DAVID SHURNA has been the executive director, co-founder, visionary, and chief growth architect of No Barriers USA for the past decade.

Building both organizational and corporate partnerships, Dave has guided No Barriers to historic levels of both impact and revenue. An innovative entrepreneur and seasoned educator, Dave has spent more than twenty years in the nonprofit sector. He lives in Colorado with his wife Gina, and their two children, Clara and James.

Erik has become a celebrated and accomplished athlete despite losing his vision at the age of 13. On May 25, 2001, Erik became the first blind climber in history to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. At the age of 33, he became one of less than 100 individuals to climb all of the Seven Summits. Erik refuses to let blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life and actively seeks opportunities to help others adopt a similar mindset.

Mandy Harvey is a deaf American jazz singer and songwriter. Though her hearing loss is profound her timing, pitch and passion are perfect. With support from friends, family and her faith, Mandy continues to find joy in the music. Through her work as a No Barriers Ambassador, Mandy helps motivate and empower people to break through barriers and find their inner purpose.

Hugh Herr, who heads the Biomechatronics group at the MIT Media Lab, is creating bionic limbs that emulate the function of natural limbs. In 2011, TIME magazine coined him the “Leader of the Bionic Age” because of his revolutionary work in the emerging field of biomechatronics – technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics. A double amputee himself, Herr is responsible for breakthrough advances in bionic limbs that provide greater mobility and new hope to those with physical disabilities.

Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Gretchen G. Evans entered the United States Army in September 1979. During her 30+ year career, she was the Garrison Command Sergeant Major of Commander, Combined Forces Command, Afghanistan and served in black operations and as an Intelligence Analyst. She earned numerous medals and awards to include the Bronze Star, the Presidential Unit Citation Medal, and Global War on Terrorism ribbons, 6 Meritorious Service Medals and numerous other awards. Evans was wounded by incoming fire in 2006 while serving in Afghanistan resulting in severe hearing loss, a traumatic brain injury, a right-hand injury and PTSD.

Sam Morris is the founder of Zen Warrior Training. In 1999, at the age of twenty-four and just after leading a bicycling trip for nine teenagers across the United States, Sam was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver which left him paraplegic. Determined to not become the victim of his circumstances, Sam learned and created a system of mental and physical training based in Zen philosophy, meditation and somatic disciplines that healed his mind and his relationship to his body, ultimately bringing him more vitality and clarity than he had before his injury. He created Zen Warrior Training as a means by which to share what he has learned about the power of our minds to create the conditions of our lives with the world.