RICHARD I. LYLES, PH. D

For the past several decades Dick Lyles has devoted a significant amount of his life’s energies into projects that will make a positive difference for Catholics and our culture. As CEO of Leadership Legacies, LLC, he spearheaded the development of a comprehensive leadership development program for Catholic priests that is being delivered through the Catholic Leadership Institute in Exeter, PA. More than 1000 priests in 36 dioceses around the country are benefitting from this program. In support of the program he wrote a popular parable to introduce priests to the concepts of day-to-day leadership entitled, Good Leaders, Good Shepherds, published by Ascension Press.

As a founding member of the Board of Directors of The Act One Program in Hollywood, Dick has worked alongside Barbara Nicolosi for the better part of a decade to train Christians for writing careers and executive careers in television and movie making. The Act One Program is having a powerful positive impact on both Hollywood and the broader culture.

Dick is past CEO of Relevant Radio, a thirty-three station Catholic radio network serving parts of the Midwest, South and Eastern portions of the United States.  Relevant radio played a key role in these markets in evangelizing, education, and nurturing Catholic values in support of our bishops. 

Dick has been a member of Legatus, an international association of CEOs and their spouses for more than a decade, having served as president of the San Diego Chapter for two years. He is a sought after speaker on the Legatus circuit, having addressed more than three dozen chapters and delivered a keynote at their International Summit.
All of these experiences point to Dick’s commitment to causing positive changes in the culture that are rooted in Catholic teaching and true Christian philosophy. This is a point of view that has been lost in Hollywood, where 75% of the world’s media is produced.  Dick is thus an excellent person to lead Genesis in its goal to re-establish Catholic values and world view as a normal and accepted element in mainstream movie making.

MATTHEW MALEK

Matthew is a former seminarian from the Archdiocese of Detroit. He grew up in Dearborn Heights Michigan where he attended high school and the University of Detroit Jesuit.  Matthew then attended Villanova University on a soccer scholarship where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in philosophy. 

Matthew was asked by Villanova University to be one of the school’s candidates for the Rhodes Scholarship.  In preference to this, Matthew entered Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.  After one year of studies, he was appointed by Cardinal Adam Maida to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. 

After withdrawing from the seminary, Matthew was asked to start and direct a non-profit organization in Hollywood called Holy Wood of the Cross where he currently acts as the chairman of the board.  While working in Hollywood he caught the producing bug from his soon to be partners at Origin Entertainment in December of 2004, where he Executive Produced his first feature film Black Box and assisted with the development of several feature films including Lucky & Plumpton, A Severe Mercy, and Fatima. 

In an effort to provide the widest audience for Origin’s films Matthew helped found and finance The Maximus Group, a full service Marketing and PR firm specializing in reaching out to the specifically Catholic Christian Market. 

 
In 2007 Matthew seized the opportunity to start a new venture, helping to lead up Catholic Loyalty, an innovative and technologically advanced credit card rewards program whose goal is to raise funds for Catholic institutions worldwide. It’s a multi-merchant, international rewards program that, via a system of rebates, adds value to consumers, merchants and Church parishes, dioceses, schools, missions and charities in an entirely new way.

JON STOCK

A graduate of Biola University, Jon has extensive experience in the entertainment industry, the financial industry, and the non-profit sector. As a member of the board of directors for the Red Carpet Foundation, an organization which uses the excitement and glamour of the red carpet to brighten the lives of young people who face extraordinary medical challenges, Jon helps to initiate programs and coordinate events. He has worked for e3 Entertainment, (Along Came A Spider, The Last Supper) as a business consultant, and Crystal Sky Pictures (Ghost Rider, Doomsday, Bratz) as a consultant in their business affairs, strategic planning, and production division where he worked with the executive vice president on major motion pictures such as TEKKEN, Robosapien, Opposite Day, and Ghost In The Shell with Dreamworks. Prior to transitioning into the entertainment industry, Jon worked as a banker and Servicing Officer for US Bank’s SBA Division. He is currently involved in developing a slate of films including Fatima, To Quell the Terror, and A Severe Mercy based on the book by Sheldon Vanauken, as well as serving in his current position with the Genesis Initiative.

MARTHA LYLES

Martha brings a vast amount of experience and knowledge to the Genesis Initiative team. Martha has been a long-time advocate for Catholic causes, and has worked in various political campaigns and media drives to bring Catholic values and traditions to the forefront of our culture. Martha was Catechist at St. Gabriel’s parish in Poway for 13 years before serving as Director of Religious Education for another 9 years. She currently serves as Director of Development and teaches adult Bible study. She and her husband Dick have three grown children who have brought five grandchildren into the world. It is for them that she and Dick are volunteering their time and committing their resources to the success of The Genesis Initiative.