America’s Warrior Partnership empowers communities to empower veterans. So how do companies play a role in this mission? Well, we see a company as a community within a community. Each company has veterans, service members, veteran family members, caregivers, and military supporters with similar wants and needs of others surrounding them within their community. We call them collectively warriors. These individuals want to feel supported by their employer. They want to connect to opportunities to further their career or give back to their community. That is why we have created the Corporate Veteran Initiative (CVI).
Our Corporate Veteran Initiative (CVI) empowers businesses to create a veteran-friendly company culture. Based on our Community Integration model, the CVI helps companies engage with their warrior population and connects warriors to resources that improve their quality of life.
The CVI collaborates with the thousands of local and national services providers through our network (The Network) to ensure warriors receive access to support in regards to education, training, and career advancement opportunities. We have found through our experience and research that the working population is the hardest population to reach because of their busy schedules. With so little time to advocate for themselves and navigate resources, this population is missing access to benefits and opportunities.
The CVI aims to tackle that issue along with our company partners. The CVI is conducted in three phases:
* Assess the current company culture and warrior population;
* Serve the company by developing a customized veteran-engagement workplace program tailored to their warrior population; and
* Retain the program by providing long-term guidance and support.
The CVI is unique in that it doesn’t just focus on the veteran population. The program creates opportunities for nonveterans to get involved as well. We encourage engagement among the nonveteran population in military supported volunteer opportunities. If you walk into a room and say, “Raise your hand if you or someone you know has served in the military,” I guarantee the majority of the population will have their hands raised. Supporting the military is something that is near and dear to the American population. There is passion behind the cause to give veterans every opportunity to live the American dream that they so bravely defended. How are you doing your part?
To learn more, stay tuned to this blog, contact us, or take our Corporate Self-Assessment.