Our Team

Mwaliko Ahmed
​Program Manager 

​Most kids call him Captain Maliko (Malik). He was born and raised in Kenya, and migrated from Kenya to the United States at the age of sixteen. He attended Urbana University, where he received his Bachelors in Education and played for Urbana Men’s Soccer team for 4 years.   

Malik migrated to the United States in April 2004, to Columbus, Ohio. In 2006, he moved from the North Side of the town to West Side (The Hilltop). He lived in Wedgewood Village throughout his High School and College career. 

There are more than two thousand youths in the Hilltop area who need mentors. Malik's goal is to uplift the Hilltop community through the work he does with F3.

Abner Zambrano
Partnership Lead & Program Manager

In May 2016, Abner Zambrano migrated from Honduras to the United States at the age of 19. The city of Columbus welcomed him with open arms, and in a short period of time, he fell in love with the city he now calls home. Three years prior to becoming the program manager for Soccer and Literacy Program, he began his U.S. coaching career as an assistant coach for Columbus East FC and was also the assistant coach for Z12 Futsal Academy.
 
When he is not serving in his role as program manager, he is scouting for the Columbus Crew Academy and working as a U-10 coach at Galacticos FC, a local soccer club for Hispanic youth. He also enjoys journalism, meeting new people, and exploring the different cultures that Columbus has to offer.
 
Abner cherishes the moments when he is able to share his passion for soccer and learning with children through the CESA Tiny Tots program. Through his training sessions, Abner aims to demonstrate to the young players that all goals are reachable with perseverance and dedication, and that the true winners in life are those who strive to be better each day.

Benjamin Levey
​​Executive Director

​Benjamin Levey is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Final Third Foundation (F3). He has over 9 years of experience in the nonprofit sports and development industry. In 2011, his passion for helping through sport developed when he founded the Likoni Community Football League (LCFL), based in Mombasa Kenya. For the past eight years Levey has managed and operated several sports and development nonprofit organizations, events and programs, including, Columbus East FC (CEFC), Columbus Nations Cup, F3 Soccer & Literacy Programming, and Columbus East Soccer Association (CESA). 

Levey is a graduate from Fisher College of Business with a Masters in Business Administration. 

Leiah Groom-Thomas
​​Director of Education

Leiah Groom-Thomas is the Director of Education for Final Third Foundation (F3). She is responsible for the development, implementation, evaluation, and expansion of F3's Soccer & Literacy programming. Her expertise includes facilitating children's language and literacy development and identifying evidence-based practices to support reading and comprehension. Leiah is a Research Project Manager at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University where she works at the intersection of research and practice. Most importantly, she shares F3's goal of providing high-quality learning experiences for all students in the community.

​Leiah holds an M.A. in Reading and Literacy in Early and Middle Childhood and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education from The Ohio State University. Her background as a practitioner informs her work and scholarly interests. Leiah is in the final stages of receiving her Ph.D from Ohio State with a dissertation focusing on examining the language learning opportunities and outcomes of an early childhood education program aimed at closing the reading achievement gap. Leiah has worked with numerous educators, administrators, and school districts over the past 10 years.

Prior to Brown University, Leiah was a Graduate Research Associate at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at Ohio State. Prior to Ohio State, Leiah was a teacher at Grace Christian School in Blacklick, Ohio, where she also assisted in organizing and operating various camp programs. Leiah currently lives in Upper Arlington with her husband, Jonathan.

Max Rosenthal 
​​Director of Environmental Awareness

Max Rosenthal is the Director of Environmental Awareness for Final Third Foundation (F3). He is responsible for overseeing F3’s Environmental Awareness Program (EAP), which is aimed to enhance the relationship our park has with its neighboring ecosystems. To do so the EAP executes landscape agendas at the Easton Soccer Park, such as tree planting, habitat/biodiversity remediation, and general field maintenance. Additionally, the EAP aims to provide various educational opportunities for our F3 family including environmental education programs in our park garden (coming soon).
​
Max, a Gahanna native, is no stranger to the F3 family as he is a founding CEFC coach. His background coaching for CEFC, working at the Boys and Girls Club, and coaching at all levels within the Gahanna Lincoln HS Boys Soccer program (where he still coaches) provides him with the experience of working with youth at every age between 4-18 in an educational role. Max is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a M.A. in Environmental Studies, and Ohio State University with a B.S. in Landscape Architecture. His areas of focus within his studies were in environmental education and food production, and has a personal area of interest in the intersection of these two practices.

Seamus Reilly
​​Director of Coaching Education

Seamus Reilly was born in Manchester, England. At an early age his talent on the field brought him to Manchester United's Youth Academy where he developed as a player. Seamus holds an M.A. in Education, and B.S. in Physical Education. Reilly holds his FA (Preliminary) England, NSCAA Premier Coaching License, and USC Premier Coaching License. He has 20 years of college coaching experience as a Head Coach at NCAA III and assistant at NCAA Division 1 and NAIA Schools. Coach Reilly is also a senior lecturer at The Ohio State University.

Monique Reventlow
Administrative Director

Monique Reventlow is the Administrative Director for Final Third Foundation (F3).  She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business & Sports Management from Capital University. Since 2018, Monique has been the Assistant Coach for the Wittenberg University Women's Soccer Program.  She also has over 7 years of experience in coaching youth players. 

For six years Monique has played for the local professional Women's Soccer team, Columbus Eagles FC. She also plays beach soccer for California-based Beach Soccer LA, and travels throughout the country and internationally to compete. Additionally, she is the Co-Captain of the inaugural Columbus Futsal Women's team. 

Whether its on grass, sand, or a court, Monique's passion in life is to develop the women's soccer game globally.