 | Brian Allen
I grew up in Ontario, California and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at a young age. Though I attended church regularly through the years, I did not understand what a personal relationship with Jesus was all about until meeting Jim at Stanford University. Jim listened and challenged me to live a life fully committed to Jesus and I began to grow tremendously in my spiritual walk. I felt a need to serve others and began participating in community service events around the bay area, encouraging others to attend football team bible studies, started a “teammates to church” caravan, and became the first president of the Sports Challenge club at Stanford.
My personal story is not uncommon as Jim has impacted thousands of lives at Stanford since 1970. It's an honor to serve on the Board of Sports Challenge, as I know firsthand the impact Jim and Sports Challenge has had on my life. I look forward to helping grow the legacy and mission of Sports Challenge at Stanford and beyond!
Brian works at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and resides in Emeryville with his beautiful wife April. They both attend the Well Christian Church in Dublin and are actively involved in local charities. Prior to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Brian worked at WR Hambrecht + Co, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and played four seasons in the NFL. Brian holds a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University and was a First Team All-Academic Pac 10 selection and First Team All Pac 10 Kick Returner.
|  | Andy Chan
Before coming to Stanford as a swimmer in 1980, I grew up in a Christian home while living in Southern California and Poughkeepsie, NY. From the ages of 18-30, I strayed from the Lord pursuing my career. In retrospect, it was a lonely, self-centered time without God. I returned to church in my 30's, and finally made a serious commitment to surrender my life to the Lord at the age of 39 at a PromiseKeepers conference in San Jose.
Over the past seven years while working at the Stanford business school, I have been honored to become a great friend and encourager to Jim and I frequently meet with Jim at his "office" in the Sports Cafe. I am committed to Sports Challenge because Jim saves many young student-athletes and guides them down the narrow path while at Stanford. There are many distractions and temptations that college athletes face and without the Lord, they would be lost.
Andy is married and devoted to his beautiful wife Jessie. He has three children, Alex, Natalie and Angela. In August 2009, Andy will be the Vice President for Career Development and on the business school faculty at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He most recently was the Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Career Management Center at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. Prior to his academic roles, Andy was a CEO at venture-backed startup companies and worked at many organizations including The Learning Company, The Clorox Company and Bain and Company. Andy has been actively involved with the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and was the Chairman of the Stanford Athletic Board.
|  | David Davenport
I'm not sure I've ever seen a ministry that works as effectively with students as Jim's approach of one-on-one spiritual mentoring. The impact he has had on many Stanford athletes reverberates around the world as these leaders, mentored by Jim, in turn influence others.
David Davenport is counselor to the director for external relations and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in international law and treaties, constitutional federalism, and American politics and law.
Davenport is the former president of Pepperdine University (1985–2000). Under his leadership of Pepperdine, the university experienced significant growth in quality and reputation. Davenport co-chairs Common Sense California, which is a bipartisan effort to reengage citizens and bring their pragmatic solutions to some of the state’s most pressing problems. He was also a member of Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review Commission. Davenport is a member of three corporate boards: Ameron International, Forest Lawn, and Salem Communications.
His work on policy appears in a number of places, including regular radio commentaries on the Salem Radio Network and Townhall.com, as well as frequent newspaper columns in the San Francisco Chronicle. He has contributed chapters to Hoover books on values in a free society and legal threats to American values. He has also authored articles in Policy Review on “The New Diplomacy” and “The Politics of Literacy.” Davenport is a popular public speaker, currently serving as a world affairs lecturer for Crystal Cruises.
Davenport earned a B.A. with distinction in international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University Of Kansas School Of Law, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and earned national and international awards in moot court competitions.
|  | James Pollock
I first developed a personal relationship with Jesus, under the tutelage of Mike Ryan at Peninsula Covenant Church, in 1986. That relationship has been enhanced by 10 years in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF), 20 years of Tuesday morning Bible Study under Pastor Bob Gillikin and Jim Stump, 25 years of Christian Fellowship in a Peninsula Covenant Church Care Group, plus my sitting on Christian Boards, including Treasurer of Peninsula Covenant Church, Dr. Roe Roberson's Let Them Hear Foundation, Steve and Lori Stenstrom's Kingdom First ministry, and Jim Stump's Sports Challenge.
Concerning Sports Challenge, I have personally witnessed the loving manner that Jim utilizes as he mentors the student-athletes and their walk with the Lord. I am honored to serve on the Board of Sports Challenge and look forward to helping and supporting Jim in mentoring student-athletes at Stanford. |  | Jeff Siemon
I grew up in Bakersfield, CA and graduated from Stanford in 1972 with a B.A. in history. As a Stanford Indian (in those days), I played Middle Linebacker and captained Stanford’s only back-to-back Rose Bowl championship teams in 1971 and ’72. I became a consensus All-American in my senior year, winner of the Dick Butkus Award for the best collegiate linebacker and was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Stanford has always had a special place in my heart as it was where I came to know Christ in 1968 in a freshman dorm. While Jim Stump was not yet on the Stanford Athletes in Action staff at that time, I did meet him at a summer conference before my junior year and, with Dennis Sheehan, encouraged Jim to join us at Stanford. Over the next two years, I was very close to Jim as a disciple and in active ministry together on campus. We not only experienced remarkable football success but also witnessed together scores of young athletes give their lives to Christ and many more grow significantly in their Christian faith.
I have served on the Sports Challenge Board since its inception as I have great respect for Jim and for the way God has continued to bless and use him in ministry over all of these many years.
After attending Stanford, Jeff played Middle Linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings for 11 years where he played in three Super Bowls and Four Pro Bowls. Since retiring from the Vikings, Jeff earned a Master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Simon Greenleaf School of Law and has served for 25 years as an Area Director with Search Ministries. Jeff has been married for 36 years to Dawn, whom he met at Stanford. They have four grown children, six grandchildren and live in Edina, Minnesota. Jeff and Dawn attend Grace Church of Eden Prairie and are involved in many charities and parachurch ministries in the Twin Cities area.
| | | Ray Youngdahl |
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