Meet the Clay Hunt Fellows of Base Camp 6
Base Camp 6 will be the first cohort of Clay Hunt Fellows to graduate as America emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Team Rubicon is counting on these Greyshirts to lead their fellow volunteers boldly into a new era of service. Each member of the cohort will undertake six months of leadership training designed to challenge them to discover their strengths and develop a deeper understanding of themselves.
Through readings, discussions, and guided self-awareness exercises that focus on the experience of life out of uniform, they will emerge ready to step up in the field and in their lives. These fellows come to the program with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, but what they all have in common—and what they share with Clay—is a desire to continue serving others.
Hayley Albers
Fort Collins, CO
Hayley Albers is an Army veteran who works in tandem as a wildland firefighter and on contract for Team Rubicon. Throughout her career, she has earned numerous Wildland Fire and FEMA/ICS certifications. Albers has been a Greyshirt for seven years and currently serves on the Mobile Training Team as well as being the first female national deputy chainsaw cadre coordinator.
Her first deployment was on Operation Gingerbread Man after the Hidden Pines Fire, only 30 minutes from her hometown in Texas. As a volunteer firefighter, Albers learned about Team Rubicon while helping to contain the blaze, then signed up to assist with debris removal just a few days later and attended her first ever chainsaw training.
The experiences with Team Rubicon that have made the biggest impact on Albers include serving remotely on food support operations, being a part of the Mobile Training Team while deployed on the Hurricane Laura response, Operation Crying Eagle, and serving in multiple capacities on vaccination support operations.
Reflection on Service:
“We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.” —Ryan Holiday
Campfire Fact:
“You can usually find me running a chainsaw, putting out fires or spending time with friends!”
Stanley Bednar Jr.
Hampstead, NC
Stanley Bednar Jr. served in the Marine Corps for 20 years. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Pennsylvania State University, he holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics as well as a Master of Professional Studies degree in supply chain management. In addition to serving with Team Rubicon, Bednar volunteers with the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, the Angelman Syndrome Foundation, Special Olympics, Arlington Arts and Recreation, and Habitat for Humanity.
Bednar was introduced to Team Rubicon by a fellow Marine Corps veteran. He became interested when he saw how energetic and excited his friend became when talking about Team Rubicon. It was the chance to serve again that he found heartwarming and impactful and inspired him to join Team Rubicon.
Bednar has been a Greyshirt for roughly three years. For him, going through the Clay Hunt Fellowship interview and selection process has been a meaningful experience.
“It is the manner in which Clay Hunt was, and continues to be, honored all along the way. It is easy for efforts and initiatives to grow into ‘beasts’ in and of themselves, taking on their own nature and purpose for existence, at times shunning or forgetting their initiating directives and purposes. I was very encouraged to see and experience that this was not the case with the CHFP. His memory, and more so his dedication to service and fellow man has remained at the forefront and serves as the cornerstone of the CHFP initiative, as it should be.”
Reflection on Service:
“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” ―Carl Gustav Jung
Campfire Fact:
“Equal parts outdoorsman, analytic, nerd, and personal athlete. My Gallup strengths have me as intellection, responsibility, learner, connectedness, and restorative. And I love climbing a good mountain…because it is there.”
Tate Dunnivan
Pittsburgh, PA
Tate Dunnivan has served in the Army National Guard for 12 years. Having attended Chatham University and Duquesne University, he holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Business Administration, and a master’s degree in leadership and liberal studies. In addition to serving with Team Rubicon, Dunnivan also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.
Dunnivan has been a Greyshirt for two years and serves as the Pittsburgh metro member lead. His first experience with Team Rubicon was a Core Ops class and says that ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) has been one of the most meaningful events he has taken part in.
Reflection on Service:
“Greatness as a verb is service.”
Campfire Fact:
“I am an uncle to four nieces and one nephew.”
Heather Guck
Fort Collins, CO
Heather Guck served in the Army for 20 years. She earned a bachelor’s in education at University of Northern Iowa and a master’s degree in education at Graceland University. Currently, she is employed as a marketing project manager and is working on a master’s degree in national security and homeland security at Liberty University. When she’s not serving with Team Rubicon, Guck volunteers with the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Guck has been a Greyshirt for three years. Her first deployment was on a fire mitigation mission in Boulder Canyon, CO called Operation Wild Angel. She says the most impactful aspect of volunteering with Team Rubicon is, “to have the opportunity to once again serve my country and community with fellow veterans.”
Reflection on Service:
“Service means shifting one’s focus from self to selfless by meeting the needs of others and expecting nothing in return, while gaining the pure satisfaction of making a difference in this country, my community, and in the lives of its citizens.”
Campfire Fact:
“I’m attempting to hike all of Colorado’s 14ers (peaks exceeding 14,000 feet in height). The most challenging thus far has been Longs Peak.”
Katherine Haimann
Kenema, Sierra Leone
Katherine Haimann served nine years of active duty in the Army and has continued to serve for the last three years as an Army Reservist. She graduated from Virginia Tech and is a certified professional engineer and project management professional. Haimann puts these certifications to use in her career as a construction manager.
Haimann has been a Greyshirt for one year and her first deployment was on Operation Crying Eagle—Team Rubicon’s response to Hurricane Laura in Louisiana and Texas. She says the most meaningful aspect of being a member of Team Rubicon has been “being able to help people in my own country who need it.”
Reflection on Service:
“If not me, who? If not now, when?” —Emma Watson
Campfire Fact:
“I’m an avid cyclist and have cycled in many places around the world, including across Africa from Cairo to Cape Town.”
Lindsay Hill
Ballston Spa, NY
Lindsay Hill has served in the Air Force Reserve for five years. She works as a PET/CT technologist aide, providing patient care for people with cancer and metastatic disease. She is also currently studying at the University of Maryland Global Campus and plans to graduate in the summer of 2021 with a degree in business management.
Hill became a Greyshirt in November of 2020. While she has not yet been able to deploy due to COVID-19, she says she still values the connections made during COVID saying, “it has been impactful in that the members of Team Rubicon truly care about the wellbeing of their teammates and future Greyshirts. It is welcoming to feel welcomed and cared for even as a random person wanting to be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
Reflection on Service:
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” —Barack Obama
Campfire Fact:
“My 2021 goal is to hike 2021 miles for mental health awareness, stopping to drink one beer at the top of the best summit on each high-mileage hike.”
Mitchell Horn
Fort Worth, TX
Mitchell Horn served in the Army National Guard for six years. He attended the Tarrant County College Fire Academy and is a certified firefighter and emergency medical technician. Now, Horn works with the Parker County Fire Department.
Horn has been a Greyshirt since 2013 and his most recent leadership experience was serving as a task force leader on Operation Fury Road—a mission to provide route clearance in the Lake Charles, Louisiana area after Hurricane Laura.
“My first deployment to Moore, Oklahoma [where Team Rubicon assisted more than 450 homeowners affected by an EF-5 tornado] gave me my first real sense of purpose since getting out of the military and it has stuck with me ever since. Seeing the impact that a group of veterans can make when repurposed for a different mission was truly inspiring.”
Reflection on Service:
“It’s simple, just put others before yourself.”
Campfire Fact:
“I am a PADI divemaster.”
Sid Reddy
Fort Collins, CO
Sid Reddy served in the Army for five years. He has earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and is currently in the process of going back to school.
Reddy has been a Greyshirt for six months and serves as a volunteer leader. His first deployment was on Operation Crying Eagle and for him, the first day of his first operation has been his most impactful experience with Team Rubicon. “The Greyshirts I had the privilege of meeting and working with that day kept me coming back, even more than the mission itself.”
Reflection on Service:
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Campfire Fact:
“I have lived on four continents and am aiming for all seven one day.”
Ruben Saavedra
Chicago, IL
Ruben Saavedra served for four years in the United States Marine Corps. He attended Saint Xavier University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in marketing and management and now works as an account manager. In addition to serving with Team Rubicon, Saavedra volunteers with the Economic Strategies Development Corporation, Bodega Makeover, and the Saint Xavier Graham School of Management Alumni Board.
A Greyshirt for six months, Saavedra has not had the opportunity to deploy yet, but is excited about being a part of an organization that inspires and continues to touch so many lives.
Reflection on Service:
“The philosopher-poet Rumi said, ‘Each of us has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.’ Service to my community is in my heart. I believe that service is an act of humility that places others before oneself. Service means family, commitment, and passion to improve the lives of others.”
Campfire Fact:
“I only love to binge-watch old 1960’s comedy sitcoms.”
Christian Talavera
New Braunfels, TX
Christian Talavera served for eight years in the United States Marine Corps. He attended USC where he received a bachelor’s degree in Business, a Master of Business Administration, and a Master of Studies in Law. Now, Talavera is the president of a small service-oriented, minority-owned business. As well as serving with Team Rubicon, he volunteers with Headwaters Relief.
Talavera has been a Greyshirt for four years and his first deployment was on Operation Heartlander, Team Rubicon’s response to Winter Storm Ulmer. He says that the most important part of serving with Team Rubicon is, “the unity that the powerful network of veterans with skills and new-found purpose in life can bring to each other’s lives.”
Reflection on Service:
“Service is about being selfless and focusing on helping others in need during major catastrophic events or any level of disaster. We run towards the sound of chaos!”
Campfire Fact:
“I love cooking!”
Alexander Tettey Jr.
East Hartford, CT
Alexander Tettey Jr. served in the United States Marine Corps for 11 years. He holds an emergency medical technician certification, and formerly worked as a congressional staffer. He plans to attend the University of Connecticut this Fall. In addition to serving with Team Rubicon, Tettey volunteers with the Wounded Warrior Project and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Tettey has yet to deploy on an operation but looks forward to finding a way to make an impact.
Reflection on Service:
“There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.” —Woodrow Wilson
Campfire Fact:
“I’m a first-generation American. My family hails from Ghana, West Africa.”
Stephanie Tovar
San Antonio, TX
Stephanie Tovar served in the Army National Guard for six years. She earned a Bachelor of Science in construction science from Texas A&M University and currently works as a commercial construction superintendent.
Tovar has been a Greyshirt for a year and a half. She first served on the Houston Rebuild and says that the most meaningful aspect of serving with Team Rubicon is, “volunteering to work hard enough to sweat and ache and then being able to meet the family that the team is able to help.”
Reflection on Service:
“Nothing is worth anything unless it’s shared! I believe there’s no better way to spend your time than in service of others, and there’s no better way to learn to appreciate what you have!”
Campfire Fact:
“I pole vaulted in middle school and high school, and my name still hangs on the wall of the school gym for the school’s female record holders.”