This groundbreaking event, sponsored by Wells Fargo, brought together senior leaders from across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and created a blueprint that outlined a path forward to improve military recruitment efforts.

The event was live streamed to the public in collaboration with CVS Health through LinkedIn and YouTube and spotlighted several dozen preeminent thought and action leaders dedicated to working together to help create a Military Thriving movement and change the broken Veteran narrative and misperceptions about military service.

In 2023, the U.S. military missed its annual enlistment goals by 41,000 recruits, according to data published by the U.S. Department of Defense. Following this decline, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani testified before Congress that “the all-volunteer force faces one of its greatest challenges since inception.”

To help reverse the trend, 160 leaders representing government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, higher education, and the nation’s most impactful nonprofits and think tanks met at Georgetown — to create actionable, measurable plans to be implemented at community-wide engagements throughout 2025.

The events stemming from the Change Forum next year will welcome thousands of military and veteran employees from business resource groups and small business owners serving alongside young people. Georgetown, ZeroMils and their committed partners believe this whole of nation approach will change the “broken veteran” narrative — communicating a positive message of military service and influencing perceptions and propensity to serve.

“We must reestablish trust between our national institutions and the trailblazers of tomorrow,” said CEO of ZeroMils, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Schmiegel. “Together, the private and public sectors can spotlight the strengths and successes of our military and veteran-connected families. We, as a community, are thriving because of our service, not despite it.”

Sean Passmore, U.S. Army Veteran and Head of Enterprise Military & Veteran Initiatives at Wells Fargo, said military experience and the skills veterans bring to the workplace offer tremendous value.

“Veterans make our company better,” Passmore explained. “Today’s military service members are the corporate leaders of tomorrow. It is imperative that we resolve these issues impacting our military and beyond.”

Wells Fargo was the presenting sponsor for the 2024 Military Thriving Change Forum. Other corporate partners: CVS Health, RTX, Dominion Energy, Neighborly, DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen, Orion Talent, and Thundercat Technology are teaming up with veteran service and nonprofit organizations like Vehicles for Veterans, National University, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Foundation, Soldiers to Sidelines, Travis Manion Foundation, Five & Thrive, Military Spouse Advocacy Network, Hope For The Warriors, Wear Blue: Run to Remember, Oscar Mike Foundation, America’s Warrior Partnership, Esposas Militares Hispanas USA Armed Forces, Military Family Advisory Network, The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Military Officer Association of America to create a Military Thriving movement.

As a principal advisor and leader of the Change Forum, retired General and 36th Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, George Casey said: “Our goal is to create a private sector-led movement that increases propensity to serve among our youth by changing the narrative about Veterans and their families in the workplace and in society, and by projecting positive examples of military service through Veteran employee engagement with best in class nonprofits serving shoulder to shoulder with young people in local communities nationwide.”

That’s exactly what we intend to do in 2025 with the help of Wells Fargo, which made a commitment in the closing minutes of the Change Forum to sponsor four community wide events next year, in partnership with ZeroMils and dozens of partner organizations and leaders who came to Georgetown to effect greater change for our military-connected community.

To learn more about the Change Forum at Georgetown and how you can help create and be part of the Military Thriving movement visit ZeroMils website.

More and more, I find myself thinking these same four words as I watch the military I served for two decades struggle to fill its ranks. For a couple years, the Department of Defense had missed its annual enlistment goals by tens of thousands. The desire to serve has reached an all-time low among American youth, a crisis long in the making. Now that it’s here, we need to put into play one of our most valuable resources: thousands of veterans like me sitting on the bench waiting for the tap from senior brass.

Millions of dollars and countless hours have been invested in recruitment campaigns and think-tank strategies, but all the marketing in the world is no replacement for the genuine connections veterans can build themselves at the grassroots level. I would say, bring us off the bench, but the truth is, there’s no one keeping us on the sidelines. There are thousands of veterans already making a difference in the lives of young people and inspiring the next generation of leaders — efforts that will be amplified at Georgetown University on October 23rd at the first national Change Forum of its kind.

One standout example is right in their backyard. For ten years now, a nonprofit founded at Georgetown University in Washington DC called Soldiers to Sidelines has been training former and current service members as sports coaches. They’ve helped certify nearly 2,000 trainees who have touched the lives of nearly 100,000 youth. Think about the example this sets. I’ve seen firsthand how the military instills skills and values that transcend the battlefield. Now, so have tens of thousands of young people who might never have considered a career in the armed forces.

The potential for restored trust and interest in military service aside, this type of youth mentorship is desperately needed in towns and cities across our country. A recent national study found the share of young people aged 18 to 21 who report having had a childhood mentor dropped six percentage points over the past decade, and access to mentorship is far from equitable. Roughly one-third of teens nationwide, most from the lowest socioeconomic quartile, report never having experienced a mentoring relationship. When asked, many unmentored youth said “they didn’t know how to find a mentor or didn’t think mentors were available to them.”

Fortunately, a growing number of military and veteran-led nonprofits are stepping up to fill this gap. Veteran mentors trained by Travis Manion Foundation, a national organization committed to empowering veterans and families of fallen heroes, have reached more than 650,000 young Americans teaching them character and the impact of service.

Another veteran nonprofit, The Mission Continues, operates active service platoons in more than 40 cities. The organization has executed 8,650 service projects since inception — a vast majority of them led by veterans serving side-by-side with teenagers who need positive role models.

These organizations only started, because former military members took action. They did not wait for permission or a knock at the door, and even if rebuilding the ranks is not the purpose of their chosen nonprofits, their presence and continued service will have that effect.

The potential to leverage these kinds of for-purpose organizations, with the backing of DoD and corporate America is enormous. It is also completely under-realized at a critical moment. Imagine companies like Wells Fargo, Amazon, RTX, and CVS Health – and their thousands-strong veteran employee resource groups – actively partnered with nonprofits to engage with schools in key regions.

Imagine if they worked with local military recruiting teams to monitor and measure the outcomes of these efforts, creating a powerful synergy that benefits communities, young people, veterans, and the military.

Better still, imagine if we looked beyond the private sector’s biggest players and called up the 2.5 million veteran small business owners that employ nearly a quarter more of the 8.6 million veterans in the workforce, as agents of change. This particular pool of mentors is severely underutilized and could contribute significantly with support and infrastructure from the public sector.

In two weeks at the Military Thriving Change Forum at Georgetown University, we will put these words into actions that will be executed in high touch community wide engagements in 2025 with the companies and nonprofits, mentioned above and more, that have thousands of Veterans and military spouses sitting on the sidelines.

This is not a distant dream but a reality within our reach, if we as veterans find ways to share the benefits of service with young people and the public and private sectors join forces to support us. Perceptions will shift. Propensity to serve will rise.

Rebuilding the ranks is on all of us, join us at Georgetown on October 23 and show the entire nation, we’re ready to play ball.

In addition to framing the problem, participants will create actionable, measurable plans to be implemented at community-wide engagement activities throughout 2025. Those events will see hundreds of military and Veteran employees from Fortune 500 business resource groups and small business owners serving shoulder to shoulder with young people through best in class nonprofits. This whole of nation approach will change the narrative, communicating a positive message of military service and influencing perceptions and propensity to serve.

A series of strategic, targeted and engaging discussions with national leaders and subject matter experts will set the scene for afternoon breakout sessions — where multiple public-private organizations will forge partnerships and plan local collaborations to effect change. We will be joined by senior executives from corporate America, nonprofit CEOs, and government leaders from across DOD, DOL, and the VA.

In addition to the 250 military and Veteran connected leaders coming together at Georgetown on 10/23, we are expecting thousands more to join forces virtually via livestream that day. Veteran and military spouses representing dozens of nonprofit partners, Veteran service organizations, small business owners and employees from business resource groups will participate including the title sponsor of the Change Forum, Wells Fargo. Additional corporate partners like CVS Health, RTX, Amazon, Dominion Energy, First Command, Neighborly, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Thundercat Technology, Vehicles for Veterans and National University – all of whom are contributing time, talent, and treasure to this important initiative.

Our greatest challenge, thus far, is meeting the overwhelming response from Veteran and military spouse leaders interested in attending the Change Forum. We’ve overcome that challenge, by adding a livestream option, in partnership with CVS Health, for those who can’t join us in person, so our entire community can be heard and seen too. Visit our Military Thriving Change Forum landing page to see more detailed information about the speakers and agenda.

Together with our partners we can usher in a Military Thriving future in which we support a stronger, healthier military community by reestablishing trust between our national institutions and the trailblazers of tomorrow. Our goal is clear. By channeling local leadership through a nationally-driven strategy, we will empower Veterans, military spouses and their families to rewrite the narrative, changing negative attitudes toward our military and our civic life one community at a time.

Join us for the livestream on October 23 to create a Military Thriving movement and change the narrative.