The Mission
The mission of The Team Jesse Foundation is helping families of fallen soldiers in honor of SSG Jesse Williams. We are also committed to supporting the efforts of other charitable organizations helping military families more broadly. Team Jesse was started in 2007 by Kevin Mincio and Matt Corry to honor Kevin's fallen friend and comrade, SSG Jesse L. Williams. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Kevin left a Wall Street job to join the Army and served a tour of duty in Iraq with Jesse, where they became close friends. Before Jesse left for his 2nd tour of duty, after earning a Purple Heart in his 1st tour, he asked Kevin to “look after” his daughter Amaya in the event Jesse didn't make it back. Kevin obliged and Team Jesse is one of the ways Kevin is fulfilling his promise.
Team Jesse grew out of what was initially going to be a summer lacrosse tournament team founded by Kevin and Matt. Made up of former players from their alma mater, UCONN and other friends from the lacrosse community, the team was entered into the 2007 Lax Vegas Lacrosse Tournament. Planning was under way when Kevin was informed of Jesse's death. Kevin and Matt immediately knew that honoring Jesse and raising money for Amaya would be the new mission for our lacrosse team and Team Jesse started to take shape.
With the help and support of family, friends and other connections throughout the lacrosse community, they got to work raising money for Amaya and sharing the story of Jesse, a courageous soldier who gave all for his country.
Inspired to do more in the Fall of 2010, Kevin and Matt founded the Team Jesse Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, with the help of Eileen Tang and Heather Hager. The vision of the leadership team is to assist in helping as many families of fallen soldiers as possible by raising money through awareness and events.