Board
ABSF Board Members (L to R): Mike Testa, Rachael Richards, Erik Schultz, Arthur Schultz, Jon Schultz, Einar Schultz, Einar Christensen, and Dave Straley gather outside historic Fjellseter Cabin in Oslo, Norway.
Arthur B. Schultz
Chairman of the Board
Founded ABSF in 1985
Incline Village, Nevada, and Oslo, Norway.
B.A. in Accounting, University of Minnesota, 1951.
Certified Public Accountant in Minnesota & California, 1955-1985.
Board member of several U.S. and Norwegian corporations; co-founder of Cobra Golf, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ). Previously trustee of Sierra Nevada College; currently serving on the advisory board of the U.C. Berkeley - St. Petersburg School of Management.
Personal interests include mountaineering, nordic skiing, rowing, and World War II history.
Einar Schultz
Board Member since 2004
Hovik, Norway
BSc Industrial Management and Project Management, Agder College, Norway 1984.
Einar
has broad international business experience, and has held various
management and executive positions within international enterprises in
several countries. His expertise is with project management and
industrial development.
His personal, philanthropic interests include international and
cultural understanding, microenterprises, and emphasis on aiding the
disabled.
Erik Schultz
Board Member since 1996
Executive Director of ABSF since 1997
Founder and Director of The Confluence Fund (2008), a grantmaking foundation focused on conservation in the U.S. Northern Rockies.
Sun Valley, Idaho
B.A. in Political Science, University of California, Davis 1991; M.A. in Environmental Studies, Prescott College, Arizona 2007.
Philanthropic interests include socially responsible economic development, wildlands conservation, mobility/independence issues, and ethnic/cultural tolerance and understanding.
Personal interests include skiing, rivers, nature, live music, and international travel.
Jon Schultz
Board Member since 2004
Kolsas, Norway
Attorney-at-law from Oslo University, Norway.
Jon runs his own legal practice in Sandvika outside Oslo, Norway, working mainly with small and medium enterprises including several early-phase companies. He also serves on various boards.
Philanthropic interests includes creating opportunities for people in the third world to secure income, health and a good life in harmony with their own ambitions.
Personal interests include skiing and outdoor life in general. Jon lives outside Oslo with his wife and three children.
Dave Straley
Board Member since 1999
Incline Village, Nevada, USA.
B.A. in Economics, California State University at Long Beach, 1970; M.A. in Economics, California State University at Long Beach, 1974.
Dave Straley is founder and President of Third Creek Investments, an investment advisory company managing over $25 million in assets.
Prior to founding Third Creek Investments, Dave worked in public accounting and as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Dave has over 20 years of experience with the design and management of federally-funded foreign aid programs.
Dave has led design teams and developed USAID projects in diverse areas such as land reform, infrastructure, HIV/AIDS prevention, small business development, community based natural resource management, and democracy and governance. He served as a Foreign Service officer with USAID in Costa Rica and Indonesia, and has consulted with USAID in 10 other Latin American and African countries.
Dave's domestic experience includes 20 years in tax planning and preparation, small business consulting, and specialty work in health care accounting and reimbursement consulting.
Dave served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nicaragua from 1974 to 1976, where he worked on Managua’s post earthquake reconstruction planning.
He is fluent in Spanish and Indonesian.
Einar Christensen
Board Member since 2004
Gothenburg, Sweden
MA Business Administration, Stockholm School of Economics, 1975. Partner at PWC since 1988.
Philanthropic interests include creating sustainable development based on harmony with nature, understanding of different cultures/ethnicities, peace activities based on global understanding, and equal opportunities from childhood.
Personal interests includes outdoor life, sports, and physical activity in general. Einar lives in Gothenburg with his wife and three children.
Mike Testa
Board Member since 1999
San Anselmo & Truckee, California, and Kilauea, Kauai
B.A. Economics, University of California, Davis, 1992.
Mike Testa is founder and CEO of Hideaway Vacation Homes, Inc. (see www.hvh.com) He was formerly Director of Strategic Accounts at Salesforce.com, leading a team focused on selling Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications to global companies like HP, FedEx, Yahoo, Intel, eBay, Amazon, and National Semiconductor.
As an ABSF Trustee, Mike is involved in coordinating funding for Disabled Mobility, Global Understanding, and Microenterprise initiatives. Over the past 7 years, ABS Foundation has made grants in excess of $3.5M dollars to worthy organizations around the world.
Achieving success in the professional and philanthropic worlds has been both challenging and rewarding. However, Mike’s true love is to spend time with his friends and family enjoying the outdoors, playing music, exercising, traveling, and generally loving life.
Rachael Knapp Richards
Board member since 2002
Program Officer since 2007
Lander, Wyoming
B.S. in Wildlife Biology, UC Davis, 1992; B.S.N. from Georgetown University, 2006.
For 10 years, Rachael taught glacier mountaineering, rock climbing and leadership skills in remote mountain ranges throughout the world for the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). She is an Instructor for the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI), teaching pre-hospital medicine to individuals living, working & playing in remote environments. She is also an RN, working primarily with women and newborns.
Rachael's philanthropic interests include protecting all things wild and free; empowering women, children and the disabled to pursue their dreams; and supporting processes which promote peace and greater understanding among all people.
Rachael loves all things outdoors - her primary pursuits include skiing, running, biking, climbing, hiking and exploring remote regions of the planet. She currently lives in Lander with her husband, 3-year old son and 1 year old daughter.