By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
For the Birmingham Times
Jeff Underwood was the first person hired as a full-time employee of the Lakeshore Foundation. He was hired on July 7, 1991.
“It was a professional opportunity and challenge to come in at that stage … to see if I could successfully help build the organization,” said Underwood, who now serves as the facility’s president and CEO.
Underwood took the job without having a background in the world of disability, but the bigger challenge may have been working for a board that included Lakeshore Foundation founder Michael Stephens, who died on July 1, 2017.
“I certainly knew that Mr. Stephens was paying very close attention,” Underwood, 65, recalled. “I also knew he was a phone call away from offering his advice, his wisdom to me as I did my work in leading the organization. … I knew that the Lakeshore Foundation was considered his baby, his child. He was not going to ignore that child. … He was going to be as helpful as he could be to make sure Lakeshore had a promising future.”
In 2003, the Lakeshore Foundation was designated a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site. The facility also is the home of USA Wheelchair Rugby and currently has 13 other athletic teams that compete in a wide range of individual and team sports—for athletes ranging from 6-year-olds who are just starting out to adults who have qualified for the Paralympic Games.
‘Big Heart’
Underwood said he learned from Stephens “that one can be a successful, tough-minded manager and still have a big heart for people.” He also learned the power of a strong vision and that people and relationships are critical to success.
As the Lakeshore Foundation’s president and CEO, Underwood provides a vision and focused plan for direction of the organization and communicates and gains support for that plan from the board and staff. Most of all, he must “lead by example,” he said.
Underwood directs 160 employees of the Lakeshore Foundation, which has an $11.7 million budget.
Left Politics
Born in Albuquerque, N.M., Underwood has lived in metro Birmingham most of his life. He attended Homewood schools and the old Shades Valley High School, before Homewood established its own school system. From there, he studied at the University of Alabama and Auburn University at Montgomery.
Underwood was the associate director of community affairs for the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as a legislative assistant to a U.S. Congressman prior to assuming his current position. He also has served in elected office as a Homewood city councilman and an Alabama state senator. He left politics to devote his full professional energies to the Lakeshore Foundation.
Great Heights
Taking over from Stephens was not easy for Underwood, according to Anita Smith, author of “Sports Rehabilitation and the Human Spirit: How the Landmark Program at the Lakeshore Foundation Rebuilds and Restores Lives.”
At age 26, Stephens was partially paralyzed after diving into a shallow pool. He would eventually learn to walk again, an experience that fueled his desire to develop better ways to help the disabled to live fuller lives through physical activity.
Stephens started the Lakeshore Foundation in 1984, and Underwood took it to great heights, Smith said.
“You can see the seeds that [Stephens] planted, and you can see how [Underwood] has helped harvest that garden,” Smith said. “It’s a wonderful combination.”
Even though Stephens and Underwood are different people with different styles, Smith said, “Lakeshore has benefited from having had both of them.”
