At CASY & MSCCN, we are fortunate to have many partners that believe in our mission and enable us to do our best work in the military and spouse employment community. When it comes to nonprofit partnerships, it’s common to hear about the importance of grants and donations, the funding that keeps the lights on and allows for expansion. What you don’t often hear about are the countless hours of time, advice, and goodwill that these partners give, the kind of connections that help us to expand our dreams and our reach far past what we could ever imagine on our own.
The Call of Duty Endowment is one such partner for CASY & MSCCN, and its Executive Director, Dan Goldenberg, is the kind of friend and advisor we cherish. Dan truly believes in the Endowment’s mission to identify and fund the most efficient and effective organizations that get unemployed veterans back to work. He is concerned with results, with seeing how the Endowment can reach as many unemployed veterans as possible to get them the help they need. A veteran himself with active duty and reserve experience, Dan knows the challenges that veterans face in the civilian employment market, and takes their needs to heart.
As we close out the year at CASY & MSCCN, Dan was gracious enough to speak with our MSEJ Managing Editor, Emilie Duck, about the Endowment, its work with CASY, and his own experiences as a veteran in the civilian employment world.
ELD: While you were in the military, you made the transition from active duty service member to the Navy Reserve. What employment concerns did you have when you made that shift?
DG: When I left active duty after nine years, I went right to business school as a full-time student. I did this because I knew I needed a more robust transition vehicle—time to understand the civilian employment landscape, to build my network, and to learn the language of business. For me, business school was a great means of transition, but it definitely came with a large financial burden. While I was in business school, we were attacked on 9/11 and I joined the Navy Reserve as a student. Interestingly, five of my business school contemporaries ended up becoming multiple-tour commanding officers in the Navy Reserve.
Getting Beyond the Image
A Conversation with Dan Goldenberg
Interview by Emilie Duck