Board of Directors

Tina Maxbauer
President

Tina is currently a Senior Manager in information technology. She works for Trinity Health, the second largest Non-Profit Catholic Health Organization in the country. She has been with the Trinity Organization for the past 30 years holding a variety of positions, including but not limited to, Project Manager, Business/Data Analyst, and Resource Manager. She is organized, efficient, and well versed in budgets, public speaking, and managing people and situations.

Tina has been married to her husband, Paul for 20 years. They now enjoy their own activities after raising their blended family of 6 children, Tina and Paul have 9 grandchildren whom they love to spend time with and spoil!

Tina is a very active member at DSC. She has served on the DSC Board for 3 years, the past two as Board President. She is an adult skater who has competed in both singles and synchronized skating. She practices, on multiple sessions, 5 days a week in the early morning hours before work. She has acted as the chairperson for the coach hospitality for Skate Detroit as well as the backstage manager for the DSC Annual Ice Show.

Maria Pacis-Biederman
Vice-President

Maria has been a member of the DSC board since 2020. Her children began skating in the Learn to Skate program at DSC in 2005 and have participated in Tier 2 and Tier 3 hockey programs, competitive figure skating, synchronized skating and the Detroit Skating Club’s annual ice show.

Maria has served on the Communications committee providing input on the creation of our new website. She has also volunteered on the Fundraising and Facilities committees. As a co-chair of the membership committee, Maria worked with the Figure Skating Director to create a more streamlined membership structure.

She also serves in a volunteer capacity on the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association district 4 council as a director and treasurer, the MAHA girls’ committee and on the Executive Committee for Adat Shalom Synagogue.

Maria looks forward to further implementing our strategic plan with goals of growing our membership and creating a stronger sense of community while abiding by DSC’s Mission: We cultivate programs and provide facilities for the ice sports community that enable participants to achieve their goals in a safe environment.

Biana Hamady
Treasurer

Biana lives in Waterford with her husband of 18 years, David, and daughter Isabella. She has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Oakland University and a Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of Law. She has practiced law for the last 18 years in various different capacities. She was a shareholder at a law firm for 15 years where she specialized in creditor’s rights. She now works as General Counsel for a conglomerate of companies owned by one family.

Biana has been part of the DSC family since the fall of 2011 when her daughter, Isabella, started skating at the age of 4. Biana has been involved in every ice show since 2012. She was generally in the locker room helping all the children as her passion is working with children and helping them enjoy their ice show experience. For the last several years she has been a numbers chair for multiple numbers and helps assist the parents and children in making sure they have the best ice show experience. She has also assisted the rink in a number of roles including assisting in Team Olympic, DSC Learn to Skate Open Houses, and Skate Detroit. Over the years she has also assisted DSC with several legal issues and concerns.
Biana’s daughter Isabella, has skated at DSC for the past 10 years, starting in Learn to Skate Basic Skills program, competing in the freestyle program, and now is competing in Solo Dance figure skating. Isabella has participated in over nine DSC Ice Shows, the Detroit Winter Blast, and the 2019 Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championship Opening Ceremony and sweeping the ice after the performers finished their program. Isabella loves younger children and has been an active volunteer as a teen assistant in the Learn to Skate program at DSC for several years.

Kati Becker
Secretary

Kati and her husband Tim, live in West Bloomfield with their daughter Claire and three dogs. Kati and her family have been part of the DSC family for over 10 years. Kati is a Registered Nurse who has worked at the University of Michigan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, and Henry Ford Hospital. For the past eight years, she has run the health room at Claire’s elementary school (St. Hugo School), and she is currently working full time as the Covid Coordinator/office and health assist for St.Hugo.
Over the course of her years at DSC, Kati has been actively involved in many aspects of our club, regularly volunteering for many activities and events across many different areas and programs. She was the manager of the Evolution Synchronized Skating team for 6 years, during which time she not only handled the administrative aspects of the team but also helped with their annual auction and skating camp. She continued to assist Evolution with their competition forms and competition dresses even when her daughter did not skate for Evolution. Kati has been Chair of the Security Committee for the DSC Ice Show for the past 6 years. This position includes scheduling and managing all security and usher volunteers as well as handling all security-related issues arising during the performances and rehearsals. She also regularly assists with Ice Show tryouts and set-up. Her involvement with the Ice Show has given her the opportunity to meet and interact with parents and skaters at all levels of club involvement. Kati is also actively involved in Skate Detroit, and she has been the Chair of the Monitors/Runners Committee for the past 6 years. She served as Co-Chair of the DSC Monitors/Runners Committee for the upcoming 2019 U.S. National Figure Skating Championships.

Dr. Kim Bland
Officer

Kim is the Chief Academic Officer for a nonprofit organization specializing in charter school management with over twenty years of experience in education. Kim chaired the Nominating Committee, chaired the By-Laws Committee, and is currently the Board's Vice President and co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee.

Kim understands the time and commitment it takes to support a scholar-athlete. Her son Ralph plays college basketball. Additionally, her daughter Kristina, a freshman at the University of Michigan, started skating in the Basic Skills program at DSC, spent three years competing with DSC's Evolution Synchronized Skating Teams, and is currently a part of Team USA for ice dance.

Kathy Cook
Officer

Kathy has been a devoted and active member of the Detroit Skating Club (DSC or the Club)—and U.S. Figure Skating (USFS)—for multiple decades. Each of Kathy’s three daughters were enrolled in DSC’s LTS program in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Her daughters pursued different aspects of the sport, including her oldest in freestyle, collegiate skating, and a member of Team USA in synchronized skating; her second as a competitive ice dancer; and her third as a recreational skater. Kathy also pursued skating as an adult skater while her girls trained at DSC. Kathy’s involvement in skating has extended to other generations—her granddaughter is currently a young DSC skater; and her daughter has served as a Chair of the Backstage Committee for the ice show, as a volunteer at Skate Detroit, and on multiple USFS committees.

Kathy has been heavily involved in volunteerism at the Club. She is a former Board Member and Secretary—serving from1991 to 2001, during which time the Club sent multiple athletes to national, world, and Olympic championships. Kathy represented DSC at Detroit Metro Council and served as Marketing and Publicity Chair of the LOC for the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She has also held key LOC positions at such events as Skate America, a Junior Grand Prix, and two U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships. Additionally, Kathy has volunteered for Skate Detroit in registration and judges’ hospitality. Notably, Kathy and her husband, Roger (who works as an attorney), worked closely with the club to secure its 501(c)(3) designation prompting other clubs to do the same. The 1994 USFS Championships LOC was also designated a 501(c)(3), which gave the club funds for the lobby, offices, and C rink. As a result of their service and continued dedication to DSC, Kathy and Roger were designated Life Members in 2022.

Kathy is also active in USFS. As a DSC Board Member, she has represented the Club at Governing Council on numerous occasions. She has served on the Collegiate Programs Committee, Sanctions and Eligibility Committee, and Competitions Committee. Kathy is currently a USFS national accountant and serves as Midwest Sectional Vice Chair for Accountants (Event Management Officials Sub-Committee) and as a member of Domestic Officials Recruitment and Management Committee. As a USFS accountant, Kathy has been assigned to numerous non-qualifying and qualifying events, including as chief accountant at Skate Detroit, assistant accountant at the 2019 USFS Championships (held in Detroit), as chief accountant for the 2020 USFS Championships, and as chief accountant for USFS Synchronized Skating Championships.

Kathy is thrilled to have this opportunity to continue to serve, give back to the Club, and help it pursue its mission and vision—both as a business and as a safe and inclusive space that enables all ice sport participants to achieve their goals. Her experience and leadership will bring added depth and perspective if elected to serve on the DSC Board of Directors.

Kathy holds a BS from Wayne State University and a MA from Oakland University. She lives with her husband (and dog Lulu) in West Bloomfield and Naples, Florida.

Valerie Knoelk
Officer

Valerie lives in West Bloomfield. She has been in the Healthcare and Information Technology field for many years. She has been very active in various volunteer roles during many events at DSC for over several years, including announcer, Coaches and Judges Hospitality, and many other positions too numerous to mention. In addition, she served as a member of the Nominating Committee for DSC Board of Directors and as Locker Room Committee Chair for numerous years including during the 2019 Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Little Caesars Arena.

Valerie is a competitive skater and has had the opportunity to travel to many competitions over the years and meet amazing people from all over the world who have a passion for the sport. She had the honor of skating in 2019 Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championship Opening Ceremony. She enjoys skating and sharing that passion with other people. Her passion for skating was recognized and she was asked to teach at camps for Figure Skating in Detroit.

Pine Kopka-Ross
Officer

Pine has been a Resident member of the Detroit Skating Club for the past 16 years. Originally from Traverse City, Pine moved to Ann Arbor in 2005 to study at the University of Michigan and train at DSC. He was an active national-level competitor through 2009, participated in numerous DSC ice shows, and has served as an official of Skate Detroit since he retired from competitive skating in 2010. In 2014, Pine moved to the west coast to pursue his MBA and he now lives in Seattle, WA. Pine is a Strategy & Consulting Senior Manager (Junior Partner) at Accenture where he helps some of world’s largest companies reimagine their business functions and help them to be more resilient.
Pine has remained active in the skating community since his retirement and has a vested interest in ensuring DSC’s future. He holds national-level appointments as a Judge and Technical Panel Member, serves on multiple U.S. Figure Skating committees as both regional and sectional vice chairs, and is an active official at competitions and U.S. Figure Skating events across the US. Pine also served on the Strategic Planning Committee for the U.S. Figure Skating Board of Directors and created the latest 4-year strategic plan. Finally, Pine keeps strong ties to the Midwest and serves as the Chief Referee for annual Ann Arbor Springtime Invitational, among other competitions in Colorado, California, Oregon, Ohio, etc.
DSC was Pine’s home away from home when he was learning who he was and where he wanted to be in his life. Many of his life-long friends are from the skating community and from his time at DSC – he hopes that this is the case for many generations to come.

Stefanie Madany
Officer

Stefanie lives in Bloomfield with her husband, Jim Madany and their three children, Madison (9), Cassidy (8) and Holden (8). Their oldest Madison started skating shy of her fourth birthday in the Learn to Skate program at DSC and after only a few weeks was asked to participate in joining the Ice Show. Like most of our current newcomers Stefanie was hesitant to put her daughter in the Ice Show after skating for such a short period of time. However, after her oldest child completed her first Ice Show there was no looking back. Stefanie realized that the community at DSC was priceless and soon after enrolled her twins, Cassidy and Holden into LTS. Stefanie has volunteered for Quick Change and Skate Detroit year after year and happily takes on any other positions when the club calls on her. Her daughters, Madison and Cassidy have participated in synchronized skating this past year with Onyx Infinity as well as Theatre On Ice. Showing Stefanie, is committed to helping the club develop new avenues of opportunity. She has also been at the forefront of the new revenue ventures, putting her own money into the club via sponsorships.

The club has undergone so many improvements and changes but there is still much room for growth. The unique skill set that a dynamic individual like Stefanie can bring to this board cannot be over stated. The need for fresh ideas from the perspective of a parent of multiple children is something the present board would benefit from. Stefanie understands that our community makes our club strong and that our coaches, staff, figure skaters, hockey players and parents must all feel an important part of the conversation. The safety all of those who call DSC home is paramount. As many parts of a community, Stefanie believes it is imperative that we all work for the same goal; making this club all it can be.

Stefanie graduated from Oakland University with a bachelors in communications and a minor in journalism but since having her children as enjoyed being a home engineer.