MLS San Jose Earthquakes

Earthquakes Announce Three C-Level Promotions

Published on June 15, 2022 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
San Jose Earthquakes News Release


SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that Jed Mettee has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer, Ian Anderson has been promoted to Chief Strategy Officer, and D'Lonra Ellis has been promoted to Chief Legal Officer. The three c-level promotions follow Jared Shawlee being named President in February.

"I am so proud of the leadership, creativity, and dedication that Jed, Ian and D'Lonra have displayed during their tenures with the Quakes," said Shawlee. "These merit-based promotions in key areas of the Club are important as we continue to build a best-in-class front office structure across our organization."

Mettee is the club's longest tenured employee, originally joining the Quakes 21 years ago. Following positions with the New England Revolution (1999-2000) and Boston Bulldogs (2000-01), Mettee was hired to oversee San Jose's media relations in 2001.

The Bowdoin College graduate rose to Vice President, Marketing and Communications in January 2011 and held that title for six years. Among his most notable accomplishments in that time include winning the 2012 MLS Public Relations Department of the Year, helping conceptualize the idea for the annual California Clasico at Stanford Stadium, leading the club's brand relaunch in 2014, and developing the marketing strategy for opening of PayPal Park in 2015.

Mettee was promoted to Executive Vice President in January 2017 where he oversaw a team across marketing, communications, community relations, merchandise, and broadcasting. Mettee worked closely with Shawlee on significant strategic decisions including stadium infrastructure upgrades, brand campaigns, civic engagement, and budgeting. He also oversaw the Quakes' partnerships with KNBR and KZSF that led to an increased radio broadcast footprint as well as an affiliation with Telemundo for enhanced coverage and match broadcasts. The Quakes won the 2019 Digital Team of the Year award under his leadership.

In his new role, he will oversee marketing, communications, broadcasting, community outreach, government relations, and stadium operations, while working on the club's stadium infrastructure projects and the planned training complex at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

Mettee serves on the Positive Coaching Alliance Leadership Council and was previously on the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy Board of Directors.

Anderson is in his second stint with the Earthquakes after he rejoined the club ahead of the 2019 season.

A graduate of Claremont McKenna College where he played college soccer, Anderson started his career at the MLS league office in New York City. He joined the Quakes in 2012 in business development and then served as Special Assistant to the President, where he worked on major projects across the organization, including securing a seven-figure jersey partnership deal with Sutter Health and helping structure the club's then affiliation agreement with Reno 1868 FC.

Anderson left the club in 2016 to attend Stanford Graduate School of Business. During his time at Stanford, he worked at Goldman Sachs in the sports investment banking group and spent time in Australia as a strategy consultant on growth/expansion for the A-League.

Anderson returned to the Quakes after his MBA as Director, Business Strategy and was promoted to Vice President, Strategy in May 2019. In that role, he has led teams responsible for commercial revenue, data and analytics, strategic planning, and business operations. On the commercial side, he and his team have delivered 60-percent revenue growth over the past two years. Under his leadership, the Quakes have built strong new connections to the Silicon Valley tech community, most notably through marquee sponsorships with PayPal (stadium naming rights), Intermedia (jersey rights), Adobe, Roku, Uber, and Dropbox.

On the sporting side, Anderson leads the club's newly formed soccer data and analytics team, working closely with General Manager Chris Leitch and the soccer operations group to support player recruitment, match analysis, and research and development.

Ellis oversees day-to-day legal matters for both the Earthquakes and Major League Baseball's Oakland A's. She is responsible for corporate governance, labor and employment, intellectual property, commercial transactions, and litigation matters. She also oversees all legal aspects of real estate acquisition, entitlement, and development efforts. She was integral in the launch of Earthquakes II as part of MLS NEXT Pro.

Ellis previously served as the general counsel of Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization that serves over 15,000 students throughout California. She has additional experience as a director and senior corporate counsel in the intellectual property, marketing, and advertising group at Gap, Inc., and as an associate in the litigation practice of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk and Rabkin, now known as Arnold & Porter.

Ellis is an Adjunct Professor at UC Hastings College of Law, where she teaches sports law and the corporate counsel externship program. She sits on the Board of Directors of Bay Area Legal Aid, which provides legal services to low-income residents in seven Bay Area counties; the Board of Directors of KIPP Northern California Public Schools, which serves over 6,000 students in seven Northern California cities; and the Board of Directors of Seven Stories Institute, which runs a nonprofit bookstore collective in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. She is a member of the Alameda County Bar Association and Golden Gate Chapter of Lambda Alpha International. She received her BA in Architecture, Preservation, and Planning from Columbia University and her JD from Stanford Law School.

The club also previously announced two other executive hires in recent months. Tutul Rahman joined as Vice President of Marketing after 15 years in brand management with Coca-Cola and L'Oréal USA. Trino Martinez was hired as Vice President of Stadium Operations after 20 years in event management that includes stints with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Real Salt Lake (MLS) and Rio Tinto Stadium, and Copa America Centenario 2016.

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