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US Veteran and Seven-Time Guinness World Record Holding Para Athlete: Meet Adam Popp, GlobalMindED Inclusive Leader Award Winner for Nonprofit
Adam Popp is a former Board Member, Certified Peer Mentor, and Performance Coach who served on the Board of Directors with the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Warrior Foundation for 13 years. Through Couchto100, he leverages his background in psychology and athletics to empower individuals to overcome challenges, drive positive outcomes, and build trusted partnerships. He is dedicated to living a life of purpose and service.
What is your personal story? How did you find your purpose and your passion?
I grew up in a small, non-diverse town where my worldview was limited by my surroundings. At 18, I joined the military seeking purpose and service. By 19, I was living in Japan, immersed in a culture vastly different from my own. Over the next eight years, I lived and served in various countries, traveling to 50+ nations. These experiences instilled in me a deep sense of cultural awareness, empathy, and a drive to help others. They broadened my perspective, taught me the value of diversity, and sparked my love for adventure and curiosity.
In 2007, while disarming a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, a secondary explosion caused the traumatic amputation of my right leg above the knee. The journey that followed was one of physical recovery and mental transformation. Through endurance sports and mental performance coaching, I discovered that growth often emerges from discomfort and that challenges can become opportunities for personal development.
Today, my purpose is clear: to help others overcome their perceived limitations and systemic barriers to achieve beyond what they thought possible. My journey—from small-town beginnings to global experiences, from military service to adaptive athletics—has shaped my passion for service, inclusion, and empowering others to thrive beyond adversity.
What led you to the leadership role for which you are being recognized? Who was instrumental on your path to success?
In combat, I learned to lead teams, support others, and make critical decisions under pressure. After my injury, these leadership skills guided my transition into new roles across non-profit, for-profit, and government sectors. With the help of mentors and non-profits, I achieved a successful recovery and reached a place where I could meaningfully serve others.
In the non-profit world, I started as a board member, conducting peer visits with newly injured servicemembers. This evolved into leading trips and retreats to support their recovery. These experiences showed me the power of community, shared adversity, and ongoing support. In the for-profit sector, I worked to translate veterans’ experiences into lessons to help others facing similar challenges, reinforcing the importance of resilience and adaptability. In the government sector, I contributed to the VA’s VACOR program, assessing veterans’ rehabilitation needs. Drawing from these experiences, I began lobbying Congress for improvements in healthcare and accessibility for travelers with disabilities.
Pursuing dual master’s degrees in Clinical Counseling and Sport and Performance Psychology allowed me to combine counseling with mental performance coaching. My goal remains clear: to lead, serve, and empower others to thrive beyond adversity.
What does inclusive leadership mean to you and what would you like others to know and do as inclusive leaders?
Inclusive leadership is a commitment to dismantling barriers through action and allyship, ensuring that everyone can reach their full potential. My journey—of experiential learning, overcoming a traumatic injury, and studying alongside people from diverse backgrounds—revealed that many systems are not built for those who are different.
Inclusive leaders recognize these barriers and work to understand and address them. This requires practicing empathy, promoting equity over equality, and advocating for accessibility. It means listening to diverse voices, identifying where systems fall short, and creating tailored solutions.
Inclusion demands consistent action and accountability. By leading with curiosity, humility, and a commitment to equity, we can remove obstacles, foster growth, and empower others to thrive beyond their expectations.
How can the GlobalMindED Inclusive Success Network inform, advance and/or multiply your mission and goals?
The GlobalMindED Inclusive Success Network can amplify my mission by connecting me with diverse leaders, mentors, and changemakers committed to equity and inclusion. Their platform can help share my story and mental performance work with underrepresented communities, expanding access to tools for resilience, growth, and empowerment.
Through collaboration within this network, we can dismantle barriers and create more inclusive systems. Together, we can ensure that everyone—regardless of background or ability—has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
What legacy would you most like to leave the world?
I want my legacy to show that just because it’s never been done doesn’t mean it can’t be done—and doesn’t mean you can’t be the one to do it. I hope to inspire others to face challenges, push beyond perceived limits, and pursue growth, even in the face of insurmountable odds. By breaking barriers in endurance sports, advocating for mental resilience, and promoting inclusive communities, I aim to demonstrate that limitations can be redefined. My goal is to leave a world where people believe in their potential, embrace discomfort, and know they are capable of achieving the extraordinary.
You can meet Adam Popp and the 14 other Honorees at the Inclusive Leader Awards Dinner on June 16th in Denver. Please read our newsletter each day as we continue to announce the 2025 Inclusive Leader Award Winners through January.
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