Leadership
Meet Our Leadership Team
We believe every child deserves a safe place to grow, learn, and achieve their full potential.
Leadership & Advisory Team
Founder
Ben Jackson
President and Founder
Ben Jackson’s life is a story of resilience, faith, and purpose forged through adversity. Born into a single-mother household, Ben lost his mother to a devastating illness at a young age and was left to navigate life as an orphan. Experiencing homelessness, abuse, and hardship firsthand, he learned early what it meant to survive without safety, stability, or support many take for granted. Through faith, mentorship, and martial arts, Ben found discipline, direction, and hope with a desire to give back, help, protect and inspire others.
Ben went on to earn multiple college degrees, has built successful businesses in various industries, and founded a 100% nonprofit dedicated to helping the homeless. As an undefeated champion fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, he has trained alongside military personnel, law enforcement, and world-class athletes, building relationships across the martial arts community nationwide. Ben has a great deal of experience in announcing large, televised boxing, MMA and sporting events as well as being a host and MC of other genres of events nationwide. For more than a decade, Ben traveled to 12 states and over 120 cities organizing his famous X-treme Fight Night events while networking, serving and training with thousands of martial arts schools, developing a vast network in the world of martial arts and decades of experience that inspired Ben to create the Kid Safe Place initiative.
Despite his accomplishments, Ben considers fatherhood his greatest achievement. Having personally experienced what he went through growing up, he understands firsthand the life-changing power of mentorship, discipline, training and a safe place to feel like you belong.
Ben founded Kid Safe Place with one mission:
To ensure no child ever feels alone, unsafe, without hope or is left behind. He hopes together we can create life-changing opportunities for our youth across the nation through safety, mentorship, and the martial arts community. This program is more than an initiative, it is a purpose to be the helping hand he once needed, and to help change lives for our generations to come.
Chief Financial Officer
Cavan Sullivan James Bormann
Farmer, Agricultural Innovator, Investment and Customer Relations Specialist
Cavan Sullivan is an entrepreneur, agricultural innovator, and co-founder of HelixAgra Systems, where he focuses on advancing feed-efficient beef genetics, sustainable livestock systems, and integrated agricultural infrastructure. Cavan leads farm operations and poultry operations, bringing together practical ranching experience with forward-thinking business strategy across the beef, poultry and rural development sectors. Known for his collaborative leadership style and passion for innovation in American agriculture, Cavan works at the intersection of genetics, production efficiency, and long-term food system sustainability. Outside of business, he enjoys being a father, ranching, hunting, helping others, good conversation and spending time with his beautiful family.
Secretary and Assistant Program Director
Michael Miller
Pastor, Leadership, Sales, Management, Startup Specialist
Law Enforcement Advisor
Christopher James
Law Enforcement and USMC Veteran
Christopher James brings extensive experience in military service, law enforcement, investigations, and community outreach. He has created, hosted and helped with many large events and fundraisers supporting outreach programs that assist:
- Special needs individuals
- Disabled community members
- Youth outreach initiatives
- Special Olympics support
- Community charity events
His experience provides critical guidance for safety, program implementation, and community collaboration.
Community & Counseling Advisor
James Bormann
Pastor, Retired Human Resources Director
Pastor Bormann brings decades of leadership, counseling, and community support experience. His background in foster care and pastoral counseling strengthens the Kid Safe Place mission to support youth in need. He has provided and helped provide homes and parenting to so many children who were without hope without him. He has been the changing and helping hand that made the difference for so many young men as well as a Pastor and leader for church after church throughout his life. James is truly and inspiration to so many and will undoubtedly be a game changer to help make this program reach as many children as possible.
Martial Arts Network Advisor and Assistant Director
Tim Roegge
Lifelong Entrepreneur, Humanitarian, Ambassador Nashville, Tennessee
Tim Roegge is a lifelong mentor, entrepreneur and innovator who has laid the foundation for many great ideas and initiatives for decades. Relative to the World of Martial Arts, Tim was one of the original founders of competitive martial arts in terms of a large and public scale in the United States, which opened the doors for organizations like the UFC to be able to originate and become what they are today. Though Tim comes from over 35 years of martial arts, boxing and wrestling experience and helped father the Martial Arts World for our great nation so long ago, his real focus has always been on helping and inspiring others and taking great joy in watching them grow. From founding a community center to guiding youth through sports, he has literally lived the life of a man dedicated to empowering our next generation. Currently Tim is focused on building national programs that foster trust, safety and strength for children across America. He believes that investing in our children is our most crucial and important investment we can make right now in the pivotable time we are in currently as a nation where what we do now will have a lasting effect on our future as a nation and our mark on the rest of the world. For Tim, this isn’t about Legacy, it’s about Love.
Instruction and Gym Compliance Advisor
Johnny Souza
World Champion Black Belt San Diego, California
Johnny Souza is a world champion competitor and respected instructor originally from São Paulo, Brazil. He is a dedicated single father and mentor who has:
- Won hundreds of competitions worldwide
- Taught hundreds seminars worldwide
- Mentored youth across multiple communities
- Built successful martial arts academies
Johnny brings passion, leadership, and mentorship experience to the Kid Safe Place mission.
Business Development Director
Dave Roberts
Business Development, Health and Fitness, Sales Management
Dave Roberts has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology and Kinesiology. He has been in the athletic club business in both sales as well as management. He is a veteran certified personal trainer as well as a strength and conditioning coach for professional athletes. He has been the National Sales Manager and Director of Business Development for two different companies in the past and recently Sales Manager for a large nationwide company. His management, sales and gym business acumen make him ideal to help build and expand the Kid Save Place plan and help reach as many kids as we can. As a girl dad, Dave is excited and energized to help take KSP to new levels. The sky is the limit.