Veteran Resource Podcast

Daniela Petrilli was born and raised in Springfield, NJ. In 2002, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts with minors in Marketing and Psychology from Caldwell University. After working in publishing, television and public relations, she decided to pursue graduate school.

In 2007, she received her Master of Arts degree in Communication Studies and Leadership from Kean University. In 2008, she became certified in Human Resources Studies by Cornell University. After completing her education, Daniela relocated to Washington, DC where she currently works in human resources.

Daniela is extremely passionate about and believes it is vitally important to give back to the community. In her spare time, her volunteer work includes animal and United States military causes. Her other interests include: travel, attending concerts, reading, and spending time with friends and her adopted cat, Sweetie.

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Every personal and professional decision Emily Cherniack has ever made has come from a place that honors service and leadership. From her service in AmeriCorps and employment with City Year AmeriCorps, to being part of the founding team of Be the Change -- where she led a coalition of over 200 organizations, engaging 250,000 people for a Day of Action which resulted in the passage of Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, a $6B piece of federal legislation -- Emily has worked tirelessly to serve her nation. Driven by service and servant leadership, Emily also chose to avoid politics until, in 2009, Alan Khazei decided to run for the U.S Senate. Khazei asked Emily to become his Deputy Campaign Manager and, although he was defeated, Emily learned a great deal from his campaign and the power of politicians who chose to serve country before self.It took one campaign for Emily to see why our political system is broken; it is exclusive and has significant barriers that prevent transformational leaders from successfully running for office. It also took one campaign for Emily to resolve to find the leadership necessary to help our country solve the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century. Her experience led Emily to found New Politics, an organization that disrupts the candidate pipeline and ecosystem to bring a new generation of servant leaders into politics. New Politics recruits and runs leaders who will put the country first and who will work together to get things.Show Notes: http://veteranpodcast.com/040

Jim Estes, a former PGA Tour Player, and childhood friend Jamie Winslow co-founded the Salute Military Golf Association in late 2006. They both saw first-hand the positive force the game of golf could play in the recovery process for our nation’s wounded warriors. SMGA began with the purpose of creating a therapeutic outlet for post-9/11 veterans undergoing prolonged medical treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

Jim’s and SMGA’s efforts have been recognized by numerous media outlets. Jim was awarded the prestigious (2010) PGA Patriot Award for his contributions to the recovery of wounded warriors. Articles from ESPN.com tell how several trips from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Olney Golf Park, where Jim Estes is a PGA Teaching Professional, eventually evolved into a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation aimed at supporting post-9/11 wounded warriors.

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Major (r) Scott “Mack” Macksam graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a BA in History with a Minor in German Studies. He received a commission in the Field Artillery. Major Mack has served honorably 20 years in the United States Army in various leadership, command and staff positions in a global setting. His last assignment was Director of Military Science and Leadership at the University South Florida St Petersburg where he secured over 1.4 million scholarship awards to Cadets and personally dedicated a 8K Veterans Memorial to USFSP. He has graduate of Officers Basic Course, Air Defense Officers Advanced Course ,CGSG and Combined Arms Staff Service School, Air Assault, Military History Instructors Course and holds a Masters in Organizational Management. He also has implemented a National Leadership Development and Internship Programs for US Army Cadet Command. In 2014 he secured a 30K National American Soldier Exhibit which was a first in the State. He now is the Founder and President of the Veterans Art Center Tampa Bay pioneering a model for the State of Florida. Major Mack is active in the community and a serving member: Board of Trustee, St Petersburg Museum of History, Association United States Army Executive Committee, Remember/Honor/Support Advisory Board, Military Officers Association, Global SOF Foundation, Homes for Independence Board, Goodwill Ambassador and Social Enterprise Board of Trustees.

Show Notes: http://veteranpodcast.com/038

In her current position, Amanda is the Region III Administrator at Team Rubicon, where she is responsible for the management of all readiness and response functions in the Mid-Atlantic region. In her previous role with Team Rubicon, she was responsible for managing Team Rubicon's national membership engagement and wellness strategies. Amanda served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps from 2007-2011, where she served as a Company Commander, Assistant Operations Officer and Platoon Commander at Second Radio Battalion in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She joined Team Rubicon after volunteering to serve on Team Rubicon’s disaster relief logistics team in the Philippines, following the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan. After serving in the Marine Corps, Amanda also worked as an Operations Manager at Target Corporation and as a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. She received her BA in Political Science from Sonoma State University and is currently enrolled as a full time graduate student at George Washington University.

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Will Hubbard is on the professional staff of Student Veterans of America, currently serving as their Vice President of Government Affairs. His focus is on legislative action and executive branch policy across all issues that impact student veterans in higher education. Mr. Hubbard is frequently called before congress as a subject matter expert to testify on a variety of issues, and often advises executive officials in the administration on higher education and veterans policy issues. Previously, he was a National Executive Committee Member of Deloitte’s Armed Forces Business Resource Group, and led the successful proposal of several veteran-focused projects while serving in the federal practice as part of Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations business line. Mr. Hubbard entered the Marine Corps in 2006, and initially served with 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines. He later went on to lead Marines with 4th Supply Company at Boling Air Force Base in Washington, DC. Today, he continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves based out of MCB Quantico, VA. He has been a leader with Student Veterans of America at both the chapter and national levels, and has been passionate about veterans health issues since entering the armed services. Mr. Hubbard is a graduate of American University, where he studied International Relations. He currently resides in Arlington, VA with his wife and long-haired dachshund.

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Catch A Lift Fund (CAL) is a 501c3 non profit dedicated to helping post 9/11 wounded veterans recover, rehabilitate and reintegrate through physical fitness. CAL believes each of the over 2,200 veterans in the program has the ability to actively contribute to their health on a DAILY basis. By providing these veterans with the financial assistance and motivation to be in the fitness programs that fit their needs, CAL vets are losing weight, dropping medications, and re-establishing their lives with family and friends.

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I recently joined the Operation Second Chance team as the Sales Development & Marketing Manager; after growing up surrounded by the military lifestyle it was hard to picture myself doing anything other than joining our armed forces. It wasn't until college that I began to find my individuality and passions, and began studying communication and marketing. I graduated from The University of Maryland, College Park with my Bachelor's in Communication in 2012 and began a career in sales. But something was missing.Not a day went by that I wondered what my life would have been like if I joined the military, but at the same time I never regretted my choice to not join. Coming from a long line of Marines, my admiration for these men and women, and the sacrifices that they make, only grew over the years.It wasn't until a conversation with my brother in-law, a LtCol in the Marines, that I saw a chance to use my passion and skills for marketing and communication to give back to our soldiers. He told me of a non-profit, Operation Second Chance, and what they did to help the wounded, injured, ill heroes coming home from war. I fell in love; I knew right away that I had to work for this organization. And, as if the stars aligned, not one week after this conversation, I found a job posting for OSC online, and the rest is history. I couldn't be prouder to be part of such a wonderful organization, helping those who gave so much in defense of our freedoms and liberties.

Check out the show notes at http://veteranpodcast.com/034

In this episode I talk about creating the VAP Family of Podcasts under the Veteran Artist Program non-profit. I also talk about the new VAP Community that we just rolled out this week to allow veteran artists to interact with and help other veteran artists. A rising tide lifts all boats. This community will strengthen veteran artists as a whole. To get your invite into the community, https://veteranartistprogram.leadpages.co/communityinvite/

Born to Holocaust refugees at the close of WWII when Truman was President, Denny began a lifetime of activism at the age of 13 when he joined a NAACP picket line. Since then he has battled for Gay rights, Women’s rights, Transgender rights, and LGBT veterans rights. During the Vietnam Era he left college and volunteered to serve his country, joining the Navy (either for love of the sea or for the dress blue bell bottom 13 button uniform). In less than 4 years he was a Petty Officer Second Class. Later he worked for the Army Reserves as a civilian administrator and, after joining his reserve unit, rose to Sergeant First Class. After AIDS took the life of his love of 20 years, Denny became inspired to found the New York Chapter of AVER – AVERNY, he served as Region 1 VP for a number of years, and currently serves as both the AVER national Public Affairs Officer and Vice President of Veterans Affairs.