Soaring Spirit Award
Looking Beyond presents its Soaring Spirit Award to exceptional individuals who exemplify the limitless potential of the human spirit. Every award winner is an inspiring individual who refuses to let disability stop them from living life to the fullest.
Jacob Smith
2023 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Jacob Smith is a 16 year old visually impaired skier. Jake was diagnosed with a brain tumor at eight years old and was left with severe visual impairment. Over five years, he endured four major surgeries and six weeks of proton radiation before the tumor was put into remission. Jacob has not let this adversity slow him down. He was the first blind skier to ski the Big Couloir and North Summit Snowfield in Big Sky Montana. He is currently in the planning stages of more high consequence ski descents for the upcoming winter. Jacob has also been competing in the IFSA Junior Freeride series throughout the northern region of the Rockies. In the off-season Jacob enjoys helping his family on the farm and ranch in North Dakota, dirt biking, and spending time at the lake.
Lucy Meyer
2022 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Lucy Meyer is an international advocate and spokesperson for young people with disabilities. She was born with cerebral palsy as a result of oxygen deprivation for five minutes at birth and lives with both physical and intellectual challenges. Lucy’s diagnosis has never slowed her down; she is a five-time Special Olympics gold medalist in swimming and continues to work closely with Special Olympics, Best Buddies and UNICEF. Last year, she was appointed by the Executive Direct of UNICEF to be a Champion for Generation Unlimited, a U.N. private/public partnership that focuses on providing job skill training to young people in developing countries. Most recently, President Biden appointed her to the Presidential Committee on Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Perhaps what she is most proud of is promoting unified sports—children with and without disabilities playing together on the same team. This encourages acceptance and inclusion of children with disabilities so that they can grow up to be active participants in their community instead of living in isolation.
Lucy works tirelessly to ensure that children with disabilities all over the world receive quality healthcare, education, acceptance and inclusion in a myriad of activities. She is an inspiration to all and believes that everyone has an obligation to give back. She has taken her message of “acceptance plus inclusion plus support equals progress” around the world, giving advocacy and service a whole new meaning. To learn more about Lucy head over to https://www.teamlucymeyer.org
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson
2021 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
“Why fit in when we are born to stand out.” –Dr. Seuss
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson, 15, was born with Down syndrome, a genetic disorder caused by an extra chromosome. Since he was four, Wilson has been creating abstract pieces, which have been featured in three gallery showings over the last three years, as well as in the American Embassy in Croatia. His website, EmmettKyoshiArt.com, combined with his social media presence, has helped Emmett spread his message of inclusion, as well as raise awareness and understanding about people with Down syndrome. Emmett is also proud to collaborate with artist Matthew Hoffman, founder and curator of the renowned, “You are Beautiful” project. Most importantly, Wilson's priority is to give back to his community. Since 2017, he has donated over $50,000.00 to various charities like the National Association for Down Syndrome, The Jackson Chance Foundation, The Terry Fator Foundation, First In Foundation, Hair Cares, Sister Paulanne Needy Family Fund, and The Greater Chicago Food Depository. His slogan, coined by Dr. Seuss, captures Wilson perfectly,” Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
Niv Ashkenazi
2020 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Virtuoso violinist Niv Ashkenazi has captured audiences with his heartfelt musicianship and emotional performances. His technical brilliance, “lush sound” and “passionate playing” (CASA Magazine) have enthralled audiences at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and worldwide.
Niv earned a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, under the tutelage of preeminent instructors such as Itzhak Perlman and Glenn Dicterow. In addition to his musical performances, Nic has undertaken many philanthropic endeavors. Notably, Nic serves on the professional advisory board of Shane’s Inspiration, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to building inclusive playgrounds, and formerly served on the board of the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra. He is an avid and inspirational speaker who motivates diverse audiences. For the 2019-2020 season, Niv is the Artist in Residence for the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya), and is educating and creating awareness about the Holocaust through Violins of Hope, a collection of instruments that survived the Holocaust and have been restored.
Jake Olson
2019 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Jake Olson is 21 years old, a resident of Huntington Beach, California and student at the University of Southern California. When Jake was 8 months old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer, retinoblastoma. The disease claimed his left eye before the age of one and, in November of 2009, Jake lost his other eye after battling the cancer for 12 years.
Jake has a wholesomeness to his heart and spirit for life beyond his years. He confronted many challenges during his battle and has used his experience to better himself as a person and develop a strong faith in God. He wrote a book when he was 8 years old to uplift and encourage other children who were battling cancer and other diseases, and more recently published his second book, “Open Your Eyes”, in January of 2014.
Jake recognizes he has received much, and wants to give back more. In this spirit, Jake setup his own foundation – Out-of-Sight Faith – in order to raise needed funds to purchase technology for other blind children. This equipment and technology enable visually impaired children to perform better in school and achieve academic excellence. The foundation also supports cancer research and has raised over $100,000 dollars.
Jake has been a life-long USC football fan and is currently on the USC football team as one of the long snappers. During USC’s game against Western Michigan on September 2nd , 2017, Jake made history as the first one hundred percent blind player to snap in a college football game. It was a dream come true for Jake, and his story inspired millions of people all across the county.
Marshall Ball
2018 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Marshall Stewart Ball was born with a devastating genetic disorder that prevents him from walking, talking, sitting up without assistance, or even feeding himself. Nevertheless, his mind is lovely and free. Since learning to communicate by tapping letters on an alphabet board at the age of five, Marshall has never expressed anger or frustration about his circumstances. Rather, he has written profound thoughts and poems about love, listening, kindness, acceptance, and God. Through his wondrous writings, Marshall has become what he has always said he wanted to be: a teacher who shares fine thoughts.
Ezra Frech
2017 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
“Being different is OK.” These are the words of 11-year-old Ezra Frech, our 2017 Soaring Spirit Honoree. Ezra is missing his left fibula, left knee, and four fingers on his left hand. At the age of two, his lower leg was amputated and his big toe was transplanted to his left hand to give him the ability to oppose. However, he does not let this slow him down. As a basketball, soccer, flag football, and baseball player, Ezra has shown us all that he does not plan on letting his physical disability get in the way of his passions. If those were not enough, he also competes in Paralympic Track and Field competitions, in which he currently holds 14 national records –more than we would ever dream of holding.
While he is not running circles around the rest of us, Ezra is also a student, a motivational speaker, and an advocate for those with disabilities. He is not only the inspiration behind the Los-Angeles-based nonprofit, @AngelCitySports, but he is also the co-founder. The nonprofit provides sports clinics, training, equipment, and competitions to children and adults with physical disabilities. Even though he is only 11, Ezra has the power to reach audiences of all ages; he speaks at schools, corporate events and nonprofit organizations, teaching his audiences that "being different is OK", and that “you can dream it, hope for it, or make it happen.”
Cyrus Habib
2016 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
An accomplished man and three-time cancer survivor, Habib has been fully blind since age eight. He is a product of the Bellevue Public Schools, and a graduate of Columbia, Oxford and Yale Law School, where he served as an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is a Rhodes Scholar, a Truman Scholar, and a Soros Fellow. He sits on the Boards of the 5th Avenue Theater, the Bellevue College Foundation, and the Bellevue Downtown Association.
Cyrus Habib represents Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Medina, Clyde Hill, and the Points Communities in the Washington State Senate. In 2012, Habib was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives, making him the first and only Iranian American Elected Official to hold a state office in the United States. Habib was recently named one of the “40 Under 40 Political Rising Stars of 2014” by the Washington Post and was named one of “12 State Legislators to Watch in 2014” by Governing Magazine.
Nick Ekbatani
2015 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
As a star for the UCLA Football team, Nick Ekbatani battled various teams and opponents across the country for the Bruins during his four year tenure as a UCLA Student-Athlete. However, no foe he had previously faced would be as formidable as the the one that awaited him the night of July 14th, 2012 when a speeding taxi-van collided with Ekbatani as he was riding his motorcycle. The collision nearly killed him, as doctors gave the young man a 10% chance of survival. Fortunately, Ekbatani's stubborn will wouldn't give in to death that fateful night.
Unfortunately, the catastrophic auto accident would ultimately result in the amputation of his left leg. Since first awaking from a coma in the hospital, Ekbatani has vowed to remain relentlessly positive, no matter the severity of the predicament he now finds himself in. The amputation was just the beginning of a series of battles Ekbatani has had to persevere, as he has endured 12 surgeries since July 2012 while battling a deep bone infection in his completely rebuilt femur.
Currently, on top of relearning how to walk on a prosthetic, Ekbatani is an MBA candidate at The Marshall School of Business at USC on a Swim With Mike Scholarship. He is in pursuit of a second Bachelor of Arts, in Music & Vocal Performance at The Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena. When Ekbatani isn't rigorously studying, he enjoys performing music, running on his new Össur Flex-Run running blade, and trying his best to positively contribute to this world by public speaking, mentoring youth, and fundraising for various organizations, such as The Challenged Athletes Foundation, that make major impacts on the lives of those in predicaments similar to his.
Rion Paige
2014 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
The beautiful and talented singer, Rion Paige, captured the heart of America when she competed on the hit T.V. show X-Factor. Although living with a rare condition called AMC (arthrogryposis multiplex congenita) that affects the muscles and joints, she has not let it prevent her from living her dreams of becoming an X-Factor finalist!
Claire Wineland
2013 Soaring Spirit Award Honoree
Claire was an accomplished author, founder and spokesperson for several organizations, and above all, a heroic fighter of an arguably debilitating case of cystic fibrosis. Through her non-profit organization "Claire's Place Foundation," she was able to help support people with terminal and chronic illnesses.