After sustaining a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down, world-class adventurer, nonoscientist, and professional athlete, Grant Korgan – who had never shied away from a challenge – refused to balk at his new reality because he still had a mission in store. Ten years prior, when his best friend and climbing
Laura Zander, 38, is the co-owner of market leading online retailer of yarn and fabric Jimmy Beans Wool. Laura, along with her husband Doug, worked as software engineers during the dot-com era in the San Francisco area. When they saw the dot-com boom turning to a bust, they decided to leave their
Pedro Martinez serves as the superintendent for the Washoe County School District, overseeing the success of the District’s 93 schools and the reform efforts in Envision WCSD 2015 – Investing In Our Future. Martinez previously worked for WCSD between 2009 and 2011 as deputy superintendent when he was at the forefront of the development and
Dr. Michael Morkin completed his Bachelors degree at the University of Nevada Reno in 1986 and went on to medical school, and then Internship and Residency in Emergency Medicine at Northwestern University. He practiced at Columbus Hospital in Chicago until 1995 when he returned to Reno to practice with Northern Nevada Emergency Physicians. Dr. Morkin
On March 5, 2010 Shawna Korgan found herself holding the face of her beloved, Grant Korgan, looking into his eyes as he told her that he couldn’t feel or move anything from the belly button down, and she knew that she could not, and would not, give him anything less than the highest version
Logan LaPlante is a 13 year-old curious and creative wingnut taking a different path in his education. He combines the “hacker mindset” with a network of do-it-yourself friends, family, and community organizations to optimize for health, happiness, creativity, and wisdom. He calls it “hackschooling”.
Logan loves skiing and is on the Alpine
Robb Smith is a social entrepreneur who works on “transformational era” systems at the intersection of human development, spiritual understanding and civilizational sustainability. At 21 he developed a plan to build Nevada’s innovation economy and went on to start Nevada Ventures, the state’s first venture capital fund, whose portfolio companies brought nearly $200
Brian Williams is a youth motivational speaker. He’s taken the stage in over 200 schools around the country challenging hundreds of thousands of youth to ’15 Days of Kindness’. He instigates school rivalries into a competition of who can make the biggest difference in the world. . . all resulting in massive waves of Kindness. He
Mark Estee is driven by a love for authentic ingredients that create true connections between land, farmer, food and diner. Whether it is hand-choosing his restaurant’s produce or meat from a local organic farm or developing new dishes based on his “Whole Hog Philosophy,” Estee believes in building full-flavored food using every
Before founding the company that would become 3G Studios in 2002, Chief Executive Officer, James Kosta, led design projects at companies such as Disney, Dell, and Microsoft. He founded 3G in order to create the types of forward-thinking games and tech that he himself would like to use. A firm believer in leading from
Even in the high altitude and crisp air of the Northern Sierra Nevada Mountains an artist can dream of the bright lights of Broadway or the star-paved streets of Hollywood. That dream began around the age of 10, when Grant decided to try out for a local play. A few years later, 10 productions
As General Manager of Dolan Automotive Group, Ryan Dolan oversees operations and sales at all of the groups’ dealerships including Reno Toyota, Lexus of Reno, Reno Mazda Kia and Reno Scion. He is a local Reno High grad and played baseball and football. Having worked his way up the chain, Ryan first started in the
Deanna LeBlanc attended the University of Nevada, Reno where she earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education. She has taught for eleven years in Northern Nevada at Echo Loder and East Valley Elementary Schools. Deanna was named the 2012 Nevada Teacher of the Year in part because of her work with special
Leilani Schweitzer was born and has spent most of her life in the West. Her previous careers include work in architecture, design and technology. She now works for Stanford University Hospitals, using her own experience with medical errors to navigate between the often insular, black and white legal and administrative sides of medical error; and
Matt Benardis is currently the acting Chief Operating Officer of First Warning Systems, Inc.(FWS), a life sciences software and med. Device company addressing early breast cancer detection in an underserved market. As well as being a significant investor in the company, Mr. Benardis manages daily operations with a focus on product and market development
Lauren Ford has been in education for over 20 years, in both the classroom and Administratively. She began her career in Chicago as a Kindergarten teacher, then became Assistant Principal and principal. In 2005 she moved to Washoe County as Assistant Principal at Traner Middle school, then Principal there in 2006. In 2011 she assumed
Deyanira Baca is a Senior at Hug high School and is determined to succeed despite her difficult circumstances. She attends her many AP classes during the day, participates in Leadership and ROTC, and works from 4 to 10pm most days. After graduation, Deya plans to go to Medical School and become a Physician.
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Veronika Scavacini is an active eighth grader that enjoys softball, basketball and soccer. She is on the yearbook staff at Depoali Middle School. When she was in first grade she learned that the rainforest in Brazil was dying. She went home to her mother and told her that she wanted to start a company to