Veterans Advocate, Purple Heart Recipient to Speak at Virtual Saint Leo University Veterans Day Event, November 11
November 10, 2020
Elana Duffy knows firsthand the trials of navigating red tape and finding help for veterans. While serving in the U.S. Army on a mission in Iraq in 2005, she was riding in a Humvee when an improvised bomb exploded as the Army vehicles rolled along. The blast threw her head into a metal plate inside the vehicle.
Sergeant First Class Duffy was medically retired from the Army in 2012 and awarded the Purple Heart. But that did honor did not keep her from struggling to find insurance and receive help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After she returned home to New York, Duffy founded the artificial intelligence (AI) company Pathfinder.vet to allow veterans to search for services and review them.
Now, the Saint Leo University community will have the opportunity to hear from Duffy as she will be the guest speaker at our Veterans Day event, which will be virtual this year. Duffy, who was named to the 2018 NY State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, will speak at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, November 11.
The public is invited to this virtual event, which is sponsored by Saint Leo’s Military & Family Club and the Office of Military Affairs and Services. To attend, go to https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/31f1db6a57cb4901b6687ce1bedcbde4
“She is just an incredible person,” said Dr. Ernest “Luke” McClees, director of Saint Leo’s Office of Military Affairs and Services. “She will discuss her current role as CEO of Pathfinder.vet, how she came to become an entrepreneur, and how to navigate the post-911 landscape.”
Duffy suffered a TBI, traumatic brain injury in the explosion in Iraq, but she didn’t report her symptoms, including dizziness and forgetfulness. She was an interrogator and counterintelligence officer and she feared losing her security clearance. It took two years for the TBI to be diagnosed, according to a February 2020 story by CNN.
In addition to her TBI, Duffy suffered leg and ankle injuries from the blast. Army doctors tried to repair her ankle, but the damage was extensive. Her right leg was amputated at mid-calf in 2019.
Duffy graduated from Cornell University with a Master of Engineering degree. But when she returned to the United States upon her medical retirement, she found she needed to find housing, a job, and obtain veterans benefits. “Her military experience and education were little help without a local network, so she began enrolling with any veteran services for which she was eligible,” Pathfinder.vet.com states.
She, like other veterans, found some services were great, while others weren’t so wonderful. In order to help other veterans with reintegration and to give them a voice, Duffy and her team built the electronic platform to provide secure network of information.
“It aggregates all the variables for a veteran,” McLees said of Pathfinder.vet. “It takes your location, what branch of the service, marital status, children, your years of service, and more, and it creates a list of vetted resources.”
While Duffy advocates for veterans, Saint Leo’s Office of Military Affairs and Services also assists student-veterans, those currently serving, and their families, focusing on transition, reintegration, and academics. “The main purpose of this office is to remove barriers for members of the military, veterans, and their families so they can succeed at academics,” McLees said.
About Saint Leo University
Saint Leo University is one of the largest Catholic universities in the nation, offering 57 undergraduate and graduate-level degree programs to more than 18,200 students each year. Founded in 1889 by Benedictine monks, the private, nonprofit university is known for providing a values-based education to learners of all backgrounds and ages in the liberal arts tradition. Saint Leo is regionally accredited and offers a residential campus in the Tampa Bay region of Florida, 16 education centers in five states, and an online program for students anywhere. The university is home to more than 98,000 alumni. Learn more at saintleo.edu.
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