Year in Review: A Look at 2018

Thanks to our friends and partners, 2018 was a year full of milestones and accomplishments. As the year comes to a close, we take this time to reflect on a few of our new programs and initiatives.

This year we saw a renewed focus on our relationship as community partners. Utilizing our vast network of state and local partners we launched Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zones (MSEEZ) from coast-to-coast; we hosted Community Engagement Events (CEE) in five states, and we welcomed the State of Wisconsin to our Veteran Advisory Council.

Among our most noteworthy accomplishments was the launch of the Hiring 100,000 Military Spouses Campaign. This campaign, led by a host of military ready businesses of all sizes, will work to see 100,000 military spouses hired by 2021. With several thousand spouses being hired at the close of 2018, the campaign is well on the way to success.

A few additional highlights include:
• After our first MSEEZ launch in San Antonio, we launched 7 additional locations in Tacoma, Olympia, the state of Washington, Hampton Roads, Tampa, San Diego, and Colorado Springs to address local military spouse unemployment and underemployment issues through the efforts of local working groups.
• There were 30 transition summits, 17 hiring expos, 7 traditional hiring fairs, 16 military spouse hiring events, and 6 AMPLIFY career intensives.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXKzrqbATVk
• At just over 70 hiring events we saw 12,802 job seekers and 3,441 employers in attendance.
• In August, we welcomed three wrapped Toyota vehicles to our Hiring Our Heroes family. The three cars traveled several thousand miles in a matter of months!
• Our Corporate Fellowship Program had 729 corporate fellows in 3 cohorts across 15 locations.
• On November 14th, we hosted the 8th Annual Lee Anderson Hiring Our Heroes Awards Gala, which highlighted organization’s and individual’s efforts in the veteran and military spouse employment space.
• Our Corporate Fellowship Program boasted an average salary of $88k per year for those fellows offered employment post-fellowship.

2018 was a year of growth, and none of these events or efforts would be possible without our partners. Thank you for your commitment and continual support. 2019 will bring more opportunities as we continue to break down barriers and provide innovative solutions for veteran and military spouse employment.