Posted on

#OUREntrepidNetwork – Introducing Kirstie Ennis and the Kirstie Ennis Foundation

Pushing to the limits. Breaking expectations. Giving.

Kirstie served as a door gunner and CH-53 Helicopter Mechanic in the US Marine Corps. When her aircraft crashed during combat operations in Afghanistan 2012 she was critically injured. In addition to the left leg amputation, she sustained full thickness facial trauma, spinal injuries, a traumatic brain injury, and shoulder injuries. After recovery, Kirstie became dedicated to exceeding expectations. She works as a stuntwoman in major motion pictures, a veterans’ advocate, and as an adaptive extreme athlete. In an effort to repurpose herself to continue serving people as she did in the military,

Kirstie established the Kirstie Ennis Foundation to provide education and opportunity in the outdoors and to support other non-profits dedicated to improving the quality of life of individuals and families.

Kirstie adopted extreme sports as a way to inspire men, women, and children, with or without adversity to use more of their potential. In order to raise awareness and fundraise, she has sought out to break several world records — the first being to summit the highest peak on each of the seven continents and the North and South Poles (also known as the grand slam of mountains). Kirstie’s passions for engaging women, veterans, and disabled populations in outdoor recreation and rehabilitation make her an excellent addition to any team.

Kirstie is competitor and finisher in Ironman and marathon races. Kirstie is a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization Building Homes for Heroes, which provides adapted mortgage free homes to critically injured veterans. Kirstie’s passions for engaging women, veterans, and wounded populations in outdoor recreation and rehabilitation make her an excellent addition to this team.

In the News

Going “Full Throttle” – Kirstie Ennis | U.S.VeteransMagazine.com, Feb 2018

The Heroes Project | USMC SGT. RETIRED KIRSTIE ENNIS

USMC Sergeant Kirstie Ennis | Building Homes For Heroes

Veteran and amputee inspires with each death-defying climb | USA TODAY-Oct 3, 2018

To find out more about what they’re up to at the Kirstie Ennis Foundation visit kirstieennisfoundation.com.

Please help support and spread the word about Kirstie Ennis and theKirstie Ennis Foundation team by giving this a LIKE, SHARING it with your wider networks and JOIN their communities on Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram.

Here WE Grow!

Doug Parker | #kickassdoug

Posted on

#OUREntrepidNetwork – Introducing Glenn Samala and Sparkfun Electronics

www.facebook.com/SparkFun
www.facebook.com/SparkFun

Trying is cool, failing can be even cooler, and that trying again is the coolest of all.

CEO Glenn Samala and Niwot, Colorado based Sparkfun offers curriculum, training and online tutorials designed to demystify the wonderful world of embedded electronics.

In their own words (www.sparkfun.com)

SparkFun has been committed to helping the world achieve electronics literacy. No matter your vision or skill level, our products and resources are designed to make electronics more accessible. In addition to over 2,000 open source components and widgets, SparkFun offers curriculum, training and online tutorials designed to demystify the wonderful world of embedded electronics.

Our products and resources carry no patents, so anyone can use, modify and even sell them. Madness, you say? So far so good. Being open source encourages people to share and learn from each other. It also forces us to focus on what we do best and constantly innovate. In short, it makes us better, for you and for the world.

To us, it’s a given that we pay it forward and sponsor the incredible community that keeps us running. Through our Community Partnership Program, we’ve donated supplies, parts and expertise to over 140 projects, universities and programs in six countries in the first half of 2017 alone, with awards issued every month.

We produce, build, test and assemble over 400 open source kits and boards from our catalog in-house. It’s the best way we know to ensure the red box you receive contains products you know, love and can rely on. And if something should go wrong, our tech support and customer service teams are here to help, no matter what.

Everyone deserves access to electronics literacy. In our Department of Education, we believe electronics are more than a hobby or career path; they’re a creative medium for teaching and learning. Since 2009, we’ve helped students and educators around the world introduce these tools and concepts into their schools.

In the news

SparkFun’s Annual Combat Robot Tournament Grows to Third Largest in the World | GlobalNewWire, 4 October 2017

SparkFun publishes app to detect gas pump/ATM card skimmers | AndroidPolice.com, 19 September 2017

To learn more about Sparkfun Electronics visit www.sparkfun.com.

Please support Glenn and the Sparkfun team by giving this a LIKE, SHARE it with your wider networks and JOIN their communities on Linkedin, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and G+.

Here WE Grow!

Doug Parker | Linkedin