Megan McDonald

On Top of the World Megan McDonald, MBA’14, goes mountain climbing to help soldiers and veterans. Sixty-five years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to reach the top of Mount Everest. This past April, Megan McDonald headed to Everest, where she met Sir Edmund’s son, Peter Hillary — a two-time Everest conqueror himself. Megan works for True Patriot Love (TPL), a charity that supports Canadian military and veterans’ families. Her trip to Everest was part of a TPL expedition. The team included ill and injured soldiers and veterans, as well as business executives from across the country. Everest was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Megan says. Led by Peter Hillary, the TPL team trekked to base camp on Mount Everest, then summited the 20,000-foot peak of Lobuche East, which sits near Mount Everest in Nepal. “It was beautiful and challenging, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be the member of the team at True Patriot Love that leads the recruitment, fundraising and development of the expeditions,” Megan told us. Of course, it was all for a good cause. The Everest expedition raised $1 million, with funds going to help military families — everything from dealing with mental health and physical rehabilitation to transitioning back to civilian life.