Captain Jonathan F. Kuniholm (U.S. Marine Corps, Ret.), a 2009 graduate of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) program operated by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Council on Disability (NCD). The independent federal agency advises the president, Congress and other federal agencies on disability policy. Through the NCD, Kuniholm will help promote policies that can advance equal opportunity, economic self-sufficiency, independent living, inclusion and integration into all aspects of society for individuals with disabilities.
Kuniholm served in the Marine Corps from 1997-2006 as a combat engineer officer and platoon commander for the 1st Marine Division, Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was honorably discharged in 2006 after being wounded in combat, suffering the loss of his right forearm. Three years later, Kuniholm attended the EBV at SU’s Whitman School and later launched his own business, StumpworX Inc., a prosthetic arm manufacturing company.
In 2012, Kuniholm participated in the first-ever EBV National Business Plan and Pitch Competition at the EBV National Training and Alumni Conference in Denver, Colo. StumpworX Inc. took first place and the $20,000 prize in the competition. In addition to being the founder of StumpworX Inc., Kuniholm is president and founder of the Open Prosthetics Project. He is also a member of the board of the Given Limb Foundation and an advisor and past chair of the board of Able Flight.
