous licenses from the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration.

As a senior Information Technology Manager with the Budget and Control Board, Chief Information Office, he was responsible for the operation and management of the State of South Carolina’s voice, video, and data networks and systems from 1989 until his retirement in 2009

Following Hurricane Hugo, Mr. Lovelady was appointed by the Governor to develop a multi-hazard “Program to Mitigate State Communications Warning and Control System Failures”, which was approved by FEMA as one of the first such programs in the nation.

Prior to joining South Carolina state government, he served in the position of Vice President Engineering and General Manager for several major NBC and CBS affiliate network operations. He was appointed by the Governor of New Mexico to serve on that state’s Information Systems Council. Mr. Lovelady is recognized by the FCC as having developed a model for measuring Airborne Radio Frequency Radiation Measurements, by helicopter, which has been adopted around the country. A number of articles have been published in national scientific and engineering journals, including the IEEE, pertaining to his work.

Mr. Lovelady is a veteran of the U.S. Army (1967-2007), having retired as a Communications-Electronics Officer with thirty-eight years of service in the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard. He is a rotary wing aviator rated in the TH-55, H300C, BH205, BH206, OH-58, and UH-1H Huey helicopters. Mr. Lovelady is heavily involved in volunteer activities related to  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education for “at-risk” students.     

Robert (Bob) Decker, Treasurer, CFO

Mr. Decker earned a Bachelor of Science degree in higher accounting and business administration from Elizabethton Business College. He retired from the US Army with over 20 years service. He is the recipient of the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Army Commendation Medal and other awards for exceptional service.  His military career included assignments in Vietnam and Berlin, Germany. 

Mr. Decker is the past District Governor of District 31 B in North Carolina for Lions International.  He is a recent retiree from W.B. Guimarin, Mechanical and Engineering Contractors in Columbia, South Carolina where he held a position as Assistant Controller.    

Vernie Nance, Program Manager

Mr. nance serves as the Director of Aviation Maintenance and as a SOaR  Aviation Instructor with the Celebrate Freedom Foundation. Mr. Nance possesses over forty years of aviation industry experience. He holds an Associate Degree in Business Administration from the Columbia Commercial College, Columbia, South Carolina and is a graduate of the Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence, South Carolina, Aviation and Airframe Maintenance Program.

Mr. Nance is a veteran of the U.S. Army and he retired in 2004 after thirty eight years of service as a Command Sergeant Major. During his period of military service, he was responsible for supervising all aspects of aircraft maintenance, inspections, and quality control for the Army’s most advanced helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.

Mr. Nance is heavily involved with community service and with the Celebrate Freedom Foundation’s SOaR Education Program which focuses on reinforcing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects in the middle and high schools and especially those schools with  a large “at risk” student population and which are considered “underserved”.      

Johnnie R. Graham,
Co-Chair. SOaR Proof of Concept Project

Mr. Graham is currently enrolled in the Business Management Undergraduate program at Webster University.

He served as the lead agent of the United States Special Operations Command Protective Services Detail at MacDill AFB, Tampa, Florida supervising 14 personnel with the responsibility of protecting the commander from assassination, kidnapping, injury and embarrassment. Mr. Graham has coordinated security operations with all levels of federal and foreign agencies to include the FBI, CIA, NSA, DOD, U.S. Secret Service, Jordanian Secret Service, Israeli Secret Service, Malaysian Secret Service and numerous other foreign security agencies. He has conducted security missions around the world to include Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Israel, Colombia, Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines, Poland, United Arab Emirates, India and numerous other locations. 

He served on a no-notice counter-terrorism force in Southeast Asia where he was in charge of 50 counter-terrorism personnel. Mr. Graham retired from the United States Army having served over 23 years. He served over 10 years as a United States Army Green Beret. Mr. Graham is a life member of the Special Forces Association.

Mr. Graham is the president of a company specializing in executive protection and security & threat vulnerability assessments.

Michael Mika, Program Manager

Mr. Mika serves as the Project Manager for the prestigious Ally of Freedom Award.

Previously Michael served as a Human Resource Manager responsible for all personnel management and executive, managerial and technical training and as a Certified Compensation Professional in the electric power industry.  Michael also served as the Chairman of the Governor of Tennessee’s Welfare to Work Program for the greater metropolitan area of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  
Mr. Mika has more than 35 years of management experience that includes strategic planning, crisis management, community relations, and training.  He is a graduate of the University of Maryland where he received his undergraduate degree in Business Management and a graduate of Pepperdine University where he received his Master of Arts degree in Human Resources Management. 

Mr. Mika is retired from the United States Army having served over 20 years active service with over 10 years with the United States Army Special Forces.  He is a graduate of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy.  During his career, Michael has received numerous domestic and foreign military awards.  He currently serves as the President of the South Carolina Chapter of the Special Forces Association.