Trudging at an excruciatingly slow pace through a minus-20-degree night, Virginia-based tech entrepreneur Len Forkas battled to summit Mount Everest this past May. At the base of the Hillary Step, the last big vertical, he had to negotiate the body of a recently deceased climber. 

Forkas had done months of meticulous training, but “nothing prepares you for that,” he says. Bolstered by his guides, he continued the ascent, ultimately standing atop the 29,032-foot peak—the world’s highest. The descent wasn’t without peril either. At one point, Forkas drifted slightly off trail and fell into a crevasse. “It was the most evil thing I’ve ever seen,” he recalls. His rope and his guides saved him.

With this harrowing adventure, Forkas, then 65, became the fifth-oldest person to conquer the tallest peak of every continent—an elusive list known as the Seven Summits. But that distinction wasn’t why he endured the ordeal. His motivation? Helping kids with cancer. 

In 2003, after his nine-year-old son, Matt, was diagnosed with leukemia, Forkas founded the nonprofit Hopecam. He explains that children undergoing cancer treatment are often stuck in a hospital for months, isolated from friends and classmates. Hopecam reconnects them virtually, providing digital devices, high-speed internet, and logistical support—a vital boost to kids’ spirits. 

Forkas raised $900,000 for the nonprofit during the Everest expedition, telling the moving story of a child each day of the climb. Matt, healthy and 33, joined him on the eight-day trek to base camp, which Forkas says provided families with another source of inspiration: “They could see my son as a survivor and think, ‘That could be my kid.’” 

Scaling mountains is just part of his fundraising. Forkas has run marathons in every state, skied 60 miles to the South Pole, and cycled 3,000 miles in 11 days for the Race Across America—all to fund Hopecam and to encourage kids “to climb their mountain, which is getting through treatment.” 

Forkas, president of the wireless infrastructure company Milestone Towers, credits his Kogod experience with providing the foundation for his guiding philosophy: to try new things, be comfortable being uncomfortable, and learn from failures, like his unsuccessful 2023 Everest attempt. 

He will share his mission-driven leadership style in a forthcoming book, but he’s not resting on his high-altitude laurels. His future plans include skiing to the North Pole (to complete the Explorers Grand Slam), running marathons on three more continents, and, most importantly, expanding Hopecam’s reach. While the program has benefited nearly 6,000 children in all 50 states, Forkas says, “over 15,000 get cancer every year, so we have a lot more kids to help.”