The PepsiCo Foundation Kicks Off Super Bowl Weekend with $1 Million Donation to BWF
In 2013, the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF), in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF), made a commitment through the Clinton Global Initiative to help identify ways to overcome barriers to employment for post-9/11 veterans with disabilities. Employment is a critical part of long-term quality of life for our nation’s injured heroes, and recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics cited the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans as 9.9 percent, and the rate for 25 – 34 year olds within that group at 25 percent. While veteran employment continues to improve, there are still gaps to address.
The first stage of IVMF and BWF’s commitment was a meeting (part of BWF’s High Impact Collaboration Convening series) of national leaders held last year to identify critical issues and share leading practices and programs that are having an impact on service members and veterans with disabilities transitioning to civilian employment. The organizations are proud to announce the completion of the next stage of that commitment with the release of “BARRIERS AND BREAKTHROUGHS: Employing Veterans with Disabilities ” – a video series to educate and empower organizations working on the employment issue, and employers committed to the mission of supporting veterans with disabilities through meaningful employment.
The video series features audio and video of the convening presentations (with transcripts and captioning) from experts in the field of employment and veterans, with an emphasis on understanding and meeting the needs of both business/industry and veterans with disabilities. The series can be accessed below, on YouTube or on the IVMF website.
“We are taking considerable steps toward understanding the underlying complexities and breakthrough solutions in employment programs for veterans with disabilities and are thrilled to be partnering with IVMF on this CGI commitment,” said Anne Marie Dougherty, executive director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation.
In 2014, BWF will continue to focus on veteran employment and explore critical issues for supporting our heroes on the homefront through the High Impact Collaboration Convening series.
