"I believe it's imperative that the private sector does more to reduce drug misuse. I’m excited to work with the industries that contribute to risk and addiction to make strategic investments that will save lives and protect the next generation of responsible adults."
Ethan Zohn - Founding Board Member
Ethan is a former professional soccer player, cancer survivor, winner of the hit reality television show Survivor Africa and co-founder of the award winning global adolescent health organization, Grassroot Soccer. Ethan is well-known for his creative philanthropic efforts, such as dribbling a soccer ball from Boston to Washington D.C. to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS, running multiple marathons and endurance races to raise money for cancer research, and using his honeymoon in a refugee camp in Greece to raise money and awareness for programs that support Syrian migrants. As demonstrated by his charitable work, volunteerism, and community involvement, Ethan believes that a better and healthier world can be achieved through education, advocacy and inspiration.
"We've shown that the fear-based and punitive programs linked to the failed War on Drugs don't work. If we want young people to be safe and responsible we need to challenge and inspire them through positive activities and relationships. Programs that provide honest and accurate information, delivered by people that young people trust, should be the mainstream of drug prevention."
Kirk Friedrich - Executive Director
Kirk is an educator, social entrepreneur, and non-profit executive with more than 16 years of professional experience working in the field of adolescent behavior change. After teaching, coaching, and playing professional soccer in southern Africa, Kirk co-founded the innovative HIV prevention organization Grassroot Soccer by launching and designing its programs in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Kirk then served as Executive Director and led the organization to scale its operations through strategic partnerships to educate more than 2 million young people in 50 countries. Having worked and consulted with dozens of leading youth-serving non-profits from across the world, Kirk has become a vanguard and key advocate for the value of sport-based positive youth development and adolescent health.
"Safe Roots Foundation provides an opportunity to get ahead of the problems that I see and treat on a daily basis. I'm excited to have the opportunity to do work that will lead to less injury, illness, death, and incarceration, particularly for young people."
Andrew Kalishman M.D. - Founding Board Member
Drew is a Board certified Emergency Physician and Medical Informaticist with Presbyterian Medical Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With more than 12 years experience working in emergency rooms across New Mexico, Drew has treated thousands of patients that have experienced acute trauma as well as chronic health issues resulting from substance misuse and addiction.
“I work with families every day that struggle with the effects of drug misuse. I’m delighted to be part of an organization that is helping families, schools, and communities to develop stronger prevention initiatives.”
Mindy Gutow PhD - Founding Board Member
Mindy is a licensed Psychologist and School Psychologist with a background in teaching, evaluation, therapy, and consultation services. She is the founder of Great Minds of New Mexico, a company that specializes in educational, psychological, and neuropsychological assessment and consultation services for children, adolescents, and young adults. Mindy has worked as a school psychologist in Albuquerque and Baltimore Public Schools, and taught elementary school in New York Public Schools. She was also on faculty at Towson University where she taught counseling and assessment skills to undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, in addition to her private practice, Mindy is an adjunct professor at Central New Mexico Community College. She has published and presented on the topics of post-traumatic stress disorder in children, bullying, parenting and the parent-child relationship, teacher resilience, and school and community consultation.