Founders, Board President,
and Vice President
Aaron & Jill Wilson
Aaron and Jill Wilson have been married for over 25 years and are the parents of three biological children. They have been local entrepreneurs for over 20 years in the retail floor covering industry and then in residential and commercial property restoration and construction. Both Floor Crafters and A&D Restoration continue to thrive today, but their true passion is in mentoring and developing the self-confidence and skills of young people, often going after the lost and forgotten ones in their community.
Jill and Aaron both grew up on the NW side of Indianapolis and have lived in the Michigan Rd. Highlands neighborhood since 1995. They first fell in love with youth ministry, through Young Life while at Pike High School. They went on with YL, as leaders, while at Purdue and went on to lead the youth of their local congregation for 14 years.
The neighborhood Str8Up club began in the Wilson’s front yard, as a one week outreach called “Kid’s Club,” back in 2000. They had a large turnout of kids from the community and saw the need for positive influence and the love of God. They originally thought that they would head overseas after selling their first business, but God redirected their lives to their “backyard” and Kid’s Club grew to weekly meetings, hang times at their home and miscellaneous adventure outings until it became an official 501c3 in 2009.
Aaron & Jill have done everything together… building family, business and the nonprofit. They enjoy adventure sports together, beautiful places and people. They would rather be outside than inside most any day of the year and have a ton of fun together. It has been a wild ride, but they have found the Way, the Truth and the Life won’t let them live it any other way!
Board of Directors
Beau Wilfong
Beau Wilfong is an entrepreneur and businessman with 35 years experience in the real estate industry. He has owned and managed shopping centers, a water and sanitary sewer utility as well as developed real estate for residential construction in the Indianapolis metropolitan area. He has been married for 34 years and the father of 4 adult children. Success in both business and personal life is paramount for him. His goal has been to be a winner both in business and family. Additionally, Beau has been active in volunteering in his community with his specialty in mentoring young men in life issues. The past 20 years he has personally mentored, as a life coach, 30 young men which he considers to be his crowning achievement.
Andy Byrn
Andy accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation and began to follow after him as Lord when he was in high school. Because of a series of difficult circumstances at that time, he found himself empty and saw his need for the Lord to fill his life. He married his wife, Shalyn, in 1995 and they have four children. Andy taught in the public school system for many years before moving to full-time pastoral ministry at the Upper Room Christian Fellowship, West Lafayette, IN in 2014. The Byrn’s have served in Upper Room’s youth ministry, leading several mission trips in and out of the USA, as well as in Home Group leadership. Andy states, “My desire is to know the Lord with all my being and to help others know the Lord. I love the Church and want to see the body of Christ function in all the Lord desires for His Church. Andy received his bachelor’s from Wittenberg University and his Master’s from Indiana Wesleyan.
Ray Rice
Ray spends as much time as he can with his 3 wonderful children, who he adores. Ray is the owner of a technology service business located in Carmel, Indiana. Ray is an active member of the community having served on boards in many positions for his children’s activities including Boy scout leader for 8 years, PTO member for elementary school, and member of orchestra board. Ray has also served on the board of directors for the Boone county airport and is currently serving as the president. Ray also manages a large family owned timber farm and has served with the Indiana Timber land owners association. Ray is a pilot and loves to surf, windsurf, camp and hunt.
Greg Rankin
Greg Rankin loves Str8Up and is inspired in seeing how God is working actively in the lives of everyone touched by this ministry. He has been a small business owner for more than 25 years and works along side many team members in his company who share a similar background with those being served through Str8Up. This experience has opened his heart and desire to see true transformation in the lives of urban youth. Greg is a member and deacon at Zionsville Presbyterian Church and is blessed with a wonderful wife, Dinah, as well as two great kids – Hadley (21) and Benjamin (18).
Ken Johnson
Ken Johnson is a communicator and encourager and has served as an itinerant Speaker, Singer, and Evangelist for over 30 years. His message of transformation has been shared with pastors, churches, businesses, youth groups and men’s groups of all kinds. He has served as Chaplain for the Indianapolis Colts the last 28 years. Ken feels called to go deep and proactively engage the culture around him in order to leave a legacy for the next generation. Ken and Della Johnson have been married 35 years, have three children and 5 grandchildren.
Kevin Robb
I have been a disciple at Cornerstone Lutheran Church since 2007 when we moved to the Indianapolis area. At Cornerstone, I have served as the Chairman of the congregation and led our most recent capital campaign to raise funds for our Fishers, IN campus where we were able to raise over $8 million. My wife, Sheri, and I have also served in various capacities with our youth ministries as our boys were growing up. I am excited to be part of the Str8Up team and look forward to supporting the amazing work that this ministry is doing serving and bringing Jesus’ love to the local youth.
Volunteers
We appreciate the time and dedication our weekly volunteer mentor/leaders give to help make the str8up gatherings both successful and impactful. We couldn’t do it without their sacrifice and support!