Golden Touch empowers college athletes to maximize their Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) potential through personalized support and innovative tools. Our mission is to create a platform that allows athletes to thrive in the NIL era while prioritizing their mental health and overall well-being. We strive to build meaningful connections between athletes, fans, and brands through a range of NIL activities, including social media campaigns, endorsements, charitable partnerships, and more. Join us in shaping the future of college athletics and amplifying the voices of the next generation of sports icons.
Our Mission
Golden Touch is an NIL marketplace that offers fans and brands the opportunity to book athletes for video shout outs and LIVE video chats.
How it works:
Athletes can download the app, create and customize a profile, choose the services he/she wants to offer, set their own pricing, and accept or decline offers – all from their phone. It’s a flexible part-time job without adding to the rigors of being a busy student athlete.
Fans can search the web platform/mobile app for their favorite athletes and book personalized shout outs for special occasion greetings for friends or a LIVE video chat to ask recruiting questions or get training advice one-on-one in real-time.
Brands/Businesses can search the web platform/mobile app for athlete(s) and book an endorsement or contact Golden Touch for Business for expert help in creating a custom campaign with 5-500 athletes.
Our Team
Karen Phelps – Founder and Executive Director
Karen is the daughter of longtime Irish basketball coaching legend Digger Phelps, and herself a mom of college athletes, Karen is a nationally known and honored humanitarian. Deeply rooted in the Tri-Campus Community values of service and giving back, her work over decades for the foundation she launched has raised tens of millions for grief and mental health counseling for kids and families dealing with loss – and spotlighted in an Emmy award-winning HBO documentary. Now Phelps is passionately invested in the success of her newest mission: improving the lives of student athletes through the Golden Touch coalition and the Golden Minds mental wellness initiative.
Sean Collins – Director of Partnerships
Sean joined Golden Touch based on a shared commitment to addressing the mental health of the young adult population. Sean brings a background in sports management, decades of experience in business and partnership development, as well as a rich history of working with successful, high achieving athletes. As Director of Partnerships, Sean is responsible for identifying, cultivating, and building strategic partnerships with fans, alumni, brands, businesses, and other organizations that share our values and goals to drive value and expand the impact of our organization. Overall, the goal is to create a vibrant and engaged community of partners that are dedicated to supporting the success of our student-athletes, on and off the field.
