Veteran Jobs Mission Coalition Meeting Convenes at Nationals Park
On Thursday, April 6, following an intimate and inspiring opening reception in which Senator John McCain was honored, representatives from dozens of the companies that represent the Veteran Jobs Mission convened at Nationals Park for a day-long conference to share updates and best practices.
The empty baseball stadium was the perfect backdrop for an enthusiastic lineup of presentations, panels and networking for attendees, a consortium of professionals committed to supporting our nation’s service members and veterans as they seek meaningful employment with some of the largest companies.
In attendance were representatives from JPMorgan Chase, Washington Nationals, Starbucks, Amazon, AT&T, Deloitte, Drexel Hamilton, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among many others. A diverse array of presenters participated including veteran small business accelerator StreetShares, Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF), U.S. Army Soldier for Life, Team Red, White & Blue, UCLA Medical, and Student Veterans of America.
The topics addressed ranged from creating veteran talent pools and recruiting as well as how to increase retention rates for veteran employees, to engaging veteran employees in activities and resource groups that help them feel acclimated and passionate, and translating skills learned in the military to skills on the job in the civilian workplace. There was also a special discussion led by Drexel Hamilton around their new service disabled veteran program and how to accommodate and empower transitioning service members with special needs in the workplace.
Following the formal portion of the day, attendees enjoyed a mix and mingle cocktail reception and then a slightly rain-delayed baseball game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Launched in 2011 as the 100,000 Jobs Mission, the Veteran Jobs Mission brings together companies committed to hiring U.S. military veterans. More than 235 Fortune 500 companies have joined and collectively hired nearly 385,000 U.S. military veterans, with the ultimate goal of one million. The private sector organizations are continuing to increase their focus on retention and career development. This includes supporting veterans as they adapt to the workplace by establishing sponsorship and on-boarding training programs, as well as industry-based coalition subgroups to increase collaboration among members. Visit jobsmission.com.