Outdoor Outreach Board of Directors

Christopher Rutgers

Outdoor Outreach – Executive Director

Christopher Rutgers is the founder and executive director of Outdoor Outreach.  As a competitive skier, whitewater river guide, expedition rock climber and avid surfer, Chris has spent most of his life developing a passion for the outdoors.  It was this passion that helped Chris overcome his own at-risk childhood.  In 1999, he founded Outdoor Outreach as a means to give at-risk and underprivileged youth the same life changing opportunities.  Drawing from his own personal experiences, Chris developed the Outdoor Outreach philosophies that have proven to be so successful working with at-risk and underprivileged youth.

As founder of Outdoor Outreach, Chris has been nationally recognized as an expert on programming for youth at-risk.  He is frequently asked to speak at national conferences and symposiums, and to consult with government agencies, academic institutions and other nonprofit organizations.  Chris has served as an advisor to the California Governor's Office, California State Parks and the National Park Service on developing programs for at-risk youth.  In addition, Chris has won numerous local and national awards for his programs' successes.  He is a past recipient of San Diego's KGTV Channel 10 Leadership Award and Newsweek magazine's "America's Best."

David Rutgers

Kaye, Rose, Maltzman, LLP – Director of Administration

David is the director of administration for Kaye, Rose & Maltzman, LLP, a prominent San Diego law firm. He has over 30 years of experience as a business manager, comptroller and administrator, and previously owned and operated his own financial consulting business.  From 1987 to 1997, he served as business manager for Bodkin, McCarthy, Sargent & Smith, one of Los Angeles' premier law firms.  From 1981 to 1987, Mr. Rutgers was employed with McKittrick, Jackson, DeMarco & Peckenpaugh as well as Zobrist, Vienna & McCullough, both of which are prominent Los Angeles firms.  He is responsible for administration of all four offices of Kaye, Rose & Maltzman, LLP as well as the firm's long-term administrative and business planning.  He also handles facilities, technology management and human resources.  As Treasurer, David is responsible for and oversees all Outdoor Outreach financial matters.

Todd Smith

District Outreach and Events. REI-Southern California

Todd has been a San Diegan for six years, volunteering with Outdoor Outreach for the past four, and serving on the Board for the past two.  Todd's current position with REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) encompasses much of what Outdoor Outreach stands for.  He oversees any event or outreach-related activities that the retail stores are involved in.  Many of these include introducing kids to the outdoors and working with nonprofits that help promote responsible outdoor recreation, conservation of the lands we have fun on and getting youth excited about the outdoors.  Todd has been rock climbing for 11 years, taking him all over the country on many exciting trips.  Todd's passion for climbing helped in the formation a new nonprofit called the Allied Climbers of San Diego, where he also serves on the board and is the volunteer chair.  Todd's passion is organizing fundraising events for Outdoor Outreach, which, in return, help give more kids the experiences that helped change his own life.

Nick Rhea

Bombora Investments, Inc. – President

After spending one too many winters in Kansas, Nick moved west in February 2001 to bask in San Diego's sun.  He then spent the next few years in the wireless industry.  In January 2004 Nick changed his focus on real estate and other investments.  He founded Bombora Investments, Inc., whose current drive is real estate investment.  As president of Bombora Investments, Nick is a successful realtor and real estate investor.  Nick has made San Diego his home and enjoys all America's Finest City has to offer.  Initially, rock climbing and surfing drew Nick to Outdoor Outreach, but it's the enthusiastic kids and dedicated volunteers that make it enriching.

Laura Correa

WindFire Investment Group, LLC – Partner

Laura brings over 12 years' experience as a residential real estate agent at Prudential California Realty and United Brokers Network, four years as a partner and real estate investor at WindFire Investment Group and five years as operations manager at Alero Technology, Inc.  As a native San Diegan, Laura enjoys traveling, reading, exercising and the outdoors.  Her desire to help brings her to Outdoor Outreach, where she volunteers in several of the programs.  Now as a board member, Laura hopes to get more involved with the promotion, fund raising and sponsorship of the organization.

Julia Ronlov

Biotechnology Consultant

Julia Ronlov began volunteering with Outdoor Outreach in 2005.  Ms. Ronlov's experience includes evaluating and investing in start-up businesses, assisting with strategic development of investee companies, serving on corporate boards, and institutional fundraising.  Until becoming a business consultant to life science companies and nonprofits, Ms. Ronlov worked as a senior associate at Forward Ventures, a San Diego-based venture capital firm with over $500 million under management.  Prior to her venture capital role, Ms. Ronlov worked at Chiron Viagene, a biotechnology company developing gene therapy treatments for HIV and cancer.  Ms. Ronlov holds and MBA from the University of San Diego and a BS in biological sciences from California State University Chico.

Judy Sandweiss

Human Resources

Judy has always loved the outdoors and was attracted to Outdoor Outreach for its mission to give at-risk youth the same opportunities she and her three sisters had growing up.  A native of San Diego, she spent four years throwing snowballs in Ithaca, New York, six years enjoying the beauty of the Bay Area, and one year working at Sun Microsystems' office in Bangalore, India where she had to opportunity to volunteer with kids in an orphanage.  Judy received a BA from UCSD and two master's degrees from Cornell University, and she is currently in Human Resources at Qualcomm. 

Douglas W. Burke

Chief Executive Officer, Defense Web Technologies

Doug Burke is the Chief Executive Officer of DefenseWeb Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Humana, Inc.  Mr. Burke drives the strategic vision for DefenseWeb and manages the Company’s Sales, Marketing, and Business Development.  Under his leadership, the Company has achieved a cumulative annual revenue growth rate of over 92% since 2003.  Prior to DefenseWeb, Mr. Burke held senior leadership positions in several enterprise software and software services companies including Simile Software, Keylime Software, HNC Software, GlobeSet, and SAIC. Mr. Burke holds a BA in Economics from the University of California (1990) and an MS in Telecommunications from the University of Pittsburgh (1994).  Mr. Burke has been married to his wife Carol for 10 years and has two sons, William (9) and Ryan (6).  Mr. Burke lives in San Diego, California and enjoys running, swimming, backpacking, surfing, and spending time with his family.

Olin M. Hyde

V.P. Sales & Marketing, Integrant Inc.

Olin is a seasoned high-tech business development executive that relocated to San Diego in 2006. Currently, he is responsible for all sales and marketing activities for Integrant Inc. – a custom software development firm based in San Diego. Prior to Integrant, Olin was co-founder of National Facilities Group (now part of Accurent) and held positions with Accenture, Koll Real Estate and was a successful self-employed project manager. Olin grew up in Latrobe, Pennsylvania where he was a white water river enthusiast, competitive downhill skier and mountain biker. He has a long-standing interest in helping kids gain self-esteem through outdoor adventures and was previously a volunteer with Trips-for-Kids in Marin County, CA. Olin has traveled to more than 40 countries around the world for work and pleasure. He holds a Bachelor’s of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies from Miami University (Ohio).