Volunteer Profiles

John Hess

PHA Board Member; PHA Parent Advisory Board; PHA Web Volunteer

John Hess lives in Boulder, Colo., with his wife, Seema, and three young children, Olivia, Iain and Simon. John became involved with PHA after his son Iain (pictured right with John) was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in October of 2004 at the age of 5.

Leading up to PHA’s recent website redesign, John volunteered his time with PHA’s web team to evaluate and select a vendor for the site overhaul. John was crucial to our website redesign planning process by offering expert advice beyond our internal capacity. Like so many of our volunteers, John volunteered countless hours and was even at the ready when his life got really busy.

In 2009, John took part in “14 Fourteeners” with daughter Olivia and Iain’s best friend Matt. John and the two eleven-year-olds climbed Colorado’s 14 highest peaks in 14 days to fundraise and spread awareness of PH in Iain’s honor. Watch CBS coverage of the climb

John serves on PHA’s Parent Advisory Board, and in January, 2010, John joined PHA’s Board of Trustees, where he also shares his perspective as a parent of a child with PH.