Philip Folsom
CoFounder Valor
Joshua Wenner
Cofounder Valor
Philip Folsom
Philip Folsom is an anthropologist, culture development expert, veteran, and CEO of Wolf Tribe. He is also the founder of Human Kind—a holistic consulting agency, as well as SPARTA, a critically acclaimed PTSD and suicide prevention program for warriors.
He has been a key provider in numerous warrior healing programs including; Raven Drum, Project Odyssey, Wounded Warrior Program & Save A Warrior. Philip is known for his unique Tribework program that focuses on the primary culture components of building healthy and high performing teams.
His clients include organizations such as Microsoft, Apple and Space X and major universities worldwide where he conducts innovative adventure programming such as vision quests, caving, high ropes challenge courses, Zen archery, and interactive workshops with horses and wolves.
Philip has sat on numerous boards including Red Bull’s High Performance Department. His work is regularly featured on television and podcasts.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Michael Gay
Michael is a therapist in private practice in Boulder, Colorado. He earned his M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Naropa University with a focus in Transpersonal Psychology. Michael has worked in the field of counseling for the last 14 years as a guide, therapist, and trainer. He was a Wilderness Therapy guide for 6 years, leading and facilitating deep transformational work with teens, adults, and families in the mountains and high desert. He has also worked extensively in the field of addiction and recovery. He specializes in work with depression, groups, trauma, PTSD, grief, and families. In addition to his M.A., Michael completed a 3 year training at the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies, and continues to train at the Gestalt Equine Institute.
As a therapist and facilitator, Michael uses experiential and body based methods. Many approaches to therapy and inner work stay at the intellectual and cognitive level, which rarely or slowly affect deep structural change. Engaging in more experiential and embodied work seems to bring the shifts people were unable to find in mainstream therapy. Experiential approaches support healing and transformation because they mobilize material in ways intellectual approaches can't. Understanding and awareness alone don’t often bring the movement and resolution people seek. Experiential approaches support profound movement, change, and transformation.
Edward Menchavez Jr.
Edward Menchavez Jr., known as Ejay, grew up in New York City. Enlisted in the US Army for 6 years with the 82nd Airborne Division, spent 2 years in Afghanistan, and completed many schools including Ranger School. Ejay moved to Los Angeles after his enlistment where he earned his Bachelor's in Acting and his Master's in Business at the University of Southern California.
He's worked in different industries which has allowed him to realize where he wants to focus his talents. Service. He's worked with nonprofits such as Cantinas Arts, The Sparta Project, Save a Warrior, and just recently joined STOKED. He also works with Colonel Garth Massey of CommandReady leading a Youth Champions after-school program and with Jacque Heim of DIAVOLO in their Veteran's Project.
Joshua Wenner
Joshua is an entrepreneur, veteran, filmmaker and emotional resilience expert. He has spent the last 20 years growing companies, maximizing human potential and is the founder of Emotional Resilience Training (ERT). His curriculum and frameworks are being used to help first responders, veterans and professionals who deal with grief, loss and trauma to reintegrate back into life.
The death of his brother inspired him to interview 32 grief and trauma experts to learn more about the messy subject of grief through his documentary, www.Grieftogracefilm.com. The insights he learned created the foundation for his emotional resilience men’s retreats. A 3.5 day immersive experience designed to provide men the space to heal their past traumas and cultivate tools for emotional resilience.
The powerful results men received from his retreats led to speaking across the country facilitating emotional resilience training programs to 1st responder, military & professionals who deal with grief, loss & trauma.
Prior to his work around trauma, Josh spent 20 years in human optimization & personal development. He facilitated over 1,000 peak performance training nationwide to groups of 20 - 5,000 while working as a speaker and trainer for Tony Robbins.
Nathan GraeseR
MDiv, LCSW, DSW
Nathan Graeser is both a Social Worker and an Army Chaplain in the California National Guard. He is a national expert on policies and programs for supporting service-members transitioning out of the military. He has been featured on NPR, ABC, and numerous other media outlets. A tireless advocate for veteran and military families, he has lead multiple Veteran initiatives in Los Angeles including the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, he has also counseled hundreds on the intersection between transition, spirituality, and military culture, building better community policies for veterans who return home from war. He obtained a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Masters in Social Work, and a Doctorate in Social Work from the University of Southern California. He serves on numerous local and national boards and just returned from a deployment with an Infantry Brigade in December 2018. He lives in Highland Park in a eco-friendly house with chickens, bees and three small humans ages five, three, and one. His rock star wife, Rachel, makes it all possible.
Macy Grim
Macy is both a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) and professor at Pepperdine University in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She received her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at Georgia State University, specializing in play and adventure therapy.
Macy currently works in private practice in Manhattan Beach, California, helping individuals and families build resiliency through a strengths-based approach. At Valor Resiliency, she also makes the most of her therapy training by facilitating personal and interpersonal connection with veterans and first responders as a method of healing from trauma, grief, and PTSD. Recognizing today’s deficiency in resources for emergency services professionals and members of the military, Macy is a strong advocate for serving those who serve our communities.
Her passion for supporting growth in others stems from a childhood that allowed her to develop an affinity for nature and an appreciation for minimalism. Traveling to forty-eight states in a single year, experiencing an outdoor lifestyle, and fitting all of her belongings in a small cubby, she recognized the power that our environment has on mental and physical health. Her travels and specialization in adventure therapy led Macy to build a career that offers both children and adults the opportunity to heal while remaining—or finally embracing—their authentic selves.
Macy considers vulnerability and authenticity to be valuable tools for achieving greater self-acceptance, belonging, and connection with ourselves and the world. She believes adventure therapy gives individuals the chance to practice being vulnerable in service of growth and creating lasting transformations. Tapping into our most intrinsic belief systems, adventure therapy helps people process old patterns in new ways, and then begin to unearth and embody fresh solutions to their long-standing challenges. Macy has seen time and again how this cognitive thought processing opens up new ways of shifting people’s behavior to lead happier, healthier lives.