Invictus Games 2016 Champions
Thank you to our Champions who have demonstrated support for Invictus Games 2016 presented by Jaguar Land Rover. Our Champions are passionate about supporting the wounded, ill and injured Servicemen and women who are competing in the Games from May 8 – 12, 2016.
Join us in saying #MoreThanThankYou by sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
100 Day Countdown Supporters
Thank you to our supporters including Gene Simmons, Dj Tay James, Andrew Hawkins, Max Starks, Tyrann Mathieu, and many more whom helped kick off our 100 countdown to Invictus Games 2016.
Got Your 6 is a campaign that unites nonprofit, Hollywood, and government partners. Got Your 6 believes that veterans are leaders, team builders, and problem solvers who have the unique potential to strengthen communities across the country.
As a coalition, Got Your 6 works to integrate these perspectives into popular culture, engage veterans and civilians together to foster understanding, and empower veterans to lead in their communities. Got Your 6 knows that most veterans leave the military seeking new challenges, and the campaign ensures that there are opportunities for them to continue their service.
What Does “Got Your 6” Mean? In the military, “Got your six” means “I’ve got your back.” To learn more about Got Your Six, click here.
Lena Evans
Ms. Evans is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jade Phoenix, a Community Giving Organization and, oversees grants to individuals and organizations, and manages the direct marketing of business organizations who support charitable causes. Ms. Evans has dedicated much philanthropic effort to social service causes, bereaved military families, pediatric medical and arts education and outreach programs.
Ms. Evans’s efforts have garnered her the honor of being nominated as Woman of the Year 2016 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the prestigious 2014 L’Oreal Paris Women of Worth award, 2014 San Diego Magazine Woman of the Year award, and 2013 Longines Women Who Make a Difference award, which recognize women who have done exceptional work improving the lives of children in their community. To read Ms.Evan’s full bio, click here.
JM Field Marketing
Our Team. Your Needs. One Goal. We strongly believe that giving back to our community leads to success for everyone. We are honored to support Invictus Games 2016 in their service to our wounded, ill and injured service members. As a team, we strive to help create a stronger, healthier surrounding for our local neighborhoods. We make it a point to take initiative and participate in our local charitable events and pride ourselves in our ability to help where and when we are needed.
“Aiding the Invictus team in spreading the message of the Games through social media has been an honor. These men and women have protected our ability to express ourselves on a daily basis and being able to shed a light on our heroes has meant the world to our team. We look forward to cheering on these unconquerable competitors as they compete in Orlando! To our service members, and their loved ones, we say more than thank you!” – Jack Field, Founder & CEO
J.M. Field Marketing’s team has worked with a variety of local and national companies to provide marketing, fulfillment and design service solutions that consistently allow our clients to focus on their core competencies. For more information, please visit: https://www.jmfieldmarketing.com
Melissa Fitzgerald
In November 2013, Melissa Fitzgerald joined Justice For Vets as its new Senior Director. As an actor, Melissa is best known for her seven-year role as Carol on the television series The West Wing, but off-screen she is widely recognized as a courageous advocate for people in need. Melissa is co-founder of Voices in Harmony, a non-profit mentoring organization that uses theater to work with underserved teens in Los Angeles. In 2007, Melissa traveled to war-torn Northern Uganda to bring the Voices in Harmony theater program to former abducted child soldiers and other teenagers affected by the region’s brutal rebel war resulting in the award-winning documentary, After Kony-Staging Hope. The experience opened her eyes to the lingering impact of war. In 2011, Melissa co-executive produced Halfway Home, a documentary featuring Vietnam War veteran and former U.S. Senator Max Cleland and Silver Star recipient and Iraq War veteran, Sgt. Tommy Rieman joining other veterans in recounting their experience in war and their struggle to reintegrate and recover upon returning home. “I am deeply honored and grateful to have the opportunity to be part of Justice For Vets, an organization that is having such a profound impact on the lives of veterans and their families.” For more information, please visit: http://justiceforvets.org
Andrew Hawkins
“The Invictus Games gives our military heroes hope, an outlet, and the special opportunity to be a part of a team once again. The power of sport is life changing, I understand this firsthand. I am honored to play a role in supporting all 500 competitors! Of course, my personal passion for rugby will come through in my enthusiasm for the wheelchair rugby events!” – Andrew Hawkins
Andrew Hawkins is an American football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He previously played for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams and also for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League, where he was part of back-to-back Grey Cup Championships. He played college football for the Toledo Rockets from 2004 to 2007. Hawkins has spoken about his faith saying, “I literally thank God every day for what I’m doing right now. I wouldn’t change the way I got here at all. It taught me so much. It made me a better person and a better man. I’m just so thankful for where I am, and I wake up every day and thank God for it.”
For more information, please visit: http://www.nfl.com/player/andrewhawkins/2508097/profile
Jim Karol
“It is of the utmost honor to be performing at the Invictus Games, and to be in the company of our world’s most heroic, inspiring athletes”. – Jim Karol, Military Mentalist
Jim Karol, world renowned mentalist, has spoken and performed at thousands of events from college campuses, casinos, to corporations. Jim has appeared on the Tonight Show, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Howard Stern Show, and NBC’s Today Show. He also competed as one of the world’s top 10 mentalists on a national LIVE broadcast on NBC called “Phenomenon”, and made a cameo appearance in the movie Jackass Number Two. Jim has set Guinness World Records for both physical and mental feats, including throwing a standard playing card 201 feet. Some of his other astonishing feats include knowing more than 80,000 zip codes, every word in the Scrabble dictionary, Sports Almanacs, Science and Medical Journals, and thousands of digits of Pi. To learn more about Jim Karol, click here.
Chef Robert Irvine
With more than 25 years in the culinary profession, Chef Robert Irvine has cooked his way through Europe, the Far East, the Caribbean and the Americas, in hotels and on the high seas. As the host of one of the Food Network’s highest rated shows, Restaurant: Impossible, Irvine saves struggling restaurants across America by assessing and overhauling the restaurant’s weakest spots. In 2015, Irvine launched Robert Irvine Foods, a company that features a nutritionally improved line of food products without compromising great taste. Irvine recently established the eponymously named non-profit organization, The Robert Irvine Foundation, in an effort to support military personnel and their families. He was recently honored with two very distinguished recognitions for his dedication to the armed services and our country’s heroes. He was first designated Honorary Chief Petty Officer by the U.S. Navy, and later that year awarded the Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment and Support of our Service Members- a distinguished Patriot Award bestowed upon him by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. For more information on Chef Robert Irvine, please visit www.ChefIrvine.com.
Brandon Millett
Brandon Millett is an award-winning communicator, writer, producer and media entrepreneur. Millett is currently the CEO of the GI Film Group, which supports military-themed film and television projects and Co-Founder and President of the GI Film Festival, a national non-profit organization dedicated to tell the stories of American veterans. The GI Film Festival is now in its seventh year of operations. In recognition for his creative work, Millett is the co-recipient of the 2010 American Legion National Commander’s Public Relations Award previously presented to the late Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, Lou Dobbs and the late Jack Valenti, to name a few. On behalf of the GI Film Festival, Millett also accepted the 2012 Carlton Sherwood Media Award from the National Blind Veterans Foundation and the 2007 George Washington Valley Forge Honor Medal from the Freedom Foundation. To learn more about Brandon Millett and the GI Film Festival, click here.
Max Starks
“The Invictus Games is more than an adaptive sporting event for trained competitors, it is a way for participating nations to celebrate our service members. Shining a light on our military heroes takes a special place in my heart because I have family that have served. This is our chance to stand up, cheer and be there for the men and women who have never failed us. I know what being a champion means from my rewarding NFL career, and these are our true champions!” – Max Starks
Max Starks, two time Super Bowl champion, is thrilled to attend Invictus Games 2016. He is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. Starks played college football for the University of Florida. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft, and also played for the NFL’s St. Louis Rams. In 2006, he traveled with Seattle Seahawks defensive end Bryce Fisher and Atlanta Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney on the USO Tour, traveling to United States military bases, a tradition begun by such NFL greats as Frank Gifford and Johnny Unitas. In 2005 Starks visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt at sea, along with members of the Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff. Starks was heavily involved in the local community at the University of Florida. He served as a tutor in Gainesville, Florida and worked with Kids Against Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco. Starks also became involved with the charity Cents of Relief which works to prevent human trafficking and allow access to healthcare for vulnerable populations, particularly women of prostitution and their children. He currently serves on the charity’s Board of Directors.
Kurt Thomas
Kurt Thomas is a former NBA professional basketball player. Thomas is a 6’9″, 230 lb. power forward-center known for his hard-nosed playing style and tough defense. Drafted by the Miami Heat in 1995, Thomas played college basketball at Texas Christian University.
Kurt will attend the Invictus Games 2016 as the celebrity wheelchair basketball coach. Kurt played in the NBA for 19 years, ending his long career with the New York Knicks. Kurt says, “After nearly 20 years of professional basketball I am most honored to take the court with these unconquered heroes!”