WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Soccer Foundation Monday announced three new appointments to its board of directors: Kyra Tirana Barry, Jason Fox and Cobi Jones.

These three new members join a board comprised of more than 20 leaders and executives from a range of fields who are actively working to use the game of soccer to improve the lives of children living in underserved communities across the U.S.

“We are delighted to welcome Kyra, Jason, and Cobi to our board of directors,” foundation chairman of the board Charles Stimson said. “All three of these individuals bring a passion for soccer, dedication to our nation’s youth, and expertise that will continue to help us grow our programs and positively impact children in underserved communities across our nation.”

Added U.S. Soccer Foundation president and CEO Ed Foster-Simeon: “Kyra, Jason, and Cobi each bring a wealth of experience that will help advance the Foundation’s mission and help our team engage more children in our programs and create more safe places to play in underserved communities. I’m thrilled for them to join our esteemed Board and help the Foundation continue to innovate and grow in the years to come.”

Barry has spent more than a decade promoting sports-based youth development for underserved communities as the president of Beat the Streets New York, which uses wrestling to teach life-long skills. She is also the founding chair of Beat the Streets National, which brings together all US Beat the Streets city programs and is a member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s New York Leadership Council. Previously, Barry spent 12 years in public transportation policy and government relations at the U.S. Congress, New York City’s mayor’s office, NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and NJ Department of Transportation. She was team leader for the 2016 USA Women’swWrestling Olympic team and was USA Wrestling’s woman of the year in 2015.

Fox is CEO of W. P. Carey Inc. and is a member of the company’s board of directors. W. P. Carey is one of the largest publicly traded diversified net lease REITs that specializes in the acquisition of single-tenant properties in North America and Europe. He also served as the company president from 2016-17 and head of global investments from 2015-16. Before joining W. P. Carey in 2002, Fox worked at the Spectrem Group, a consulting and M&A advisory firm in San Francisco. Prior to that, he spent two years teaching mathematics and physics at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and coaching the boys’ soccer team. A former captain of the Notre Dame soccer team, Fox enjoys playing soccer in his free time.

Jones is a Southern California soccer legend, maintaining the title of the longest standing member of the LA Galaxy dynasty. Cobi spent 15 seasons with the team, as player and coach from 1996-2010. A 2011 U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee, Jones is a two-time MLS Cup winner (2002, 2005) and a Concacaf Champions Cup winner (2001), with a storied international career with the U.S. men’s national team. Today, Jones is one of the sport’s preeminent broadcasters working with FOX Sports, where he was part of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and 2018 World Cup broadcast teams, as a game analyst (2018) and co-hosting World Cup Tonight (2018-2019). He is an investor-owner in the National Women’s Soccer League team Angel City FC in Los Angeles.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.