Kraken leaders

Michael Tatar is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kraken Academy. His background brings together supply chain management, education, leadership, and soccer — experiences that have strongly shaped both the idea behind Kraken and the way he approaches youth development.

Michael has built his professional career in Supply Chain Management and holds a Master’s degree in Teaching. His experience in business has taught him the importance of structure, communication, accountability, and leadership, while his background in education has shaped his understanding that every child learns differently, develops at their own pace, and responds to different kinds of guidance.

Soccer has also been an important part of Michael’s life and a major inspiration behind Kraken Academy. As a father of two, he sees youth sports not only as a place to develop athletic ability, but as an environment where children can learn confidence, discipline, decision-making, teamwork, responsibility, and resilience. His interest in European soccer culture and player-development philosophy has helped shape Kraken FC as the Academy’s first major program.

But Michael’s vision for Kraken extends beyond the soccer field. He believes sports can be a powerful entry point into a broader environment where children are encouraged to think, communicate, lead, build healthy habits, discover new strengths, and continuously grow.

Through Kraken Academy, Michael’s goal is to build an organization that helps children become not only stronger athletes, but confident, capable young people prepared for opportunities and challenges both on and off the field.

Lou Branquinho serves as President of Kraken Academy, bringing a career built around service, leadership, teamwork, and community.

His professional experience includes roles as a firefighter, law enforcement professional, and government project manager. Across these very different environments, Lou has learned the importance of discipline, accountability, communication, teamwork, and staying focused when challenges arise. His experience managing complex projects and coordinating people and operations has also shaped the way he approaches leadership at Kraken Academy.

For Lou, however, Kraken is about more than professional experience. Family and community are central to his motivation. He believes some of the greatest impact adults can have is through the opportunities, support, and examples they provide to the next generation.

Sports are an important part of that vision. Lou sees athletics as a powerful way for young people to build confidence, character, discipline, leadership, and the ability to work with others. But he also believes that a child’s development should not stop at athletic performance. Children need opportunities to grow socially, emotionally, physically, and as members of their community.

At Kraken Academy, Lou is helping create an environment where children and families can come together, where young people are encouraged to support one another, and where growth matters both on and off the field.

His goal is to help build a strong community around Kraken — one that gives children the tools, confidence, relationships, and opportunities to become stronger athletes, stronger leaders, and stronger people.

Anna Tatar serves as Chief Operating Officer of Kraken Academy, helping turn the organization’s vision into the people, programs, partnerships, and systems needed to create meaningful opportunities for children and families.

With nearly two decades of experience in talent solutions, human capital, recruiting, business development, and organizational transformation, Anna has spent much of her career helping organizations bring people, strategy, and execution together. At Kraken Academy, she brings that experience to building an organization designed to grow responsibly while staying focused on its purpose.

For Anna, that purpose is also deeply personal. As a mother, she has seen how many different environments shape a child — school, sports, family, friendships, health, communication, and the adults around them. She believes children benefit most when these influences work together to help them build confidence, resilience, self-awareness, healthy habits, and leadership skills.

Anna sees sports as a powerful starting point because they naturally create opportunities to experience teamwork, discipline, challenge, courage, and growth. At the same time, she believes the greatest impact comes when sports are connected with wellness, education, leadership, family involvement, and community.

At Kraken Academy, Anna is focused on building the operational foundation that can bring this larger vision to life — developing strong systems, bringing the right people together, supporting program development, and helping the organization grow without losing sight of the children and families it is being created to serve.

Olga Grinko serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Kraken Academy, helping shape the organization’s brand, communication, community outreach, and the way Kraken connects with local families and partners.

Olga earned her degree in Marketing and has nearly two decades of experience across different areas of the field, including marketing, advertising, sales, social media, content creation, brand development, and communications. Her professional experience has taught her that successful marketing begins with understanding people — listening to what they need, building trust, communicating clearly, and connecting ideas with the communities they are meant to serve.

Becoming a mother of three gave that experience a new and more personal perspective. As her older sons became involved in soccer and other sports, Olga saw firsthand how strongly the right environment can influence a child’s confidence, friendships, motivation, discipline, and personal growth.

That experience is an important part of what connects her to Kraken Academy. Olga wants to help create the kind of place she would choose for her own children — somewhere they are excited to be, while also gaining new experiences, building confidence, discovering their strengths, and growing as individuals.

At Kraken Academy, Olga is focused not simply on promoting the organization, but on building meaningful connections with the community and helping families understand and become part of the larger vision. For her, Kraken is an opportunity to create something together with local families — an environment where sports can open the door to many different opportunities for children to learn, connect, explore, and grow.

Vadim Grinko serves as Chief Financial Officer of Kraken Academy, bringing experience in finance, government service, management, and business to help build a strong and responsible foundation for the organization.

Throughout his professional career, Vadim has developed a strong understanding of financial responsibility, operations, accountability, strategic decision-making, and organizational management. His experience in both finance and leadership has taught him the importance of thoughtful planning, responsible use of resources, and building systems that allow an organization to grow sustainably over time.

Sport has also been a lifelong part of Vadim’s story. He became deeply involved in soccer from a young age and has remained connected to sports throughout his life. Becoming a father of three sons gave him a new perspective on what sports and other developmental opportunities can mean for children.

Watching his own children grow through athletics has reinforced his belief that the right environment can offer much more than physical development. It can help children build confidence, discipline, resilience, friendships, responsibility, and a sense of belonging.

At Kraken Academy, Vadim combines this personal connection with his professional experience to help create the financial foundation needed for the organization to grow responsibly. He supports financial planning, budgeting, accountability, and long-term decision-making as Kraken develops its programs and expands its impact.

For Vadim, Kraken Academy is an opportunity to help create more possibilities for his own children and for families throughout the community — giving young people a place to challenge themselves, discover new interests, build confidence, and grow.