Learning and Networking at the 2018 Veterans Initiative Summit

National Vision representatives were once again able to attend the annual Veterans Initiative Summit. Held October 15-16 at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., the summit is designed to support the recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion of veterans across private equity portfolio companies.

This Year’s Event

This year’s summit featured discussions surrounding the expectations and misconceptions of the military-civilian transition, how to set up an effective veterans initiative and the importance of using nonprofit partners. These topics are directly related to veteran inclusion and partnership at National Vision.

The two-day summit was jointly hosted by investment firms Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, KKR and The Carlyle Group, and brought together over 200 U.S.-based portfolio companies.

It also featured informative speakers including:

• Deputy Director and Special Assistant to the President Jennifer Korn
• April and Jay Graham Fellow of the Military Service Initiative at The Bush Institute Colonel (Ret.) Miguel Howe
• President of Hiring Our Heroes and Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Eric Eversole
• Vice President of The Carlyle Group Robert Wheeler
• Chairman of the KKR Global Institute General (Ret.) David Petraeus
• and many others

Interactive Service Project

A highlight of the event occurred on the second day of the Summit when attendees had the opportunity to participate in a hands-on service project, “Mission Backpack: Afghanistan,” to fill 1,000 backpacks with school supplies for children in Afghanistan. This event was produced by the host firms and in partnership with O’Melveny & Myers LLP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes.

O’Melveny, Apollo, FedEx Freight and KKR donated the backpacks and school supplies, which included notebooks, pencils, pens, colored pencils, pencil cases, erasers, sharpeners and rulers.

Testimonial

Suzanne Jones, Talent Acquisition Partner in our Human Resources Department, was in attendance at this year’s event.  She says:

“The summit was an amazing opportunity to brainstorm with other industry leaders who are also committed to attracting, hiring and retaining veterans.  National Vision is committed to increasing its veteran hiring for 2019 because not only is it the right thing to do but it is a smart thing for our company!”

It was an honor to once again have the opportunity to attend this great event. We are committed to hiring both veterans and military/veteran spouses across all sectors of our organization.

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Jessica Altamirano

Communications Specialist at National Vision

Jessica Altamirano is a proud Veteran spouse who has worked for NVI since 2014. She holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from George Mason University. Jessica is passionate about corporate-nonprofit partnerships, philanthropic efforts in developing countries, Veteran recruitment, and creating a culture of health and wellness in the workplace.

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