Meet Play for Peace Board Member Ron Kovich!

Ron became a board member and Chairman of Development and continues to be so today, raising funds to support, sustain, and develop Play for Peace all over the world.

As part of our effort to keep our global learning community connected, we're bringing back our blog series where we introduce members of the Play for Peace board of directors. Play for Peace is made up of passionate and committed volunteers at every level of our organization. We are pleased to introduce a board member who is an important part of our fundraising effort, and who helped lead our Feast for Peace to a new level of success this year.

For more than 30 years, Ron Kovich was a respected businessman on a global platform. Working for high-profile companies such as Johnson & Johnson and lip-care giant Blistex, Ron eventually became president of InGEAR Corporation. After many years of working in the consumer industry, Ron retired and is now a Play for Peace board member. Ron’s involvement with the organization started 28 years ago when he met current Play for Peace president and co-founder Michael Terrien in 1988. Michael had a bold vision: to help children in areas that have a history of discord. During long bike rides together, they would discuss how they could play their part in changing the world, and how children held the key to that change. Yet it wasn’t until Ron’s second meeting with the other Play for Peace co-founder, Craig Dobkin, that his involvement in the organization truly began.

During this meeting, a tragic accident left Craig paralyzed below the waist. This incident saw Craig and Michael re-evaluating their lives by realizing there was more to life than making money. They gave up their careers as corporate consultants and founded Play for Peace. This inspirational story spurred Ron to get actively involved and he eventually became the Director of Business Development. This meant growing corporate accounts to support the charity and soliciting investments in Play for Peace. He eventually became a board member and Chairman of Development and continues to be so today, raising funds to support, sustain, and develop Play for Peace all over the world.