Founder & CEO
Derek Shunk
Thinklete founder Derek Shunk brings experience as a Division I All-American athlete, professional baseball player, college coach, and—most importantly—a dad to a neurodivergent young athlete.
That combination helped shape the Thinklete framework, built around the real challenges neurodivergent athletes face: emotional regulation, focus, confidence, handling mistakes, pressure, routines, independence, and accountability.
Derek’s goal isn’t to change how these athletes’ brains work. It’s to give them practical tools to understand their brain, work with it, and turn what makes them different into an edge—in sports and everyday life. Read more here.
DIRECTOR OF GROWTH & STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
Mike McCaffrey
Mike McCaffrey is a lifelong coach, mentor, and learning-development leader with more than two decades of experience helping athletes, families, and organizations reach their potential.
A former collegiate athlete, NCAA coach, and 2013 Husson University Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Mike was a two-time All-Conference selection, team captain, and NAIA All-American. He later served as Associate Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Husson, helping lead the program to five NCAA Tournament appearances.
Mike has coached athletes at the youth, high school, AAU, and collegiate levels, building a strong foundation in player development, culture, and supporting athletes who learn and process differently. That understanding became even more personal through raising and coaching his own son, whose neurodivergent mind reshaped the way Mike thinks about how young athletes experience pressure, instruction, feedback, and growth.
Beyond athletics, Mike has led national and global development teams and built leadership and coaching programs for organizations and communities.
At Thinklete, Mike builds partnerships with schools, youth sports organizations, families, and community leaders to expand access to Thinklete’s programs and mission.
His philosophy is simple: when we understand how a young person thinks, we unlock how they grow.
Meet Our Mentors
Aleka Shunk
Aleka is co-founder of Thinklete and brings a rare combination of elite athletic experience and deep expertise in working with neurodivergent athletes. A former state champion in track and Division I soccer player at Drexel University, she served as a two-year team captain and earned 2× MVP honors. She still holds the program’s all-time records for both assists and games played.
At the highest levels of competition, Aleka has competed against some of the game’s best—including Carli Lloyd—bringing firsthand experience of what it takes to perform under pressure on the biggest stages. She went on to compete professionally in the USL W League and internationally with the Greek Olympic team.
Off the field, she spent 10 years as a middle school math teacher, working closely with many neurodivergent students, and 5 years coaching at Players Development Academy (PDA). Her background in both education and high-performance sport allows her to connect with athletes in a way that builds confidence, discipline, and long-term growth.
Janie Kokakis
A former Division I track athlete at the University of Northern Iowa; Janie was also a state track champion and four-sport athlete growing up. Her athletic background gave her firsthand experience with the discipline, pressure, confidence, and mental challenges that come with competing at a high level.
Today, Janie works as a speech-language pathologist specializing in executive functioning and supporting neurodivergent kids and their families. Her work focuses on helping children build emotional regulation, self-awareness, confidence, organization, and the foundational skills that impact both performance and everyday life.
With backgrounds in both athletics and neurodivergent development, Janie brings a unique perspective to mentoring young athletes. She is passionate about helping kids better understand how they think, learn, and perform so they can build confidence and thrive both on and off the field.
Ryan Tatusko
Ryan Tatusko is a former collegiate (Indiana State University) and seven-year professional baseball pitcher turned coach who helps athletes build confidence, resilience, and the mental skills to perform at their best—especially those who compete differently. After playing professionally in the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals organizations before finishing his career in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), Ryan understands the pressure of high-level competition both as an athlete and as a parent of a neurodivergent child.
Since 2014, Ryan has coached athletes from youth through college, helping more than 75 players earn collegiate opportunities. He teaches athletes to understand their unique wiring, quiet self-doubt, and turn what makes them different into their greatest competitive advantage.
Ryan’s mission perfectly aligns with Thinklete’s: helping athletes and their families build lasting confidence by empowering kids to compete as exactly who they are.
Hayden Flanery
Hayden was a former Division 1 gymnast at Oklahoma, where she was a member of their first ever NCAA Championship Team in 2014. She also participated in 3 Conference winning teams, multiple regional championships and Big X11 academic All-American.
She brings many years of experience, heart, and true passion for helping young athletes tap into and pursue their potential. She has a fierce, competitive culture and always looking to challenge our athletes in new ways.
As a mom of a neurodivergent athlete, she has discovered new perspectives and different ways to attack each challenge. She loves exploring new philosophies and techniques to further mentor her athletes, in building their self confidence, enhancing their skill and truly fall in love with their own journey!
Maggie Totterdale
Maggie is a retired member of the University of Pittsburgh softball team. She is currently Pitt’s all time leader in at-bats and is second all time in hits and runs and ended her career as an All-ACC Second Team member, NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second Team selection, and an All-ACC Academic Team member. Maggie spent four years coaching high school softball and has 5+ years experience as a private hitting and fielding instructor. Her coaching days are put on pause as she has spent the last three years raising her two young boys and is patiently waiting for them to start their own athletic journeys soon.
Professionally, Maggie is currently a Transition Counselor in a high school environment helping students with disabilities and neurodivergent students plan and develop transition goals for post-graduation. Her approach in working with young athletes is to help them build their mental toolbox to equip them with the “tools” that work best for them. Building a solid toolbox helps create a stronger and more confident human on and off the field. She is thrilled to work as a Thinklete mentor for young athletes in a setting where her passion for sports intersects with her professional expertise in working with individuals with disabilities.
Maggie Goodman
Maggie is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology and has a Master’s degree in Sport & Performance Psychology. She has over a decade of experience in performance environments.
Maggie was a professional dancer focusing on ballet, modern, and jazz styles. She began dancing at the age of 4 and holds a BFA in dance performance. She still performs for fun in local theater productions and dance concerts.
As a former professional dancer, she understands the mental demands of high-level training and competition.
Through her sport psychology background and work as a mental performance coach, Maggie has experience working with neurodivergent athletes and children of all ages. She works with her clients on skills to build confidence, improve focus, and perform under pressure. Her approach combines evidence-based mental skills training with real-world performance experience to help clients stay composed, resilient, and consistent in high-stakes moments.
