Winners Circle Project
Who We Are
The Winners Circle Project is a non-profit organization which has been meticulously designed to inspire young, innovative minds through a STEAM program embedded in the exciting world of car racing. Through our work the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math come alive for our students on, and beyond the race track! Through the course of one academic year, high school students will build a Factory Five vehicle from the ground up, learn how to promote their project through multiple channels in an integrated marketing campaign, and build a multi-department race team.
Our Mission
To inspire the next generation of innovators through project-based learning.
Create Innovative Minds
Community Learning
Industry Exposure
Critical Thinking
Our Values
Supportive
The team at Winners Circle Project provides an environment of support and mentorship, fostering a culture of teamwork and mutual respect.
Community Driven
We are committed to working closely with the communities we serve.
Accessible Education
At this time, the Winners Circle Project is available to most schools in Upstate New York and our mission is eagerly embraced by prospective students.
Our Team
Founder and Executive Director at the Winners Circle Project, Pius has established himself as a dynamic and charismatic leader with a proven track record in empowering young adults. With a background in social work specializing in direct case management and program coordination, Pius has extensive experience fostering relationships, providing his constituents with the necessary skills to overcome challenges they face while creating a path for a successful future. The Winners Circle Project is a continuation of Kayiira’s philosophy of providing tools for pathways to success in life. The goal of WCP is to empower the students not only with skills and experiences through project based learning, but to help guide them in their journey of self-discovery to be the best version of themselves.
Founder, Executive Director
Pius Mawejje Kayiira
Director, Master Tech
Mark Dougherty
Mark is our master technician that assists each of the schools in their building of the Factory Five automobile.
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After being in industry for over 20 years and owning his own business since 1998, Mark travels around the world to assist people with their car builds.
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After building over 1000 Factory Five cars, he is the premier expert in the build field.
Coordinator - Program Enrichment
Matteo Lundgren spearheads a transformative educational experience for WCP students through his Pathways to Success curriculum and enrichment activities throughout the school year. Matteo's pedagogical style is to ignite a spark within each student, providing individualized and group guidance for students to take actionable steps towards their own personal growth. Matteo has a masters degree in counseling psychology and has been a counselor, mentor and coach for young adults for the past 20 years. He also has run a successful natural building company for the past 12 years, dedicated to teaching sustainable building practices across the country to students of all levels and ages. His company is inspired by a vision of building homes using local building materials that are non-toxic and regenerative. His teaching style is highly engaging, and is focused on empowering people with knowledge and hands-on skills.
Matteo Lundgren
With a decade of experience in the international film industry, Matteo came to Tribe with a diverse set of skills that has made him proficient at creating effective corporate films for Tribe clients. His strengths lie in his ability to make the ephemeral tangible; he deftly translates creative concepts and ideas into visual imagery and consumable messaging. Matteo’s drive and collaborative nature has led him to work with organizations like the UN and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his work on spec commercials has earned him several industry awards. Matteo uses his client-focused theory of corporate video production to create company films that engage viewers and break boundaries.
Director, Visual Communications
Matteo Banfo
Our Board
Brian L. Battisti is a skilled trial attorney with a practice that spans a variety of litigation matters including multi-party construction defect, labor law, catastrophic personal injury, insurance coverage, products liability, professional liability, and commercial and employment disputes. Brian has experience with all phases of litigation from pre-suit investigations and assessment through bench and jury trials in New York State and federal courts. He has conducted arbitrations, mediations, and argued numerous appeals before the First and Second Departments of the New York State Appellate Division. With a detailed understanding of various industries backed by nearly two decades of complex litigation experience, Brian advises property owners, commercial developers, construction managers, contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals on litigation strategy, risk transfer issues and overall exposure. He also assists construction clients with drafting and negotiation of contracts and lien disputes. Brian recently became partner at the Goldberg Segalla law firm.
Chairman
Brian Battisti
​Charles Schneider is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Eden Point Partners, LLC. In this role he is responsible for the execution and implementation of the company’s strategy and management of its resources. Charles has over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, with extensive experience managing large scale software implementations for top tier institutions. In parallel to founding Eden Point Partners, Charles is consulting for a major Canadian Bank in the Global Wholesale & Risk Technology division. Charles manages the firm’s U.S. Regulatory and Internal Audit technology delivery. Prior to founding Eden Point Partners, Charles has worked for Deutsche Bank and Citigroup delivering complex, cross-functional team projects for their Research and Regulatory Technology divisions. Charles began his career as a software developer, responsible for streamlining J.P. Morgan’s documentation processes in New York and the United Kingdom.
Vice-Chairman
Charles Schneider
Board of Directors, Treasurer
Alvin Sinckler
A finance and business operations professional with 20 years of experience providing leadership to premier for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, Alvin Sinckler is a results-driven leader who has a proven track record of leading high-performing teams. As CFO of organizations such as The Fund for Public Schools, Coordinated Behavioral Care, and Boys Town, Alvin has maintained a steadfast commitment to bottom-line results and talent for improving forecasting, financial reporting, and overall operational performance.
Board Member
Bill Koehler
Bill Koehler is a serial entrepreneur and business builder with over a decade of experience across financial services, healthcare technology, and government programs.
Bill began his career at Edward Jones, the nation's largest broker-dealer, where he broke company leaderboard records within his first three years. He then partnered with a founding team to help launch Kingsview Partners, an independent wealth management firm that has grown from $200 million to over $5 billion in assets under management. Bill continues to manage approximately $200 million in client assets through that platform today.
As his practice grew, so did his entrepreneurial vision. In 2020 Bill founded The TE Group, a tax strategy and retirement planning firm that rapidly expanded during the COVID era to service thousands of companies through government relief programs. The TE Group has since returned to its roots launching a proprietary preventative care management program now serving thousands of individuals and growing by thousands of members monthly. The TE Group is an eight figure business projected to see over 100% growth by end of year.
Most recently Bill co-founded Wellvi alongside partners John Ottomano and Frankie Paleno. In under a year Wellvi has scaled to an eight figure business serving the telehealth space with a compliant, efficient and replicable infrastructure model for patient prescription routing and fulfillment — with growth projections of 400% by end of year.
Having built multiple businesses from the ground up Bill is now transitioning into a new chapter — selectively stepping back from day to day operations to focus on legacy, impact, and the causes that matter most to him.
Outside of business Bill is a devoted husband and father. He and his wife are raising two children together and family is the foundation everything else is built on. Bill coaches multiple youth sports teams and is deeply involved in his community — showing up not just as a businessman but as a neighbor, a mentor, and a man of faith.
Bill is honored to bring his experience in business building, fundraising, and community leadership to the Winners Circle Project board and looks forward to helping grow something truly special for the next generation.
Advisory Board
Advisory Board
I have enjoyed my career as a keynote speaker, coach, and strategic trainer with practical experience in virtual settings. I invest time to work with individuals and organizations on developing a resilient lifestyle and mindset. I am currently working with organizations, profit and non-profit, and individuals to offer creative moments and places for their growth and transformation to equip individuals and organizations with the means to offer others and themselves dynamic and meaningful endeavors to pursue. Previously, I have worked with numerous corporations, major health-care organizations, educational organizations, and nation-wide professional groups. Past clients include BAE, Lockheed, The Chamber of Commerce of Bogota Colombia, Universidad del Rosario, and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Francis Battisti, Ph. D.
Advisory Board
Karen Salvaggio brings a wealth of motorsports, education, and leadership experience to any project. A military veteran and master mechanic, Karen served in the U.S. Air Force as a crew chief on B-52’s and KC-135 aircraft. After nine successful years, she left the military, and secured her advanced education. Karen holds bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees, and has extensive experience in finance, operations and organizational leadership. Her distinguished career in public education spanned more than 25 years, serving in every role from classroom teacher to her final role as superintendent of schools.
Karen Salvaggio
Director, Pre-College Opportunity Programs
Jen has been working to help teenagers navigate their paths through education and life for over twenty years. For the past decade, Jen has led the Pre-College Opportunity Programs at Cornell University, growing one federally funded TRIO Upward Bound grant that served 50 students in two school districts into a portfolio of programming that included two federal and one state-funded college access grant, two programming partnership grants, and a dozen other outreach programs that collectively served over 800 students annually across more than a dozen school districts. She is now the Associate Vice-President of the Council for Opportunity in Education.
Jennifer Rudolph
