Currently in his 35th season with Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), RC Buford was named CEO in

2019. In this role, he provides day-to-day alignment and long-term strategic vision for the 500-plus full-

time and 1,000-plus part-time staff who make up SS&E. The organization owns and operates the San

Antonio Spurs, Austin Spurs (NBA G League) and San Antonio FC (USL Soccer), as well as manages the

day-to-day operations of the Frost Bank Center, The Rock at La Cantera, Toyota Field and STAR Complex.

The two-time NBA Executive of the Year leads the organization toward success and purpose. His shared

vision with Dr. Andy Walshe in 2015 inspired The Rock at La Cantera, a multi-phase $500 million legacy

project that will have a transformative impact on the community and beyond. The complex opened in

October 2023 and features a 22-acre park, the Victory Capital Performance Center and Frost Plaza. The

second phase of the project will feature a human performance research center and space for medical,

hospitality and office use.

Prior to being named CEO, RC was president of SS&E sports franchises from 2008-19, where he served as

general manager of the Spurs while overseeing sports administration for the other teams in the SS&E

family.

RC started his professional career as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas in 1984 after

spending one season as a graduate assistant. During each of his five seasons at Kansas, the Jayhawks

competed in the NCAA Tournament. Buford was on the coaching staff for the team that won the 1988

NCAA Championship.

He made the move to the NBA in 1988 when he joined the Spurs as an assistant coach on Larry Brown’s

staff, which also included assistant coaches Gregg Popovich, Alvin Gentry and Ed Manning. He spent four

seasons as an assistant with the Spurs, helping win back-to-back Midwest Division Titles in 1990 and

1991. RC then joined the Los Angeles Clippers for the 1992-93 campaign, as the first assistant for Coach

Brown, before serving as an assistant coach with Lon Kruger at the University of Florida for their 1993-94

Final Four season.

Hired by Gregg Popovich, RC returned to San Antonio as the team’s head scout in 1994. Three years

later, he was elevated to the Spurs director of scouting and was eventually promoted to vice

president/assistant general manager in the summer of 1999. He was named general manager of the

Spurs in 2002.

RC played basketball at Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State before receiving his degree from

Friends University. He is actively involved in continuing education at Stanford, Harvard and Duke

business schools.

An activate participant in Basketball Without Borders Africa, RC is an advisory board member for

Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University. In addition, he has served on

the board of directors of PeacePlayers International.

RC’s wife, Beth, is a former golfer on the LPGA Tour. Both are active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research

Foundation. Their son, Chase, is a member of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball staff, and their daughter,

C.C., is currently coaching women’s golf at UNC Charlotte.

RC and his wife adopted two children, Alexis Wangmene from Cameroon in 2004, and Samer Jasser from

Israel in 2007. The Bufords met Alexis through a Basketball Without Borders program in Johannesburg

and Samer through PeacePlayers International.

Ashley Gossen is the Executive Vice President of Global Corporate

Recruitment at greater:SATX Regional Economic Partnership. She

leads a high-performing team responsible for driving the

organization’s business development pipeline, from strategic

outreach and project management to landing transformative, job-

creating investments across the Greater San Antonio region.

Ashley brings deep experience in economic development, having

held roles at Deloitte, Team Texas/Texas Economic Development

Council, the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater San

Marcos Partnership. Her work reflects a career-long commitment

to growing Texas communities through strategic business

attraction.

She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin

and an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Ashley

is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the

International Economic Development Council and serves on the

Board of Directors for the Texas Economic Development Council.

Ashley’s leadership has earned national recognition, including

being named to the San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in

2025, Development Counsellors International’s 40 Under 40 in

2021 and Consultant Connect’s Top 50 Economic Developers in

North America in 2022.

She lives in the San Antonio region with her family.

Dr. Schlesinger has led the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) in San Antonio,

Texas, since 2017. Under Dr. Schlesinger’s leadership Texas Biomed has grown from 360 to 420

professionals and funding has more than tripled to nearly $100+ million a year in multi-year

research grants and government and industry contracts. An internationally recognized authority

in infectious diseases, Dr. Schlesinger has authored more than 230 peer-reviewed articles and

reviews and served on the faculty of the University of Iowa and The Ohio State University

among others. Since his arrival at Texas Biomed, the Institute has invested over $200M in

campus improvements, faculty and staff recruitment and new programs.

Bob is a retired Partner of Booz & Company in New York. Booz & Company is a billion dollar management consulting firm with over 70 offices worldwide. Prior to Booz & Company Bob was a partner with the Management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney in New York.

Bob has over 20 years of experience in management consulting. Most of his work has been with clients in the Life Sciences industry. His clients also included a number of major pharmaceutical companies as well as a range of medical device and supply companies.

Bob also worked extensively with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to redesign the supply chain and financial processes for the agency’s $4 billion Vaccine For Children (VFC) program. Additionally, Bob worked with the President’s Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) as well as with the Global Fund.

Bob’s work with his clients addressed a range of topics including defining corporate strategies, developing market entry and launch strategies as well as working with these clients to improve the overall effectiveness of their organizations and operations. Bob holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan and he holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Principal and Director of Urban Design at TBG Partners, Samantha is an architect and urban designer whose work has taken her around the globe. Committed to building consensus through collaborative partnerships, community engagement, and connections to place, her empathy and high degree of conscientiousness pervade all areas of her work. Samantha’s project experience includes mixed-use development, downtown revitalization, campus master plans, and urban streetscapes.