jodie grenier
CEO, Foundation for Women Warriors | San Diego, California
Jodie Grenier has become a leading voice on women’s and veteran’s issues, as evidenced by her multiple appearances before Congress to testify on issues affecting women veterans. Her role as a national spokesperson comes from personal experience serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Grenier served as an intelligence analyst with the 1st Marine Division. She deployed twice to Iraq where she provided unit commanders with real-time actionable intelligence, mitigating threats to troops.
Following her active-duty service, Grenier spent ten years in Intelligence and national security positions where she supported Departments of Defense and State projects in the United States, and worked abroad in Al Kut, Iraq and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Today, Grenier is the CEO of Foundation for Women Warriors (FFWW), a century-old nonprofit organization committed to empowering women veterans. She joined the organization in 2016 and led a rebrand that revitalized and expanded programming serving over 7,200 women veterans and children.
In 2019, Grenier testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on issues impacting the economic well-being of women veterans and came before the committee again in 2021 on a whole government approach in support of servicewomen.
Grenier has been recognized with numerous awards, most notably, the San Diego Business Journal “Business Women of the Year,” San Diego Magazine “Woman of the Year,” and ABC 10News “Leadership Award.”
The L.A. Times honored Grenier as one of their Inspirational Women for their “Business Visionaries” award. The paper wrote:
“Through her personal story, advocacy and the organization’s work, Grenier has created impactful change. She ensures that women veterans are trailblazers and worthy of the investment they so readily made to protect our country.”
adam driver
Actor | San Diego, California
Adam Driver is one of the most well-known stars in Hollywood, first coming to superstardom through his portrayals of Kylo Ren and Ben Solo in a trio of Star Wars movies, starting with “The Force Awakens” in 2015.
But Driver’s path to Hollywood took an unusual route compared to his fellow stars. It began with service in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Driver enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines as an 81mm mortar man and served for almost three years before fracturing his sternum while mountain biking. He was medically discharged with the rank of lance corporal.
Throughout his acting career, Driver has credited his Marine service for his success, describing it as “one of the things I'm most proud of having done in my life.”
“I found I loved the Marine Corps the most for the thing I was looking for the least when I joined, which was the people — a weird motley crew of characters from a cross section of the United States that on the surface I had nothing in common with,” said Driver, during a TED Talk.
As a result of his own experience, Driver decided to create a venue for veterans who aspire to become actors. He founded Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that provided free arts programming to U.S. active-duty service members, veterans, military support staff and their families worldwide.
"I thought, how great would it be to create a space that combines these two seemingly dissimilar communities that brought entertainment to a group of people that, considering their occupation, could handle something a bit more thought-provoking than the typical, mandatory fun events that I remember being 'voluntold' to in the military," he said.
Driver has appeared in more than 25 movies and received a mountain of accolades, including acting nominations for the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards, and Screen Actor Guild Awards, to name only a few.
Of his success, Driver has also said, “Something I learned in the Marine Corps that I've applied to acting is, one, taking direction, and then working with a group of people to accomplish a mission and knowing your role within that team.”