February 17, 2025 • 25 mins
Discover Ray Toenniessen's transformative journey as he takes us from his early days as an ROTC cadet at Syracuse University to his influential role at the Daniello Institute for Veteran and Military Families. Ray shares his insights on how a generous $30 million endowment from alum Dan D’Aniello has revitalized the Institute, turning it into a powerful force for veteran empowerment. This episode reveals how veteran-owned businesses not only provide essential community support but also play a pivotal role in creating employment opportunities for veterans and their families.
Learn about the crucial steps veterans and military spouses can take to ensure smoother transitions to civilian careers. Ray delves into the unique challenges faced by military families, including the hurdles of certification transfers and frequent relocations, and discusses how remote work is emerging as a practical solution. Hear about the importance of early planning—ideally starting two years before leaving the military—and the progress seen in initiatives like the Army's Soldiers for Life program. Tune in to understand how comprehensive support systems, such as those at the D’Aniello Institute, are making a difference in the lives of veterans and their families. Visit ivmf.syracuse.edu to explore these valuable resources further.
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Episode Transcript
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Larry Zilliox (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guest is Ray Tennyson.
He is with the D’AnielloInstitute for Veteran and
Military Families at theUniversity of Syracuse in New
York, program there thatsupports veterans with resources
(00:26):
on finding employment andentrepreneurship and then also
resources for military families.
So I'm really happy that he'sable to join us and really fill
us in on all the great stuffthat they do up there at the
Institute.
So, Ray, welcome to the podcast.
(00:47):
Hey, thanks, larry, I appreciateyou having me so if you would
just tell us a little bit aboutyour background and how you
became involved with theInstitute.
Ray Toenniessen (00:55):
Sure.
So I actually went to SyracuseUniversity as an undergrad.
I was an ROTC cadet there.
Originally from a really smalltown in western New York between
Rochester and Buffalo I alwayslike to say more cows than
people there, that's how ruralit was and I went over to
(01:15):
Syracuse for undergrad and wasreally one of those kids that,
but for the Terry and an ROTCscholarship, never would have
been able to go to somewherelike Syracuse University for
school.
So I commissioned out ofSyracuse and stuck in lieutenant
.
I went off into the army as atransportation logistics officer
(01:35):
, did a tour to Iraq 2008 to2009.
And as I came back in 2009, youknow, really started, I think,
like a lot of folks do at thatpoint, you know, really started,
I think, like a lot of folks doat that point, you know I was
about three years in started tofigure out, you know, do I want
to stay in, make a career out ofthis, do I want to get out?
And you know, for me at thetime, really just just landing
on, I thought I could, I couldhave a great impact if sort of I
(01:59):
tried my hand out in thecivilian world.
So not really not sure what Iwanted to do at all and it just
started thinking through theoptions and, coincidentally, was
going to go up to Syracuse tosee a football or a basketball
game excuse me, a basketballgame was over the winter and
just by luck, stumbled on thejob website at the university
(02:19):
and there was a job posting fora national program manager for a
small program called theEntrepreneurship Boot Camp for
Veterans, and this was a programthat had been started out of
the business school up atSyracuse.
Didn't exist when I was astudent there and started to do
some research and found out youknow it was a few years old
bringing transitioning servicemembers, veterans who had been
(02:44):
severely wounded, to campus fora nine-day immersion program on
how to launch and grow their ownbusiness, and some other
universities had gotten involved.
It turned into a consortiummodel and I really saw this
opportunity and thought, youknow, this could be something
great to do for a year while Ifigured out what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life, and soI applied.
(03:05):
They flew me up for aninterview, I got the job and a
couple of months later I wasleaving active duty and driving
up to Syracuse to start in thisrole and my one-year transition
job.
Here I am 15 years later andthat's because it's just been an
opportunity to continue toserve and continue to give back,
and that one smallentrepreneurship's just been an
opportunity to continue to serveand continue to give back.
(03:25):
And you know that one smallentrepreneurship program turned
into a couple other programsaround small business and
entrepreneurship for vets.
And then in 2011, I wasalongside my boss, mike Heaney,
to help launch the Institute forVeterans and Military Families,
and that's where we are today.
Larry Zilliox (03:44):
Wow Institute for Veterans and Military Families
and that's where we are todayWow and Daniello family.
Ray Toenniessen (03:50):
Is that the folks that invested in the
Institute.
Yeah, that's right.
Dan Daniello is a SyracuseUniversity alum and also a Navy
veteran.
Dan served during Vietnam, didhis undergrad at Syracuse and
then had a very successfulcareer in the private sector.
Early on, worked for PepsiCoand Marriott and then launched a
private equity firm called theCarlisle Group with two other co
(04:13):
, -founders, and Dan saw a greatdeal of business success over
the years and early on, was achampion of our veterans work
that we were doing at Syracuse.
So when we first launched in2011, you know, we actually
launched with an initial grantfrom Jake and Morgan Chase to
help get the Institute off theground and over the years, you
(04:35):
know, continued to raise dollarsto support our work from
corporate partners, individualphilanthropists, and Dan was one
of our early supporters.
And then, in just coming out ofCOVID in 2022, dan made a
transformational $30 milliongift to endow and name the
(04:57):
Institute, and so that's whytoday we are now called the
Daniello Institute.
Larry Zilliox (05:02):
Well for our listeners here in the Northern
Virginia Washington DC area.
They're very familiar with theCarlyle Group and they are a
well-known and well-respectedinvestment company here locally
and that's wonderful.
That's quite an infusion offunds and I'm sure that changed
(05:25):
everything.
Ray Toenniessen (05:26):
It sure did, larry, and you know, I think the
biggest thing it allows us todo is we've always been focused
on, first and foremost impactserving this community, but also
long-term sustainability right,we want to be an organization
that is around in 20, 30, 50years, and Dan's support, and
(05:47):
especially that naming gift,allows us to do that, and we
understand that how we serve maychange based on the needs of
this population, but we knowthat there'll be a solid
foundation to help us ensurethat we'll be here over those
next 50 years.
Larry Zilliox (06:06):
And the thing I like, too, is that the mission
today is really close to themission that you started with,
and it's helping veterans whoare transitioning build their
own businesses to support thecommunity.
And we know that for a factthat veteran businesses support
the communities that they're inmore than any other businesses.
(06:29):
They employ other veterans andI just think it's really, really
something to be able to say,okay, this is what we started
with, and now, all this timelater, we're still doing it.
It's still the core of what youdo, but it's very clear from
(06:51):
looking at the webpage that youguys have expanded your mission
and tell us a little bit aboutsome of the other programs that
the Institute does.
Ray Toenniessen (07:00):
Yeah, you're absolutely right, larry.
Entrepreneurship and smallbusiness for veterans and
military staff is where we gotour start and that is still a
huge piece of the work we dotoday.
In fact, we have programs,resources, opportunities,
technical assistance availableto veterans and military spouse
(07:21):
business owners, no matter wherethey happen to be in their
entrepreneurial journey.
So if you're just starting outand you think I don't even know
what I want to do, but I know Iwant to launch my own business,
we have tools, programs for you.
But if you've been in business10, 15, 20 years and you're a
growth stage company or a latestage company and maybe you're
(07:43):
trying to figure out what's mybest pathway to exit or
acquisition, we have programsand opportunities for you too
and everything in between.
But we've also expanded overthe years to the other work.
We do so outside of just ourentrepreneurship programming.
We also run a large portfolioof career preparation and
(08:03):
employment training, and we dothat through a program called
Onward to Opportunity, and thisis a program that we run on 18
different military installationsaround the country, but we also
do it completely online andit's available to any
transitioning service member,veteran military spouse.
It starts with some orientation, training and a course that we
(08:24):
call Onward to your Career,which really helps sort of some.
Again some soft skills training, transitioning type training,
leaving the military, going tocivilian life.
But from there there's about 50different learning pathways
that participants can go through, most of which lead to an
industry recognized credentialor certificate.
So these might be Ciscocertifications or the
(08:47):
cybersecurity certs.
Or we've built an aerospace anddefense track with Boeing.
We're just rolling out asemiconductor track in
partnership with Micron.
So these are in-demand fieldsindividuals are looking to go
into and that we know employersare looking to hire from.
We also do a lot of work aroundthe country focused on community
(09:09):
.
So we'll go into cities, states, regions and help communities
and geographies build collectiveimpact networks and models so
that veterans in the militaryconnected community can better
access the best serviceproviders in their local area.
And then, aside from that, allthat direct program and service
(09:31):
delivery work we do.
Given that we were started in ahigher ed institution, we have
a very robust team that doesresearch, policy and evaluation
work.
So we're constantly doingoriginal funded research around
the issues and challenges thatthis community faces.
But we're also doing evaluationwork of our own programs to
(09:55):
ensure that we're constantlyimproving them and ensure that
they're serving the best waythey can.
But we've also started to doevaluation work for other VSOs
and nonprofits.
So we've done evaluation workin the past for the USO, the
Travis Mannion Foundation,evaluation work in the past for
the USO, the Travis MannionFoundation, warrior and Quiet
(10:16):
Waters, many other organizationsthat come to us really asking
us to evaluate the efficacy oftheir programs.
Larry Zilliox (10:22):
This Onward to Opportunity program.
Like you say, most of it isonline, so anybody anywhere in
the world, a service memberthinking about transitioning in
a year or two, they would beable to go to your Web page and
register or sign up for this.
Is there any cost?
Ray Toenniessen (10:42):
That's exactly right, larry, no cost whatsoever
.
So everything that we do, weraise the dollars through
corporate foundation, individualphilanthropy to put this on.
So no cost to the servicemember.
Veteran military spouse andthat's right.
If they're not near one ofthose installations where we
offer the program, we also offerit completely online.
(11:04):
So we've had folks goingthrough overseas Europe, asia,
africa and we see that a lot,larry, because we know there's
service members out there thatthat OCONUS duty station may be
their final duty station andthey're separating from the
service when they come back tothe States, that's it.
(11:24):
They're taking the uniform offso they can get a jump on that.
You know, six to 12 monthsprior to that time of separation
to start going through thetraining.
Larry Zilliox (11:34):
And these certifications?
I don't know anything aboutthem.
I don't have any kind ofcertification like that, but I
would imagine that in thecivilian sector, if you wanted
to get something like this, itwould be expensive.
Ray Toenniessen (11:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean some of these trainingson the low end you're talking a
few thousand dollars.
On the high end, some of theseprep courses and training are up
in the $10,000 plus range.
And you're exactly right.
If you go to the civiliansector or some private training
providers, you're either payingout of pocket for that or you're
(12:10):
using your GI Bill for that.
And you know we've we've stayedvery true to we don't even take
GI Bill dollars for these certsthrough Onward to Opportunity.
Because what we find is thatyou know, sometimes maybe you go
through that certification, youstill want to have that GI Bill
because maybe you also want tofinish a degree or you can save
that GI Bill to go back and geta master's degree.
(12:34):
So we don't even take the GIBill for the certification piece
of it.
Larry Zilliox (12:39):
And do you know what the sort of top
certifications that folks aresigning up to take, what they
might be?
Ray Toenniessen (12:46):
The number one that we see people going through
are the PNP certifications.
So that's the ProjectManagement Professional, that's
the top one that we see folksgoing through.
The PNP certification.
So that's the projectmanagement professional, that's
the top one that we see folksgoing through.
Because we have a lot ofindividuals that come to us.
They've done project management, program management in the
military, and so then they gothrough the prep course and sit
(13:07):
for the exam and then get thatPNP credential.
But we also have a growingnumber of individuals coming
through some of ourcybersecurity courses.
We have some of those.
We actually just rolled out anew cybersecurity cert through
Google.
We have a fundamentals AIartificial intelligence training
(13:28):
that we've rolled out thatwe're really seeing a lot of
interest in.
Training that we've rolled outthat we're really seeing a lot
of interest in.
And then, most recently, we'reseeing a lot of interest in our
brand new we just piloted it andwe're going to roll it out
fully later this year.
Our semiconductor track,because, given the interest in
the Chips and Science Act andwhat you're seeing with a lot of
(13:49):
the chip companies reshoringchip manufacturing we know
that's going to be a growingindustry and seeing with a lot
of the chip companies reshoringchip manufacturing.
We know that's going to be agrowing industry and I think a
lot of folks in the militarycommunity are noticing that too.
So we're starting to see a lotof interest in that track as we
start to roll it out too.
Larry Zilliox (14:07):
And the program is available to active duty
military veterans and spouses.
Ray Toenniessen (14:13):
That's right, and also National Guard
reservists, so we covereverybody yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:19):
I want to, you know, just remind our listeners
that if you had a cybersecuritycertification and you had a top
secret clearance NorthernVirginia, but Northern Virginia,
that's gold, right here, 100%,you know.
So the idea that you know youcould spend your last bit of
time on active duty, gettingthis kind of certification, not
(14:43):
having to pay for it, and thencoming out with that, you're
going to have a handful of jobsto choose from in this area for
sure, guaranteed, that's justamazing.
That'sed that's just amazing.
That's right, that's reallygreat.
Ray Toenniessen (14:58):
And the other thing we're going to do for you
as you go through that.
Once you hit a certain pointthrough the process of your
training, we start to work youinto our employer support
services.
So we have direct employerrelationships.
But we also work with otherVSOs like Hire Heroes USA and
Vent Jobs.
So we're working to try toeither get you if it's that
(15:22):
first job out in the military,or what we see a lot of times
too, larry, is veterans thatcome to us that are
underemployed and they'reupskilling, they're using that
certification for an upskill andthen we're working.
You know how do we get theminto that next job, into that
better job, always reallyfocused on the goals and
aspirations of the participantand putting them on a path to a
(15:45):
meaningful career.
Larry Zilliox (15:47):
Hmm, well, I also think that this would be
amazing for military spouses,because they can do this from
any location, any installation,and they can do a lot of these
jobs remotely.
And so, in case they do gettransferred somewhere, it
(16:07):
doesn't mean the end ofemployment, which we see is a
major problem for spouses andespecially military families
that need that to income, thatget transferred and all of a
sudden they're professionals,they're nurses or or accountants
or, but they're transferred toa place where their
certification.
It's going to take them monthsand months to get transferred
(16:29):
into that state or, worse yet,that country, and that is that
salary that they've lost andit's a huge hit.
But something like this thatthey could do remotely, I think
is just great.
Yeah, what's the one programthat you would like to see in
the future that you all don'toffer right now?
Ray Toenniessen (16:51):
That's a great question, larry.
You know, one of the thingsthat we're always doing is
looking at where are the currentgaps and needs in this space,
because from our standpointthat's always been sort of our
true north right.
If we stay focused on theveteran, the service member, the
(17:13):
military spouse and their needsand build meaningful programs
to meet those needs, then wefeel like we'll be successful.
The other thing we always do is, if somebody else is already
out there doing it well, we haveno desire to go in and recreate
(17:34):
that.
We would much rather partnerwith an organization to maybe do
more together.
I still have that to set up.
I wouldn't necessarily say it'sa specific program, larry, but I
would talk about it as more ofa specific point in time, and
that's trying to figure out howdo we get more left to the point
(17:59):
of transition, and what I meanby that is, you know, we still
often see a lot of servicemembers coming to us with
limited time before they takethat uniform off right, and
they're just starting to thinkabout where do I want to live,
what do I want to do?
Okay, based on those things, doI have the requisite skills?
(18:20):
Do I need additional education,upskilling, training, right.
And so what happens is many,you know, start to back
themselves into a corner from atiming perspective, and often
it's not their fault, right, Imean, you are on active duty and
you are serving in that roleuntil the day that you either go
on terminal leave or, you know,you fully take that uniform off
(18:43):
.
And there's been some programs,you know, skillbridge and
career skills programs that havehelped this, but we still see a
lot of inconsistencies acrossdifferent commands on how
supportive they are to lettingthe individual take advantage of
these.
So, you know, I would say,really, transition should be
something that starts from theday you enter the military and
(19:05):
having a good system to you know, how are you cataloging all of
the training that you're doing,any of the certifications you're
doing, and almost programmingcheck-ins with yourself to say,
okay, where you know, where do Iwant to go, do I want to stay
in, do I want to get out?
What are my options?
And then really matching thosethings up to your goals and
(19:26):
aspirations so that you're, youknow, at a consistent time,
interview, checking in on that,versus waiting to okay, I just
spent, you know, four years orsix years or 12 years or 20
years in and now, all of asudden, I have to figure out
what's.
What's next in my life?
Larry Zilliox (19:43):
Yeah, you know, I will say that the branches have
gotten better in helping, or atleast they don't look at
transitioning soldiers as aliability anymore.
That's right, I think the Armyprobably has the best program
with their Soldiers for Lifeprogram.
(20:03):
But I know, when I was in, youknow, when you said you were
getting out, well, they just,you know, they just thought of
you like, well, you know,goodbye, we don't need you, you
know, and we're not going tospend a dime on you.
You're lucky we're giving you aplane ticket home and that's
all changed.
I could be better.
(20:23):
I get what you're saying Exactly.
I get what you're sayingExactly.
I mean, I think that servicemembers who are considering
getting out should really bethinking about it two years
ahead.
Yeah, absolutely yeah, andreally really thinking,
contemplating, what do I want todo?
First, not so much what can Ido, but what do I want to do,
(20:47):
because what you can do and whatyou want to do, if they're two
different things, you know, theInstitute is one of those places
where they can get what theyneed to do, what they want to do
.
Ray Toenniessen (20:58):
I think that's a great point.
Larry Zilliox (21:01):
I just love the programs that you have and the
mission that you all have tosupport veterans, who very often
feel alone when they leave.
Not only are they losing theirtribe and their support system,
depending on their service Somehave issues with PTS, tbi,
(21:34):
medical issues resulting fromtheir service All of that's
compounded with employmentissues and then just trying to
find a job in an economy that,depending on where they're going
to end up, it may or may not bethat great.
So having a leg up withsomething like this, I think, is
just absolutely amazing.
So for our listeners, we'llhave the webpage in the show
(21:56):
notes, but it is ivmfsyracuseedu.
I encourage everybody to go tothe webpage and take a look at
it and check out all theresources.
You can do a real deep dive onit.
Go down the rabbit hole.
Every time I clicked onsomething, I was going someplace
(22:16):
else and there's reports andthere's programs and a lot of
resources that'll take you offof their page and onto a real
vetted resource.
So federal agencies for smallbusiness loans, things like that
.
I encourage everybody to go tothe webpage and check it out,
but we will have that in theshow notes.
(22:39):
Do you have veterans come tothe university to take advantage
of these programs, or is it allsort of online or how does it
work?
Ray Toenniessen (22:48):
Yeah, it's a little bit of both, larry.
So a lot of our programs we doin different cities around the
country, so or they're a hybridmodel.
So some of it is online andsome of it is we come in person.
Some of those we host, you know, a few days at a time up at
Syracuse.
Others are again held indifferent cities around the
(23:09):
country.
But we also, on the moretraditional higher education
side, we have a very robustmilitary-connected student
population on our campus.
So we have Army and Air ForceROTC, you know.
We have student veterans whoare there completing an
undergraduate degree, graduatedegree.
(23:30):
We have military children whoare dependents of service
members or veterans who arethere on GI Bill dollars.
So we have another whole officeon campus, our Office of
Veteran and Military Affairs.
That has done a great job and Ithink is one of the leading
(23:50):
examples of how higher educationshould really approach student
veterans in this country andhave really broken down a lot of
barriers around campus so thatveterans and military-connected
students can have a betterexperience at Syracuse.
Larry Zilliox (24:07):
Yeah Well, that's wonderful because it is a for
veterans and especially thosethat are transitioning.
Going to a university like thatis it's quite an experience,
not something they're quite usedto.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah Well, listen, I want tothank you for taking the time to
(24:28):
join us and really tell us allabout this program, and I can't
thank you enough for the greatwork that you all do up there.
Ray Toenniessen (24:36):
Oh, thank you, Larry, I appreciate you having
me on Well for our listeners.
Larry Zilliox (24:39):
we'll have another episode next Monday
morning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcastatwillingwarriorsorg.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, Larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guest is Ray Tennyson.
He is with the D’AnielloInstitute for Veteran and
Military Families at theUniversity of Syracuse in New
York, program there thatsupports veterans with resources
(00:26):
on finding employment andentrepreneurship and then also
resources for military families.
So I'm really happy that he'sable to join us and really fill
us in on all the great stuffthat they do up there at the
Institute.
So, Ray, welcome to the podcast.
(00:47):
Hey, thanks, larry, I appreciateyou having me so if you would
just tell us a little bit aboutyour background and how you
became involved with theInstitute.
Ray Toenniessen (00:55):
Sure.
So I actually went to SyracuseUniversity as an undergrad.
I was an ROTC cadet there.
Originally from a really smalltown in western New York between
Rochester and Buffalo I alwayslike to say more cows than
people there, that's how ruralit was and I went over to
(01:15):
Syracuse for undergrad and wasreally one of those kids that,
but for the Terry and an ROTCscholarship, never would have
been able to go to somewherelike Syracuse University for
school.
So I commissioned out ofSyracuse and stuck in lieutenant
.
I went off into the army as atransportation logistics officer
(01:35):
, did a tour to Iraq 2008 to2009.
And as I came back in 2009, youknow, really started, I think,
like a lot of folks do at thatpoint, you know, really started,
I think, like a lot of folks doat that point, you know I was
about three years in started tofigure out, you know, do I want
to stay in, make a career out ofthis, do I want to get out?
And you know, for me at thetime, really just just landing
on, I thought I could, I couldhave a great impact if sort of I
(01:59):
tried my hand out in thecivilian world.
So not really not sure what Iwanted to do at all and it just
started thinking through theoptions and, coincidentally, was
going to go up to Syracuse tosee a football or a basketball
game excuse me, a basketballgame was over the winter and
just by luck, stumbled on thejob website at the university
(02:19):
and there was a job posting fora national program manager for a
small program called theEntrepreneurship Boot Camp for
Veterans, and this was a programthat had been started out of
the business school up atSyracuse.
Didn't exist when I was astudent there and started to do
some research and found out youknow it was a few years old
bringing transitioning servicemembers, veterans who had been
(02:44):
severely wounded, to campus fora nine-day immersion program on
how to launch and grow their ownbusiness, and some other
universities had gotten involved.
It turned into a consortiummodel and I really saw this
opportunity and thought, youknow, this could be something
great to do for a year while Ifigured out what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life, and soI applied.
(03:05):
They flew me up for aninterview, I got the job and a
couple of months later I wasleaving active duty and driving
up to Syracuse to start in thisrole and my one-year transition
job.
Here I am 15 years later andthat's because it's just been an
opportunity to continue toserve and continue to give back,
and that one smallentrepreneurship's just been an
opportunity to continue to serveand continue to give back.
(03:25):
And you know that one smallentrepreneurship program turned
into a couple other programsaround small business and
entrepreneurship for vets.
And then in 2011, I wasalongside my boss, mike Heaney,
to help launch the Institute forVeterans and Military Families,
and that's where we are today.
Larry Zilliox (03:44):
Wow Institute for Veterans and Military Families
and that's where we are todayWow and Daniello family.
Ray Toenniessen (03:50):
Is that the folks that invested in the
Institute.
Yeah, that's right.
Dan Daniello is a SyracuseUniversity alum and also a Navy
veteran.
Dan served during Vietnam, didhis undergrad at Syracuse and
then had a very successfulcareer in the private sector.
Early on, worked for PepsiCoand Marriott and then launched a
private equity firm called theCarlisle Group with two other co
(04:13):
, -founders, and Dan saw a greatdeal of business success over
the years and early on, was achampion of our veterans work
that we were doing at Syracuse.
So when we first launched in2011, you know, we actually
launched with an initial grantfrom Jake and Morgan Chase to
help get the Institute off theground and over the years, you
(04:35):
know, continued to raise dollarsto support our work from
corporate partners, individualphilanthropists, and Dan was one
of our early supporters.
And then, in just coming out ofCOVID in 2022, dan made a
transformational $30 milliongift to endow and name the
(04:57):
Institute, and so that's whytoday we are now called the
Daniello Institute.
Larry Zilliox (05:02):
Well for our listeners here in the Northern
Virginia Washington DC area.
They're very familiar with theCarlyle Group and they are a
well-known and well-respectedinvestment company here locally
and that's wonderful.
That's quite an infusion offunds and I'm sure that changed
(05:25):
everything.
Ray Toenniessen (05:26):
It sure did, larry, and you know, I think the
biggest thing it allows us todo is we've always been focused
on, first and foremost impactserving this community, but also
long-term sustainability right,we want to be an organization
that is around in 20, 30, 50years, and Dan's support, and
(05:47):
especially that naming gift,allows us to do that, and we
understand that how we serve maychange based on the needs of
this population, but we knowthat there'll be a solid
foundation to help us ensurethat we'll be here over those
next 50 years.
Larry Zilliox (06:06):
And the thing I like, too, is that the mission
today is really close to themission that you started with,
and it's helping veterans whoare transitioning build their
own businesses to support thecommunity.
And we know that for a factthat veteran businesses support
the communities that they're inmore than any other businesses.
(06:29):
They employ other veterans andI just think it's really, really
something to be able to say,okay, this is what we started
with, and now, all this timelater, we're still doing it.
It's still the core of what youdo, but it's very clear from
(06:51):
looking at the webpage that youguys have expanded your mission
and tell us a little bit aboutsome of the other programs that
the Institute does.
Ray Toenniessen (07:00):
Yeah, you're absolutely right, larry.
Entrepreneurship and smallbusiness for veterans and
military staff is where we gotour start and that is still a
huge piece of the work we dotoday.
In fact, we have programs,resources, opportunities,
technical assistance availableto veterans and military spouse
(07:21):
business owners, no matter wherethey happen to be in their
entrepreneurial journey.
So if you're just starting outand you think I don't even know
what I want to do, but I know Iwant to launch my own business,
we have tools, programs for you.
But if you've been in business10, 15, 20 years and you're a
growth stage company or a latestage company and maybe you're
(07:43):
trying to figure out what's mybest pathway to exit or
acquisition, we have programsand opportunities for you too
and everything in between.
But we've also expanded overthe years to the other work.
We do so outside of just ourentrepreneurship programming.
We also run a large portfolioof career preparation and
(08:03):
employment training, and we dothat through a program called
Onward to Opportunity, and thisis a program that we run on 18
different military installationsaround the country, but we also
do it completely online andit's available to any
transitioning service member,veteran military spouse.
It starts with some orientation, training and a course that we
(08:24):
call Onward to your Career,which really helps sort of some.
Again some soft skills training, transitioning type training,
leaving the military, going tocivilian life.
But from there there's about 50different learning pathways
that participants can go through, most of which lead to an
industry recognized credentialor certificate.
So these might be Ciscocertifications or the
(08:47):
cybersecurity certs.
Or we've built an aerospace anddefense track with Boeing.
We're just rolling out asemiconductor track in
partnership with Micron.
So these are in-demand fieldsindividuals are looking to go
into and that we know employersare looking to hire from.
We also do a lot of work aroundthe country focused on community
(09:09):
.
So we'll go into cities, states, regions and help communities
and geographies build collectiveimpact networks and models so
that veterans in the militaryconnected community can better
access the best serviceproviders in their local area.
And then, aside from that, allthat direct program and service
(09:31):
delivery work we do.
Given that we were started in ahigher ed institution, we have
a very robust team that doesresearch, policy and evaluation
work.
So we're constantly doingoriginal funded research around
the issues and challenges thatthis community faces.
But we're also doing evaluationwork of our own programs to
(09:55):
ensure that we're constantlyimproving them and ensure that
they're serving the best waythey can.
But we've also started to doevaluation work for other VSOs
and nonprofits.
So we've done evaluation workin the past for the USO, the
Travis Mannion Foundation,evaluation work in the past for
the USO, the Travis MannionFoundation, warrior and Quiet
(10:16):
Waters, many other organizationsthat come to us really asking
us to evaluate the efficacy oftheir programs.
Larry Zilliox (10:22):
This Onward to Opportunity program.
Like you say, most of it isonline, so anybody anywhere in
the world, a service memberthinking about transitioning in
a year or two, they would beable to go to your Web page and
register or sign up for this.
Is there any cost?
Ray Toenniessen (10:42):
That's exactly right, larry, no cost whatsoever
.
So everything that we do, weraise the dollars through
corporate foundation, individualphilanthropy to put this on.
So no cost to the servicemember.
Veteran military spouse andthat's right.
If they're not near one ofthose installations where we
offer the program, we also offerit completely online.
(11:04):
So we've had folks goingthrough overseas Europe, asia,
africa and we see that a lot,larry, because we know there's
service members out there thatthat OCONUS duty station may be
their final duty station andthey're separating from the
service when they come back tothe States, that's it.
(11:24):
They're taking the uniform offso they can get a jump on that.
You know, six to 12 monthsprior to that time of separation
to start going through thetraining.
Larry Zilliox (11:34):
And these certifications?
I don't know anything aboutthem.
I don't have any kind ofcertification like that, but I
would imagine that in thecivilian sector, if you wanted
to get something like this, itwould be expensive.
Ray Toenniessen (11:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean some of these trainingson the low end you're talking a
few thousand dollars.
On the high end, some of theseprep courses and training are up
in the $10,000 plus range.
And you're exactly right.
If you go to the civiliansector or some private training
providers, you're either payingout of pocket for that or you're
(12:10):
using your GI Bill for that.
And you know we've we've stayedvery true to we don't even take
GI Bill dollars for these certsthrough Onward to Opportunity.
Because what we find is thatyou know, sometimes maybe you go
through that certification, youstill want to have that GI Bill
because maybe you also want tofinish a degree or you can save
that GI Bill to go back and geta master's degree.
(12:34):
So we don't even take the GIBill for the certification piece
of it.
Larry Zilliox (12:39):
And do you know what the sort of top
certifications that folks aresigning up to take, what they
might be?
Ray Toenniessen (12:46):
The number one that we see people going through
are the PNP certifications.
So that's the ProjectManagement Professional, that's
the top one that we see folksgoing through.
The PNP certification.
So that's the projectmanagement professional, that's
the top one that we see folksgoing through.
Because we have a lot ofindividuals that come to us.
They've done project management, program management in the
military, and so then they gothrough the prep course and sit
(13:07):
for the exam and then get thatPNP credential.
But we also have a growingnumber of individuals coming
through some of ourcybersecurity courses.
We have some of those.
We actually just rolled out anew cybersecurity cert through
Google.
We have a fundamentals AIartificial intelligence training
(13:28):
that we've rolled out thatwe're really seeing a lot of
interest in.
Training that we've rolled outthat we're really seeing a lot
of interest in.
And then, most recently, we'reseeing a lot of interest in our
brand new we just piloted it andwe're going to roll it out
fully later this year.
Our semiconductor track,because, given the interest in
the Chips and Science Act andwhat you're seeing with a lot of
(13:49):
the chip companies reshoringchip manufacturing we know
that's going to be a growingindustry and seeing with a lot
of the chip companies reshoringchip manufacturing.
We know that's going to be agrowing industry and I think a
lot of folks in the militarycommunity are noticing that too.
So we're starting to see a lotof interest in that track as we
start to roll it out too.
Larry Zilliox (14:07):
And the program is available to active duty
military veterans and spouses.
Ray Toenniessen (14:13):
That's right, and also National Guard
reservists, so we covereverybody yeah.
Larry Zilliox (14:19):
I want to, you know, just remind our listeners
that if you had a cybersecuritycertification and you had a top
secret clearance NorthernVirginia, but Northern Virginia,
that's gold, right here, 100%,you know.
So the idea that you know youcould spend your last bit of
time on active duty, gettingthis kind of certification, not
(14:43):
having to pay for it, and thencoming out with that, you're
going to have a handful of jobsto choose from in this area for
sure, guaranteed, that's justamazing.
That'sed that's just amazing.
That's right, that's reallygreat.
Ray Toenniessen (14:58):
And the other thing we're going to do for you
as you go through that.
Once you hit a certain pointthrough the process of your
training, we start to work youinto our employer support
services.
So we have direct employerrelationships.
But we also work with otherVSOs like Hire Heroes USA and
Vent Jobs.
So we're working to try toeither get you if it's that
(15:22):
first job out in the military,or what we see a lot of times
too, larry, is veterans thatcome to us that are
underemployed and they'reupskilling, they're using that
certification for an upskill andthen we're working.
You know how do we get theminto that next job, into that
better job, always reallyfocused on the goals and
aspirations of the participantand putting them on a path to a
(15:45):
meaningful career.
Larry Zilliox (15:47):
Hmm, well, I also think that this would be
amazing for military spouses,because they can do this from
any location, any installation,and they can do a lot of these
jobs remotely.
And so, in case they do gettransferred somewhere, it
(16:07):
doesn't mean the end ofemployment, which we see is a
major problem for spouses andespecially military families
that need that to income, thatget transferred and all of a
sudden they're professionals,they're nurses or or accountants
or, but they're transferred toa place where their
certification.
It's going to take them monthsand months to get transferred
(16:29):
into that state or, worse yet,that country, and that is that
salary that they've lost andit's a huge hit.
But something like this thatthey could do remotely, I think
is just great.
Yeah, what's the one programthat you would like to see in
the future that you all don'toffer right now?
Ray Toenniessen (16:51):
That's a great question, larry.
You know, one of the thingsthat we're always doing is
looking at where are the currentgaps and needs in this space,
because from our standpointthat's always been sort of our
true north right.
If we stay focused on theveteran, the service member, the
(17:13):
military spouse and their needsand build meaningful programs
to meet those needs, then wefeel like we'll be successful.
The other thing we always do is, if somebody else is already
out there doing it well, we haveno desire to go in and recreate
(17:34):
that.
We would much rather partnerwith an organization to maybe do
more together.
I still have that to set up.
I wouldn't necessarily say it'sa specific program, larry, but I
would talk about it as more ofa specific point in time, and
that's trying to figure out howdo we get more left to the point
(17:59):
of transition, and what I meanby that is, you know, we still
often see a lot of servicemembers coming to us with
limited time before they takethat uniform off right, and
they're just starting to thinkabout where do I want to live,
what do I want to do?
Okay, based on those things, doI have the requisite skills?
(18:20):
Do I need additional education,upskilling, training, right.
And so what happens is many,you know, start to back
themselves into a corner from atiming perspective, and often
it's not their fault, right, Imean, you are on active duty and
you are serving in that roleuntil the day that you either go
on terminal leave or, you know,you fully take that uniform off
(18:43):
.
And there's been some programs,you know, skillbridge and
career skills programs that havehelped this, but we still see a
lot of inconsistencies acrossdifferent commands on how
supportive they are to lettingthe individual take advantage of
these.
So, you know, I would say,really, transition should be
something that starts from theday you enter the military and
(19:05):
having a good system to you know, how are you cataloging all of
the training that you're doing,any of the certifications you're
doing, and almost programmingcheck-ins with yourself to say,
okay, where you know, where do Iwant to go, do I want to stay
in, do I want to get out?
What are my options?
And then really matching thosethings up to your goals and
(19:26):
aspirations so that you're, youknow, at a consistent time,
interview, checking in on that,versus waiting to okay, I just
spent, you know, four years orsix years or 12 years or 20
years in and now, all of asudden, I have to figure out
what's.
What's next in my life?
Larry Zilliox (19:43):
Yeah, you know, I will say that the branches have
gotten better in helping, or atleast they don't look at
transitioning soldiers as aliability anymore.
That's right, I think the Armyprobably has the best program
with their Soldiers for Lifeprogram.
(20:03):
But I know, when I was in, youknow, when you said you were
getting out, well, they just,you know, they just thought of
you like, well, you know,goodbye, we don't need you, you
know, and we're not going tospend a dime on you.
You're lucky we're giving you aplane ticket home and that's
all changed.
I could be better.
(20:23):
I get what you're saying Exactly.
I get what you're sayingExactly.
I mean, I think that servicemembers who are considering
getting out should really bethinking about it two years
ahead.
Yeah, absolutely yeah, andreally really thinking,
contemplating, what do I want todo?
First, not so much what can Ido, but what do I want to do,
(20:47):
because what you can do and whatyou want to do, if they're two
different things, you know, theInstitute is one of those places
where they can get what theyneed to do, what they want to do
.
Ray Toenniessen (20:58):
I think that's a great point.
Larry Zilliox (21:01):
I just love the programs that you have and the
mission that you all have tosupport veterans, who very often
feel alone when they leave.
Not only are they losing theirtribe and their support system,
depending on their service Somehave issues with PTS, tbi,
(21:34):
medical issues resulting fromtheir service All of that's
compounded with employmentissues and then just trying to
find a job in an economy that,depending on where they're going
to end up, it may or may not bethat great.
So having a leg up withsomething like this, I think, is
just absolutely amazing.
So for our listeners, we'llhave the webpage in the show
(21:56):
notes, but it is ivmfsyracuseedu.
I encourage everybody to go tothe webpage and take a look at
it and check out all theresources.
You can do a real deep dive onit.
Go down the rabbit hole.
Every time I clicked onsomething, I was going someplace
(22:16):
else and there's reports andthere's programs and a lot of
resources that'll take you offof their page and onto a real
vetted resource.
So federal agencies for smallbusiness loans, things like that
.
I encourage everybody to go tothe webpage and check it out,
but we will have that in theshow notes.
(22:39):
Do you have veterans come tothe university to take advantage
of these programs, or is it allsort of online or how does it
work?
Ray Toenniessen (22:48):
Yeah, it's a little bit of both, larry.
So a lot of our programs we doin different cities around the
country, so or they're a hybridmodel.
So some of it is online andsome of it is we come in person.
Some of those we host, you know, a few days at a time up at
Syracuse.
Others are again held indifferent cities around the
(23:09):
country.
But we also, on the moretraditional higher education
side, we have a very robustmilitary-connected student
population on our campus.
So we have Army and Air ForceROTC, you know.
We have student veterans whoare there completing an
undergraduate degree, graduatedegree.
(23:30):
We have military children whoare dependents of service
members or veterans who arethere on GI Bill dollars.
So we have another whole officeon campus, our Office of
Veteran and Military Affairs.
That has done a great job and Ithink is one of the leading
(23:50):
examples of how higher educationshould really approach student
veterans in this country andhave really broken down a lot of
barriers around campus so thatveterans and military-connected
students can have a betterexperience at Syracuse.
Larry Zilliox (24:07):
Yeah Well, that's wonderful because it is a for
veterans and especially thosethat are transitioning.
Going to a university like thatis it's quite an experience,
not something they're quite usedto.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah Well, listen, I want tothank you for taking the time to
(24:28):
join us and really tell us allabout this program, and I can't
thank you enough for the greatwork that you all do up there.
Ray Toenniessen (24:36):
Oh, thank you, Larry, I appreciate you having
me on Well for our listeners.
Larry Zilliox (24:39):
we'll have another episode next Monday
morning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcastatwillingwarriorsorg.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
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