Bruce Levy

Bruce Levy is Founder and President of Bruce Levy Associates International, Ltd. (BLAIL), the world's oldest, largest and most successful sports agency specializing in women's basketball. Bruce received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1977, with a specialization in Finance and Management. He began his career with Arthur Andersen & Co., the world's largest accounting/consulting firm, and thereafter developed a highly respected international consulting practice which offered financial and marketing guidance to major celebrity figures and innovative businesses in the fields of fashion and beauty, advertising, TV, film and the performing arts.

Bruce's success and reputation internationally opened the door for him to turn his attention full-time to women's basketball, where he was able to not only negotiate contracts for the first American female players to compete in many of the countries that are now considered the top international leagues of Europe, but also to stage and promote some of the earliest events in the industry. Bruce is now in his fourth decade of managing the careers of female basketball players and is known and respected worldwide as one of the true pioneers of women's basketball. His footprint on the sport can be seen on any given day with the success his former players are now experiencing professionally as coaches, general managers and business leaders in the WNBA, the NCAA and internationally. His client roster over the past 29 years reads like a 'who's who' of women's international basketball, with many of those legends calling him not only agent, but friend as well. Bruce is considered an expert deal-maker and a skilled negotiator who almost single handedly brought 'the business of women's basketball' to prominence around the world. A certified WNBA agent, Bruce is highly sought after as an expert in the field. He has presented several times at the WBCA Convention, at universities, on behalf of numerous federations and has been hired as an expert witness at several prominent court cases involving women's sports. Bruce, who is a long time member of MENSA, has conducted negotiations in five languages on behalf of a diverse global clientele. To date, he has negotiated over 1,600 playing contracts with nearly 250 teams based in 33 countries on six continents.

Erica McKeon

Erica McKeon is entering her 13th year with the agency in 2008, a testament to her devotion to our players and to the sport of women's basketball. Erica serves as Senior Vice President of Bruce Levy Associates International, Ltd. Erica is a graduate of New York University, where she majored in Communication Arts with a specialization in Marketing and Public Relations. After graduating, she served as Assistant Public Relations Director of NYU's Center for Music Performance, where she worked hand in hand with the Center's Director, famed Latin Jazz musician Arturo O'Farrell, to promote music events in and around legendary Greenwich Village, NYC. Erica has worked at several top New York City public relations firms and has consulted on behalf of numerous corporations. She joined the firm in 1995 after freelance work with the Sports Information Department at NYU rekindled her desire to work with and on behalf of female athletes.

Erica draws on her experience as a collegiate basketball and volleyball player when applying her creative marketing, promotional and public relations background to the challenges of women's professional basketball, while also helping our players begin the necessary planning for their post-playing careers (See Passages Program). As a dual national (USA/Ireland), Erica also has a special understanding of the needs of our European clients. Recognized as an authority in the field, she has been a featured speaker at numerous events, including camps and clinics, and has presented at the WBCA Convention. She has written for the Women's Sports Foundation newsletter, Volleyball Magazine and WISE (Women in Sports and Events) newsletter and has had her own photos of our clients published in Women's Basketball Magazine (online and print versions), Newsday and on wnba.com. She is a seven-time nominee for the Sports Business Journal's Top Forty Under 40 award and is an active member of the WSF (Women's Sports Foundation), WISE (Women In Sports and Events) and the WBCA (Women's Basketball Coaches Association). In her spare time, Erica serves as a committee member of Kick for the Cause, a non-profit women's soccer tournament that raises much needed funding for uninsured women diagnosed with breast cancer on Long Island (one of the nation's heaviest hit communities) and also serves on the RYKÄ Women's Fitness grant judging committee, which provides grants to organizations that enhance women's lives through health and fitness and the GoGirlGo! Ambassador Team Awards review panel, which recognizes and rewards high school teams that make a difference in the lives of girls in their communities by teaching them about the benefits of a physically active lifestyle. Erica was among the inaugural group of agents to be certified by the Women's National Basketball Player's Association in February of 2000 and she has negotiated contracts in the ABL and the WNBA, as well as with teams located in 23 other countries. Since 2003, Erica has also served as a director of the Florida Invitational Women's Pro Evaluation Camp along with legendary WNBA and NBA coach Richie Adubato and master clinician Barry Mestel of Winning Ways Basketball. For the past 10 years, Erica has also managed the marketing and publicity for beloved Hall of Fame coach, Lou Carnesecca.

Suzanne Poli

Suzanne Poli has been a fine art and editorial photographer for more than 20 years. More than 70 of her murals are included in the JP Morgan Chase art collection on permanent display at bank branches throughout New York and the metropolitan area. Among her many noted accomplishments, her photographs have been auctioned at Sotheby's and she is an active member of the National Arts Club.

Suzanne also has work in the collections of Fleet Boston Financial, EAB, Regent Hospital and in other private collections, institutions and public venues, including schools, hospitals, restaurants and corporations. Her ability to capture the beauty and essence of life and to transform visual scenes into valuable art with highly marketable potential is a unique quality and great asset. Suzanne's work is a key component of the Creative Image Company's marketing work and is pivotal in the conceptual and strategic development of its client's marketing programs. Suzanne has photographed several BLAIL clients, including Chasity Melvin for the 2004 Women's Basketball Magazine Calendar.

Bruce Poli

As a Creative Marketing Director and writer, Bruce Poli has worked for 20 years in marketing, advertising and public relations as well as for the arts and non-profit sector, and as a journalist (including articles and photographs for The New York Times). He acquired his expertise in branding and creative concept work at such advertising agencies as Bozell Worldwide, FCB/Leber Katz and Saatchi and Saatchi and in working with such clients as Chase Manhattan Bank, Fleet Bank, IBM, Canon, American Express and Barnes and Noble. As Executive Director of the Creative Image Company, his work specializes in relationship marketing for financial services and corporate venues with an emphasis on community and personalized marketing and advertising.