2015 San Francisco Fleet Week Veterans Employment Summit

I have 2 charitable areas of focus. First is creating opportunity for under-privileged youth through education and mentoring. Second is creating opportunity for and awareness of veterans and their issues. It is the second area about which I'm writing a post today.

Fleet Week is not just about watching the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels air show and welcoming sailors and marines to a city for a party. It is not just about seeing the ships, aircraft and other machines of war up close in personal. All of things are very important, impressive and have their role in the event. That said, in addition to the display of military might, there is hard work to be done. Military units and first responders collaborate to develop plans for natural disasters, humanitarian missions and other emergencies, while officials and agencies meet to discuss challenges and opportunities for their constituents.

Often, when I talk with people about my time as an officer in the U.S. Navy, they thank me for my service to my country and share good wishes for our brothers and sisters in arms still on active duty. I often want to encourage people to do just a little bit more than that, because I believe that the average civilian today has little understanding of our military community beyond what they see in movies, the news or in print. Clearly for those who know, such media fails to scratch the surface in explaining the value provided by our veterans. For those who only think of veteran when they consider those suffering from PTSD, needing assistance from the VA, or panhandling on the street, they miss the contributions and ability of the vast majority of the 1% who volunteers to fight our wars, and their myriad continued contributions to our economy and society.

This year during fleet week, I'm encouraging business people in the San Francisco Bay Area to consider what they can do to engage with this community. Watch the air show and parade of ships for sure. But make some extra time to tour the ships and visit the humanitarian village. Most importantly, join the Veteran's Employment Summit and learn both how to engage veterans and why they can be an incredible asset to your company. Please see detailed information below. I hope to see you there!

Please join us at the upcoming

2015 San Francisco Fleet Week Veterans Employment Summit on Tuesday 6 October 2015. Registration begins at 8:00 am and the seminar runs from 9:00 am – 5:00pm at Marines’ Memorial Club 609 Sutter St., San Francisco.

This event is for hiring managers, HR personnel, and Executives, to share best practices in Veteran hiring.  Please feel free to share this invitation, but would ask that anyone interested in attending RSVP here:  https://fleetweeksf-vetsummit-employer-sls.eventbrite.com so we can have an accurate count for seating and lunch.

For those who are interested in having their companies provide a table at the career expo, we are pleased to host a table for your company and there is no charge to do so.  We do ask; however, that you register your table under your company name here:  http://fleetweeksf-vetsummit-careerexpo.eventbrite.com , so that we can account for space as we are limited to the number of tables the room can accommodate.

Thank you and welcome to Fleet Week!  We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday the 6th.

http://fleetweeksf.org/