Heroes

Born and raised in Southern California, Jodi hung out at the local fire station where her dad was a firefighter. And as soon as she realized women could become firefighters there was no question what career path she would take.

For over ten years Jodi served in the Pasadena Fire Department, earning the trust and respect of her colleagues. Then Jodi decided to go out for fire captain. She told her dad that if she got promoted, he would be the one to pin the captain’s badge on her uniform—and he was.

Jodi is only the second female fire captain in Pasadena’s 140-year history. In a field traditionally dominated by men—only 3% of firefighters nationwide are women—that’s an incredible feat. It’s undecided whether Jodi will set her sights on becoming Pasadena’s first battalion chief, but one thing is certain: she’s up for whatever challenge life throws at her.

"Having my own experience in the Marine Corps and seeing so many young men and women who were transitioning out having difficulty finding meaningful employment, I took that as an opportunity to start a nonprofit inside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s foundation," said Kevin.

His nonprofit is called Hiring Our Heroes, and since its founding in 2011, more than a million veterans and military spouses have been hired through their job fairs and corporate partnership programs.

The response that Kevin received from former service members who found jobs through Hiring Our Heroes cemented his desire to continue nonprofit work, and he subsequently has led two other national nonprofits that impacted millions of Americans, including more than 1.3 million service members, veterans, and their families.

At 86, Walt Cunningham is still sharp as a tack, which is exactly what you’d expect from a former astronaut who spent eight years at NASA and 11 days in space on the Apollo 7 mission.

Walt’s life changed forever when he heard the radio broadcast of the rocket launch that took Alan Shepard, America’s first astronaut, into space. That experience set him on a journey that would eventually lead to space.

When he joined NASA Walt had nearly completed a doctorate in physics from UCLA, but instead of finishing that program after he left space program he went to Harvard Business School, became an entrepreneur, a venture capitalist and an aerospace consultant. He received an Emmy award for the live coverage the Apollo 7 mission in space and published a best-selling memoir of his time at NASA. Today he’s still going strong, as a public speaker and consultant to startup technology companies.

Mitch enlisted in the Army at 21, and while he humbly refers to himself as simply a veteran, the reality is that he served for more than twenty years, including as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Today Mitch is part of a National Incident Management Team that responds to natural disasters, helps veterans transition back to civilian life, and provides expert military analysis to national and local news organizations. He also volunteers his time with animal rescue organizations and travels the country speaking about his life and experiences.

“I’m retired from the military, but I’m not done serving yet,” he says. “I’m out in the world, trying to leave every place I go a little better than I found it.”

Not many people start off in the military, transition to law enforcement and then end up transforming the lives of ex-prisoners, gang members, and homeless youth. But then again, nothing about Clyde Terry’s life is typical.

Clyde’s story has many parts—but each is steeped in honor and heroism. He served in the United States Marine Corps for a decade before moving to Southern California and joining the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department as a Deputy. He became a gang investigator, and it didn’t take long for his dedication, intelligence and calm under pressure to elevate him to undercover work in organized crime, including two years in an FBI Task Force.

In 2003, he took a leave of absence to take a position in Iraq as an International Police Adviser for the State Department. Soon after returning home from Iraq, Clyde decided that he wanted to serve the community in a different way—by helping marginalized people become productive members of society. For nearly ten years, Clyde has served as the director of the Emerging Leaders Academy, a nonprofit that empowers former prisoners, gang members and homeless youth through guidance, mentoring, and training.

Nurses can choose to work in a range of facilities and situations, but for Jessica, the bigger the challenge, the more appeal it held. A volleyball scholarship helped pay for Jessica’s bachelor degree in nursing, and from there she went on to earn advanced certifications in resuscitating pediatric and adult patients, as well as assessing and treating stroke victims.

That led to Jessica’s current career in nursing, where she works in two high stakes areas: the emergency department and the pediatric ICU. In both, Jessica and her colleagues work closely together to make decisions that can save the lives of young patients needing critical care.

“It’s all worth it when a four-year old comes back to the unit to say ‘thanks’ after finally getting to go home and play with his siblings,” she says.