The Climb For Kids Organization

Matt Kowalczyk

Executive Director / Founder

Matt is a long time recreational mountaineer and devoted family man. He is also an established entrepreneur who has a long history in the rich technology community of Seattle. In 2007 he discovered that his unborn twins had developed TTTS, and after a stressful couple of months, one of his twin girls (Emma) passed away due to complications caused by TTTS. Instead of dwelling on the death of one of his children, Matt decided to focus his energy elsewhere.

Matt wanted to give back to the community that helped him, so he combined the 2 things he knew the most about, climbing and startups, to establish the non-profit organization known as "Climb For Kids". You can read more about the ups and downs of his children's story from his personal blog.

Ellen Kowalczyk

Director

Ellen Kowalczyk is a long time program and business manager specializing in security at Microsoft. She is the mother of Emma and Ella.

Dr. Peter Wall

Director

Dr. Wall joined Eastside Maternal Fetal Medicine in 2004, after completing a Fellowship in Maternal Fetal Medicine at the University of Rochester. When not actively engaged in the care of patients, he likes to spend time with his wife and three children. He rarely turns down an opportunity to play golf with good friends.

James Goodman

Director

An avid and accomplished climber/mountaineer when he was younger, James transitioned his travel/adventure lust into entrepreneurship and the "event" business. As a Ticketmaster employee, he was the first to identify/conceptualize online's potential, and was a founder of Ticketmaster Online. After Ticketmaster, James ran ticketing worldwide for Walt Disney Theatrical Productions and later was VP of Strategy for Tickets.com, where he helped create its ticketing success. James currently spends his time consulting and working with non-profits with their event/ticketing needs.