pioneer

One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.

A person or other entity who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.

“Certain politicians can be considered as pioneers of reform.”

A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances; a sapper.

A member of any of several European organizations advocating abstinence from alcohol.

A child of 10–16 years in the former Soviet Union, in the second of the three stages in becoming a member of the Communist Party.

To be the first to do or achieve (something), preparing the way for others to follow.

“The young doctor pioneered a new life-saving surgical technique.”