Contact us on info@contactsportsfoundation.org
Foundation Directors:
Bas Rutten is considered one of the top 5 greatest fighters in mixed-martial art's history. He has also made a name for himself outside the ring as an actor, host, and television personality.
As an actor Rutten can be seen co-starring in the Kevin James feature film Here Comes the Boom for Columbia Pictures. Rutten previously appeared in Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) and lent his talents to the voice cast of Zookeeper (2011). He co-hosts the weekly MMA news program Inside MMA on HDNet, and he can be seen this fall hosting the self-defense show Punk Payback for Fuel TV. Rutten has provided color commentary for several fight organizations including the former Pride Fighting Championships.
He is the former Dutch Muay-Thai Champion, former 3 time Undefeated King of Pancrase, he is the former Undefeated UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has a 5th Degree Blackbelt in Kyokushin Karate and a 2nd Degree Blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do.
“Big” John McCarthy is a singular and celebrated figure in the world of MMA. The first ever recipient of the World MMA Lifetime Achievement Award. One of the most experienced, and influential referees across the sport Globally. He brings a unique perspective and vast experience to the CSF Board.
Awarded 2007 proclamation by the California State Athletic Commission for “dedication and commitment to other officials in helping developing their skills and concern for athletes”.
Big John is a powerful voice for safety and professional standards. He is a dedicated instructor of officials and a tireless advocate for his sport.
Jerry Friedberg is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, now in private practice. Mr. Friedberg represents a range of institutions and individuals in the financial, medical, healthcare and real estate fields. His international representation has included clients hailing from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden.
He graduated from the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley. He has been identified as one of Southern California's “Super Lawyers” for the last 10 years and received the Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award from the Disability Rights Legal Center
Jerry is the ideal person to Chair the Foundation Board, bringing his wide interests, clarity of thought and dedication to supporting achievement for all.
Lisa Tealer is a seasoned diversity and inclusion professional with over 30+ years in technical and managerial roles. Lisa has lead and partnered with key stakeholders and leaders to develop strategic diversity and inclusion plans, communication and branding strategies, initiatives focused on areas from recruitment, leadership development, employee retention and engagement. She has managed employee resource groups, designed scholarship programs and lead strategic initiatives focused on people with disabilities in the workplace and people of color in STEM to name a few.
Lisa is the Co-Chair of Mills Peninsula’s Patient Family Advisory Council (PFAC), a Northern California Sutter Health Affiliate, which focuses on service delivery models and communication strategies to assist the hospital in sustaining its focus on patient and family centered health care. She leads the African American Community Health Advisory Committee (AACHAC), a community health organization which focuses on providing health education, outreach and services to African Americans and other diverse communities. She is also an advocate for size diversity and equality in the workplace, medical and educational systems.
Lisa holds a degree in Biology from Mills College in Oakland, California and a Diversity Management Certificate from the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.
Email:
info@contactsportsfoundation.org
The Contact Sports Foundation can be contacted by mail at the following address:
Contact Sports Foundation
555 South Flower Street
Suite 4250,
Los Angles CA 90071
Mr. Arnold Urquidez is recognized throughout the world as one of the founders of American martial arts. He has been inducted into the Martial Arts Museum, the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and is known for managing and training many world champions in kick boxing and boxing. Mr. Urquidez work across contact sports includes being the author of the inaugural Rules of Kick Boxing rules in the United States (adopted by the State of California), training the first kick boxing coaches in the United States, founding the Kenpo-Shotokan style of karate (the first American martial arts style), and for being among the first promoters of foreign boxing and kick boxing fighters in Japan. Mr. Urquidez is a recognized seventh-degree black belt and martial arts Grand Master in Japan and the United States.
As current president and co-founder of USAsia Consulting, he is responsible for setting the vision and strategy of the company. He also handles public relations and projects in the sports and wine industries. Under Mr. Urquidez's guidance, USAsia has brought American sports teams to China as well as Chinese athletes to the USA for training.
Mr. Urquidez served as a Foreign Expert Consultant for the Chinese Olympic boxing team, which won its first gold medals, ever, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mr. Urquidez also served as Head Coach of Boxing at Beijing Sports University, where he trained the men's and women's boxing teams as well as the mixed martial arts team between 2006 and 2011. Mr. Urquidez's students, who competed nationwide within China, were nationally ranked.
Mr. Urquidez has also dedicated a significant amount of his time and efforts to providing community service and support for at risk youth.
Archie Galbraith has had a portfolio career starting in the Education sector moving to Healthcare and lastly to Technology. He has had a 25 year involvement in promoting health and well-being by exploiting new technologies. He is a qualified and active USA Rugby Coach with an additional interest in Martial Arts.
After 10 years in the education sector he was recruited by Accenture eventually leading the Accenture European Healthcare practice with 3000 staff and operations in over 17 countries.
His areas of interest led him to the appointments as Global Head of the Electronic Medical Records practice and Global Health Innovation Centers at Accenture. In these posts Archie worked internationally on population healthcare strategy, electronic medical records and technology innovation. This included work in Chile, Argentina, Norway, Spain, Ireland, Canada, US, Hungary and France
After 10 years, Archie left Accenture to join a start-up IT company in the US. He became CEO of this company growing the staff from 15 to over 500 staff in the US. He returned briefly to an operational Healthcare role, spending 18 months as Chief Information Officer at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles.
Most recently Archie founded a technology focused private investment company which promotes work in the biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology industries.