Ray Fredrick

Dr. Ray Fredrick believes in the power of physical activity and sport to inspire personal growth and social change. As an educational and sport professional with over two decades of experience serving at the school, district, and university levels, Ray collaborates with community-focused individuals and organizations to provide innovative services and solutions for growth, performance, and cultural alignment & transformation.

Ray is a co-founder and director of Directed Energy, a New York City-based educational organization dedicated to the development of youth in under-resourced communities. Directed Energy positively engages youth and their communities by designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating physical, character, and health education curricula and programs. Directed Energy partners with administrators, teachers, coaches, parents, and community members to empower young people and build positive cultures through physical activity and sport.

Growing up in Chapel Hill-Durham, North Carolina, Ray was a member and youth leader of the world-renown Bouncing Bulldogs, a jump rope program that positively directed his life trajectory. Ray is a former two-time individual national champion in single rope freestyle and was the program’s first individual national champion. For several years, Ray directed the highly successful and popular jump rope program, Jumping Beyond the Ropes, at the 92NY and Nightingale-Bamford School in New York City.

Ray’s scholarly research has investigated attitudinal influences on youth physical activity in addition to reflective and educational approaches to teaching character and health through sport. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and has presented nationally and internationally. His publications have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Teaching in Physical Education and Journal of Youth Development. Ray is an active member of several professional associations including the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Ray earned his Ed.D. and M.A. degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University. He earned his B.S. in Political Science from the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. Prior to his work in education, Ray played and coached Division I basketball at West Point. Ray serves as an advisor to numerous groups and organizations on creating positive cultures and cultivating character growth through sport.