What inspires you to do the work you do?
Our junior service members and youngest veterans. As an executive officer and commanding officer in the Navy Reserve, I saw some of my Sailors returning from mobilization struggle with the transition back to civilian life, especially with regard to employment. While no one owes you a job, people who make military-related sacrifices in service to our country certainly do deserve a level playing field in the job market. Our youngest service members, particularly those completing their first enlistment, are typically at a great disadvantage upon entering the job market—largely since most have no experience marketing themselves to the corporate world, no college degree, and no appreciable business network. All of these issues can be addressed or mitigated by smart, dedicated people (like those at CASY & MSCCN). When these challenges are overcome, employers can be made to see the value of hiring veterans, and that’s what inspires me.
What do you hope to accomplish in 2015 and beyond?
We have a goal to fund the placement of 25,000 veterans into high quality jobs by 2018. Halfway through 2015, we’re at 14,700. I hope to get to 18,000 by year-end. While the number of placements is important to us, the quality of the jobs our grantees help veterans earn is equally important—something we measure every quarter. If we can maintain our trajectory on both the quality and quantity fronts, I’ll be pretty happy. To do this, however, takes more than continued outstanding performance from our partners like CASY; it also requires us to keep raising funds from those who want to help veterans and to make greater in-roads convincing hiring managers about the value veterans bring to the civilian workplace.
What advice do you have for others looking to make an impact?
Keep your eye on the ball, and that ball is real impact. Along the way, don’t confuse activity with progress. When I hear organizations tout how much in government benefits they’ve helped veterans get from the Federal Government or how many appointments they’ve conducted, I ask the question, “So what? Can you quantify how that has improved a vet’s life? Have you made them more dependent on the government for life or actually helped them become more self-sufficient?”
We think the single best way you can help the vast majority of veterans is to connect them with meaningful work. When you have a career, you have an active mind and body, self-respect, a more stable family life, lots of human interaction, lower risk for depression, access to quality health care, etc. So, we keep our eye on the prize of high quality jobs—good paying, sustainable, engaging work for our vets.