The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Board of Directors

Donny Emler Jr – President, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Donny’s first love is motocross. Growing up at the track during the glory days of Southern California motocross, Donny experienced many historic moments in racing. At the age of 5 Donny threw his leg over a bike for the first time, and he’s been on the gas ever since.

Donny had the unique opportunity of growing up working for one of the premier brands in American Motocross and alongside his father at FMF Racing. Starting off in athlete support, he climbed his way up to his current position as Marketing/Business Development Director. Tackling daily responsibilities from team manager, to sponsor, to marketing, Donny plays a major role in overseeing the development and growth of FMF Racing.

Sarah Frank – Chairman, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Sarah White is the fiancée of Kurt Caselli. The couple met in 2003 at A Day in the Dirt held at LACR in their hometown of Palmdale, CA. Kurt proposed to Sarah on August 29, 2013 and they planned to marry in March of the following year. The two spent their time traveling to the races and recently took a trip to Paris for Kurt’s 30th birthday. They later visited Austria, Italy and lastly, Mexico. Sarah grew up riding dirt bikes with her family and friends spending many days in California City and the Mojave desert. Sarah has been one of Kurt’s biggest supporters and is committed to making The Kurt Caselli Foundation one of Kurt’s biggest accomplishments. Sarah stated, “I am so proud to be able to take part in something so amazing in the honor of Kurt’s name. There will never come a day where I won’t continue to be his voice. I am already blown away with what we have started in such a short time.” Sarah also holds a third degree black belt in American Tang Soo Do and a third degree black belt in Hapkido. She currently teaches martial arts and kickboxing and is a Dental Hygienist.

Carolyn Caselli – Board Member, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Carolyn Caselli, Kurt's sister, is a high school and college English teacher and has been teaching for 16 years. She is most interested in motivating students to find their own strengths and confidence in order to live their best lives. With the help of the foundation, she designed The Kurt Caselli Scholarship with this in mind, since riding builds amazing character and strength. She misses Kurt every day and knows without a doubt that his influence on her life also pushes and motivates her to live her best life.

Nancy Caselli – Treasurer, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Nancy Caselli is the proud mother of Carolyn and Kurt Caselli.  Kurt affectionately called her “momma.”  Nancy and Rich Caselli met in 1973 and married in 1977.  Rich taught Nancy how to ride a motorcycle, and they both competed in Southern California District 37 off-road events. Carolyn and Kurt were born into camping and riding almost every weekend with friends, family, and the Prospectors MC.  Riding for hours and hours in the desert quickly became one of Kurt’s favorite activities, and the rest is history.  Nancy traveled to as many of Kurt’s local and international races she could but mainly “held down the fort” while the guys were off to the races.  After 36 years working at a community college, Nancy is retired and although her heart is heavy, she stays busy riding her mountain bike, playing tennis, jogging, traveling, and enjoying family and friends.  
After Rich passed away in 2008, Kurt was determined to continue making his Dad proud. Now it is our turn to make Kurt proud by honoring his legacy to make riding and racing safer for those he left behind.  Thank you for supporting The Kurt Caselli Foundation.

Jon-Erik Burleson – Board Member, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Jon-Erik Burleson is the President at Two Wheel Group, and is the former President of KTM North America, Inc. His life-long involvement in motorcycling and motorcycle racing has been, and is today, a major part of his life and key stepping-stone to his career. Jon-Erik started his career with KTM as a Regional Sales Manager in 1996. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Lake Superior State University in 1999. He continued to further his education and earned his MBA from Cleveland State University in 2001. Jon-Erik held the position of Financial Controller and next Vice President of Finance at KTM before taking over as President in 2005 after the untimely passing of a long-time friend and mentor, former President of KTM, Rod Bush. Jon-Erik took KTM through the great financial crisis to rebound as the #1 selling off-road manufacturer in the United States. Jon-Erik also served on the AMA Board of Directors from 2006-2012, was an active Board member for the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation from 2012-2013 while also serving as a member of the Motorcycle Industry Council. In 2017, he left KTM to pursue other business opportunities within the two-wheeled segment while dedicating a larger portion of his time to giving back to the foundation as well as another non-profit organization, the USMCA.

Christy Sutherlin, Secretary

Christy Sutherlin is now the Managing Partner at Two Wheel Group and was previously the Motorsports Marketing Manager for KTM North America, Inc. Christy worked alongside Kurt for 10 years promoting and supporting his race efforts as he built his career to a legendary status. In her words, “His positive demeanor off and on the bike as well as his enthusiasm for life, will be unmatched. Kurt was an advocate for helping people, specifically racers and promoters to make their quality of life and the events they produce better. I couldn’t be happier to be a part of a foundation that will continue down the path of excellence he always strived for.” Christy graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University, San Marcos in 2006.  Christy has grown up around motorcycling and has a passion for motorsports that has led her to pursue her career at KTM where she managed all youth racing programs, public relations, social media platforms, and event management.

Quinn Cody – Board Member, The Kurt Caselli Foundation

Quinn Cody was a teammate of Caselli’s in multiple desert racing events. As a professional off-road motorcycle racer, Quinn has conquered nearly every major long distance off-road race in North America, including 4 overall wins at the prestigious SCORE Baja 1000. In 2010, Quinn accomplished something that has never been done and will likely never be repeated, by becoming the first rider in history to win the 550 mile BITD Vegas to Reno riding solo, earning him international attention. After the impressive win at Vegas to Reno, Quinn received a call from Honda Europe offering him a ride in the greatest and most difficult off-road race in the world, the Dakar Rally. Quinn took full advantage of the opportunity, bringing home a 9th overall and most notable, the “Rookie of the Year” honor. When Quinn’s not racing, he enjoys cycling, mountain biking, training, riding motocross, and exploring new areas to ride either in the backcountry of Santa Barbara County or in Baja, his home away from home.

Advisors

Antti Kallonen 

Antti Kallonen is now the Director of Off-Road Racing for KTM and was the former Factory FMF/KTM Team Manager. He worked as Kurt’s Team Manager from 2006-2013 and was active in helping Kurt pursue his career goals. Kallonen began his career in racing as one of the most talked about Finnish Champions in his youth. After turning pro, he went on to race in the World Championship events before a career-ending ankle injury sidelined him in 2002. Kallonen quickly set to work as a mechanic for fellow Finish rider, Juha Salminen, and together they won 3 championships. In 2006, Kallonen took on the managing duties of the US Factory Off-Road Racing Team and has taken his knowledge and applied it toward leading the most successful off-road racing team to multiple national level championships.

David Kamo - Race Course Safety Advisor

David Kamo was a teammate and friend of Kurt. David is a long time off-road desert racer with a passion for Enduro, Rally and Dual Sporting. David is a 4-time overall winner of the SCORE Baja 1000 and a 3-time overall winner of the SCORE Baja 500. In addition to those accolades, David also has numerous other desert racing titles including 3-time SCORE Baja Champion, 2-time National Hare and Hound Vice Champion and a BITD Championship. David is a 2-time Gold and 2-time Silver medalist for Team USA at ISDE. David began working with the Foundation in 2018 helping promoters to provide safe, consistent races. 

Rhiannon Kamo - Safety Team

Rhiannon is the Business Manager at PCI Race Radios and has been with the company for 20 years. She also is a volunteer at SIDRA, a licensed Real Estate agent in southern Idaho, and a private pilot. Rhiannon is a motorsports enthusiast who has raced many off-road truck and motorcycle races herself, and together with her husband, David, they coordinate all of the KCF’s racecourse safety and other various safety initiatives/products. Rhiannon is very experienced and knowledgeable in race communications, business management, and well-versed in all things off-road racing. She volunteers her time to assistant The Kurt Caselli Foundation in carrying out safety initiatives and strives to make a difference in the off-road community through her volunteer work.

Lindsey Mashchak - Director of Operations

Lindsey is the former Web Producer for Bonnier Motorcycle Group where she managed the online properties and content for Dirt Rider Magazine for 10 years.  Following her career at the magazine, Lindsey became the Content Manager for the U.S. Motorcycle Coaching Association (USMCA) and recently she went from part-time to full-time for The Kurt Caselli Foundation where she runs our online channels, plans TKCF events, and assists in all things TKCF. Lindsey frequently attends off-road motorcycle races, has raced the National Hare & Hound series, and loves to be on the trails when she's not working. Kurt was a true inspiration to Lindsey in his racing accomplishments and how he treated others, even if he was just asking for a simple press release to be posted he was always one of the most appreciative, humble and kind racers.

Christopher B. Alexander, MD

Dr. Alexander has worked with the Factory FMF/KTM Off-Road Racing Team to help provide medical care to the team for the SCORE/Baja events in Mexico. He graduated with a Medical Degree from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago in 1988.  Internship in General Surgery was through UC San Francisco in 1989.  He graduated Orthopaedic residency training from San Francisco Orthopaedic Residency Training Program in 1993 and completed a sports medicine fellowship in 1994 from San Diego Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program.  He has worked in private practice ever since.  He started his orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine practice in the Temecula Valley in 1999 where he still practices. Dr. Alexander has participated in the sport of motocross and off-road dirt biking since 1970.  He has competed in many motocross and off-road racing events as an amateur and vet over the years. His passion for dirt biking has driven him to focus his medical talents toward those industries.  He is a staff physician for the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Center since 2007 where he provides medical coverage at AMA Supercross and National Motocross events.  Dr. Alexander prides himself on excellent care of his athletes so they may return to their sport at the highest possible level and at the earliest possible time frame.