“I came back with a completely different lease on life,” she said. “I got off the plane and said to my husband, ‘I have a new plan. I want to start another nonprofit.’” At the time, Sandquist had been in the nonprofit world for 17 years. She started her first charity in Wisconsin, called Circle of Friends, as a 23-year-old schoolteacher who noticed that many of her students came to class hungry and tired. What began as a way for students to pick up items in her classroom ballooned into a program in 26 schools within three years. “Circle of Friends is what made me open my eyes to what I really wanted to do with my life,” she said. After a divorce, Sandquist moved to Arizona with sons Tyler and Cayden. She started Visions of Hope, a nonprofit that supported organizations as a pass-through to give back. Next up was a ladies’ clothing store called Swank. “It was a shop-for-a-cause. Twenty percent of every bit of your sale would go directly to a nonprofit that helped women needing clothing and support,” Sandquist said. Side note: Kristen Sandquist is fashionable. Like, much more stylish than you might expect from someone who treks mountains for a living. She clearly enjoys fashion and knows what she looks best in. Outfit change — Sandquist is climbing Piestewa Peak to be photographed for the cover of this magazine. Clad in a velvet blazer, Gucci belt and 3-inch heels, she strikes a power pose while perched atop a boulder. Grounded, unpretentious, up-for-whatever, it is no wonder people are willing to follow where she leads. “She is laid back and classy, but with a unique grasp of herself and her foundation,” said Scott Foust, who photographed her for this story. “She had to deal with wind, heat and posing on rocks in high heels, but she took it in stride and made it fun. She understands that, in the scheme of things, this is nothing.” All of which is to say, Sandquist has seen and done things that most folks would deem impossible. So when she decided to start a global nonprofit after her first trip abroad, people paid attention. Three months after their Tanzania trip, Sandquist and Cherilla opened K2 Adventure Travel, a company that combines international hiking adventures with community- service trips to Africa, Peru, Argentina and Nepal. In tandem with the company, the pair runs K2 Adventures Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to care for children, adults and families with special needs or life-changing medical circumstances. Sandquist is the CEO; Cherilla is president. Here’s how the two parts of K2 work together. People on K2 Adventure Travel excursions have the option to do service. In Tanzania, for example, that occurs at one of three places: Summit Happy Home, a freestanding orphanage K2 Adventures Foundation built; a prosthetic center where K2 is providing brand-new legs to hundreds of people with below-the-knee amputations; and St. Augustine’s, a school that over 500 children attend, including orphans. “What’s happening is those individuals that came on a for-profit trip will then make a donation to Sandquist (second from left) started her first nonprofit when she was a young teacher in Wisconsin.

FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE | 37 our foundation because they see firsthand what we’ve done with the money,” Sandquist said. Thanks to supporters, K2 Adventures Foundation is making massive impacts, both domestically and abroad. “It’s pretty magical because it went from being such a small idea to now, where it’s huge,” Sandquist said. Here in Arizona, the foundation has granted hundreds of thousands of dollars of award requests through its Strength to Thrive program, which focuses on mind, body and soul. For instance, people often come to the organization for adaptive equipment after being denied by insurance companies that deem the items luxury equipment. “If you lose a leg, you’re going to get a new leg. But if you were a runner, they’re not giving you a running blade,” Sandquist said. As a result, K2 Adventures Foundation has provided running blades; ballet, ski and hiking legs; and adaptive surfboards to clients, as well as adaptive wheelchairs and horse therapy. “Just because you lost your limb doesn’t mean that you have to lose your ability to be in the outdoors, to be an athlete, or to continue on,” Sandquist said. But K2 Adventures Foundation doesn’t only work with those already familiar with the powerful benefits of exercise and the outdoors. It recently partnered with Elevate Phoenix to provide 10 mentors and 10 mentees an opportunity to work on their mental health, physical health and nutrition. At the end of the free three-month program, participants had the opportunity to hike the Grand Canyon. “It’s one of the best programs we’ve ever created,” Sandquist said. “We