National Sports Museum

Philip Schwalb, Founder and CEO

Mr. Schwalb has over twenty years of management experience primarily in the sports and entertainment industries. Prior to founding the National Sports Museum, Mr. Schwalb managed TPC, Inc., a diverse holding company, for the Kennedy-Schlossberg family. In his role at TPC, Mr. Schwalb spent a significant amount of time working with ESI Design, a 40-person, full-service museum design firm run by Dr. Edwin Schlossberg.

Prior to that, as COO of Centerprise Information Solutions, Schwalb was an integral member of the executive team responsible for making Centerprise the 9th fastest growing technology company in Dallas, TX (according to the Dallas Business Journal). Mr. Schwalb was later instrumental in negotiating the sale of Centerprise to a group of companies led by GE Capital (1998-2000).

Mr. Schwalb has also demonstrated the ability to build new businesses from the initial stages into high-growth industry leaders and nationally recognized firms. As Senior VP of Business Operations and Marketing. He helped SSYH Software become Florida's 14th fastest growing private company, as ranked by Deloitte & Touche and the Wall Street Journal (1996-1998). Mr. Schwalb has special expertise in developing and managing location-based entertainment operations. This includes his role as Executive Director overseeing all aspects of the Community Club, a not-for-profit entertainment, arts and cultural events center in New York City (1994-1996), and his tenure as Senior Vice President overseeing all business operations for a professional sports franchise averaging over 12,000 fans per game.

He was an officer of the Arena Football League (AFL) and Chairman of the League's Legal and Business Affairs committee (1991-1993). While at the League Mr. Schwalb helped negotiate a league-wide national broadcast package with ESPN, as well as agreements with local television and radio broadcast affiliates and significant local and national corporate sponsorships, including Coca-Cola, US Airways and Gatorade.

At Star Partners, the motion picture finance firm that served as the exclusive provider of private (non-studio) funding for films including Thelma and Louise, Rain Man and A Fish Called Wanda (1988-1991), Mr. Schwalb managed operations and marketing and executed joint venture agreements with a variety of entertainment firms including MGM Studios. He served as a managing executive at Time Warner's Court TV/American Lawyer Media (1986-1988).

Mr. Schwalb received his B.A with honors from Duke University and his J.D. while on academic scholarship at Emory University.

Sameer Ahuja, COO and CFO

Sameer Ahuja has diverse experience in finance, venture capital, and management consulting. His work has focused on strategy and capital raising for existing/startup businesses. Most recently, he worked in the investment banking and venture capital divisions of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

While at JPMorgan, he was part of a core team advising senior management on transformational strategies. He also worked with companies in the firm's e-finance investment portfolio on strategy development, merger integration, and partnerships.

He has an undergraduate degree in economics from Columbia University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School with a focus on entrepreneurship and general management.

Jennifer Ridley Staikos, Vice President of Marketing & Communications

Jennifer Staikos has significant experience in operating, marketing, and event planning for a wide range of location-based sports and entertainment venues, including The Walt Disney Company's ESPN Zone and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Jennifer has orchestrated large-scale live television broadcasts from Times Square, and managed highly visible events through the planning, advertising, ticket sales and production phases. She has also been responsible for a wide variety of community-relations activities.

Jennifer is a member of the National Sports Marketing Network, New York Cares and NYC & Co. (New York City's board of tourism). She has an B.S. in psychology from LeMoyne College.