Meet Your Current Board Members!
Ria Punzalan, Executive Director
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Adina Gonzales, Interim Treasurer, Marketing Director
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Deborah Gallo, Secretary
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Deborah Gallo is an attorney licensed to practice in New York and Connecticut. Her interest in personal protection and education culminated with joining AWSDA and increased self-defense and rape prevention. She is a certified Rape Awareness and Prevention Instructor and she continues on her quest for additional education
in self-defense. She has a passion for women's advocacy and believes education is the key to success. As part of her professional career, she is the past president (2005-2013) of another non-profit organization, the Western New York Banking and Credit Association; organizes an annual gala for Hunter's Hope; and advocates for employing people with disabilities.
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Allen Reed, East Chapter Liaison
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Allen is a retired Deputy U.S. Marshal; he served with the Marshals Service for 25 years. While with the service, he was a firearms, baton, and defensive tactics instructor. Prior to working with the Marshals, he was a uniformed officer with the Northwestern University Campus Police for six years. While working at Northwestern University, he began taking classes in ParaCombatives Ju-jutsu; he holds the rank of Kaiden (7th dan) in ParaCombatives Ju-jutsu and taught at the Northwestern Ju-jutsu club for almost twenty years. He currently runs Gallowglass Academy, a small martial arts school that offers classes in women's self-defense, historical European martial arts, and fencing. When not teaching classes, Allen is also a beekeeper.
You can e-mail Allen at gallowglassacad@aol.com.
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Albert Ortiz, West Chapter Liaison
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Individual Protective and Defensive Instincts was developed by Albert Ortiz in 2005, after retiring from law enforcement. Mr. Ortiz started his interest in self-defense as a martial arts practitioner. One of his duties during his career in law enforcement was to train federal law enforcement personnel at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, GA. He trained them in conditioning, the use of pressure point control tactics, realistic knife defense, ground fighting techniques, use of police batons, boxing, defense tactics, and the use of aerosol defense sprays (pepper spray). In 2012, Individual Defensive Tactics, Inc. was restructured as a nonprofit.
Ortiz has been certified as an instructor by the following police training organizations: Pressure Point Control Tactic Management Systems, Monadnock PR-24 Training Council, The Metropolitan Police Institute of Dade County Florida, Armament Systems and Procedures, CQB Supply (maker of aerosol defense sprays), Defend University, and RAD Kids, Inc. Mr. Ortiz is also constantly completing his own training regiment so that he is up to date with new activities employed by predators. He was certified as a rape escape instructor with Defend University, Fight Like a Girl, and certified as a rape awareness and prevention instructor with the American Women's Self-Defense Association.
You can e-mail Albert at: ddwop4@gmail.com
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Jason Ilarraza, Membership Director
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Jason currently serves as a Program Specialist at Naval Base Kitsap. He arrived to Silverdale, WA in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks to serve aboard NBK Bangor. After completing active duty service in the USMC, he settled in Kitsap County in 2006. While serving in the USMC, he attained a B.A. in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University in 2006, followed by an Executive Masters of Business Administration from the Naval Post Graduate School in 2013. Jason is passionate about being engaged in the community and serving others. He currently serves as the Board Chairman for North Mason Resources, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Allyn Community Association, member of Marine Corps League Detachment 531, and Ambassador for the Kitsap and N. Mason County Toys for Tots Campaign. He founded Alpha Personal Protection Services (APPS, LLC) in 2015; a team of professionals dedicated to providing members of our community personal safety and self-defense education. Currently, Jason is a certified instructor of Tai Ji Quan: Moving for Better Balance. In his free time, Jason enjoys exploring all the natural treasures that the Pacific Northwest has to offer with his family and friends.
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Ria is a cybersecurity professional who is also both a self-defense and anti-human trafficking advocate. She is an active volunteer and civil first responder for a few organizations such as: FMSC, Mutual Ground, OUR, A21, Not Dead Yet, and Samaritan's Purse. Her acquired skills as a cybersecurity professional and self-defense practitioner has been invaluable to her anti human trafficking/sex trafficking missions. She enjoys staying active and has over 10 years combined experience in krav maga, muay thai, boxing, jiu jitsu, and judo. Ria believes in continuously growing in all aspects of her life; so aside from volunteering, she attends as many self-defense and cybersecurity conferences as she can and enjoys various different activities. She considers herself to be very blessed to be able to practice self-defense in both the digital and physical world, as well being able to pass those skills to others. Ria is a certified rape awareness and prevention instructor, founding member of Janie's Fund, as well as a certified krav maga black belt instructor. She runs women's self-defense, gun defense, knife survival, and krav maga seminars.
Her goal as the AWSDA Executive Director is to provide easily accessible resources to the expanding organization's outreach program. The goal is to reach and enable as many women as we can, as well as men and children; to educate and empower them to be practitioners and advocates for self-protection and respect for others. Ria is the owner/lead instructor at SpitFire Krav Maga and is also the founder of SheWarriors, a women's self-defense training program. Ria may be reached via e-mail at ria.sfkm@gmail.com
