Real Life Warriors

Erik Weihenmayer is an American athlete, adventurer, author, activist and motivational speaker. He is the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001.

Molly Burke is a Canadian YouTube personality and motivational speaker whose eponymous channel has more than 2 million subscribers.

Marla Lee Runyan is an American track and field athlete, roadrunner, and marathon runner who is legally blind. She is a three-time national champion in the women's 5000 meters.

Stevie Wonder is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Wonder is one of the most successful songwriters and musicians. Wonder is often hailed as a "musical genius", and has been credited as a pioneer and influence to musicians of various genres including rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz.

Andrea Bocelli is an Italian opera tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He is classical music's biggest-selling living artist with record sales of over 80 million units, is the world's most popular crossover artist, and is widely hailed as one of the greatest singing talents in the world today.

Judith Heumann is an American disability rights activist and advocate for people with disabilities who is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Her work has produced significant contributions since the 1970s to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities. Heumann led the mainstreaming of disability rights into international development.

Justin Salas is a Midwest rock climber from Oklahoma who specializes in bouldering. Justin’s climbing resume includes gold medal wins in 2 consecutive USA Climbing Adaptive National Championships, and a silver medal in his first International Federation of Sport Climbing Paraclimbing World Cup. In 2018 he also became the first adaptive rock climber to achieve the grade of V11/8a.

Ted Henter is famous within the assistive technology field for inventing the speech software package, JAWS, Job Access With Speech, one of the most widely disseminated and best-known synthetic speech software packages on the market.

Anastasia Pagonis is a 17-year-old Paralympic swimmer and member of Team USA who has already shattered two world records on her way to the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games. She is also active on social media as an advocate for athletes who are blind.

Dan Mancina is a professional skateboarder, podcast host, and advocate for athletes with visual impairments.

Richard H. Bernstein is an American lawyer and Michigan Supreme Court Justice. He was an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan and served on the Wayne State University Board of Governors for one eight-year term. Bernstein has been classified as legally blind since birth as a result of retinitis pigmentosa.

Daniel Kish is an expert in human echolocation and the President of World Access for the Blind. Kish and his organization have taught a form of echolocation to at least 500 blind children around the world. Kish is the first totally blind person to be a legally Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist and to hold a National Blindness Professional Certification (NOMC). He also holds master's degrees in developmental psychology and special education from the University of California Riverside. Kish's work has inspired a number of scientific studies related to human echolocation. Kish was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2017.

Geerat Vermeij is a Professor of Marine Ecology and Paleoecology at the University of California, Davis. Vermeij has published nearly a hundred scientific papers and four books. He served as editor for Evolution, the field's foremost journal, has a world-class collection of shells, and is an intrepid field naturalist and explorer of the coasts of nearly every continent. Vermeij received a MacArthur Fellowship, the “genius” grant in 1992, and in 2000 was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.

Tommy Edison is a YouTuber, radio presenter, podcast host, and film critic. He was endorsed by Roger Ebert and has been featured on The Howard Stern Show and CNN. He is an advocate for inclusion and assistive technology for individuals who are visually impaired.

Pete Eckert is an award-winning, blind light-painting photographer who creates images using sound, touch, and memory. Eckert has done photographic work for brands like Swarovski and Volkswagen. In 2013, Eckert's "Electroman" image was made into a US postage stamp. Eckert's work has been featured at SOMArts Cultural Center and the California Museum of Photography.

Derek Rabelo is a professional big wave surfer, public speaker, author, life coach, and father. His story inspired a documentary called Beyond Sight. He currently travels the world surfing and speaking to various groups.

Casey Harris is the keyboard player for Grammy-nominated, Billboard chart-topping rock band X Ambassadors. He is also a husband, father, and disability rights advocate.

Trischa Zorn is an American Paralympic swimmer and the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals (41 gold, 9 silver, and 5 bronze). She was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2012.

Jen Armbruster is a member of the U.S. Women’s Goalball Team and a four-time Paralympic medalist. She was elected to carry the American flag during the opening ceremonies at the Beijing games and has been inducted into the Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame, State of Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the Colorado Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. She is also a mother and administrator of inclusive recreation at Portland State University.

David Alexander Paterson is an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 55th governor of New York. He is the first legally blind person to be sworn in as governor of a U.S. state and is the first African American to serve as governor of New York.