Got Your 6 | Bridging the civilian-military divide

About the Lead Nonprofit Partner

In March of 2011, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched Hiring Our Heroes, a nationwide initiative to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment. Working with its network of 1600 state and local chambers and other strategic partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, the chamber’s goal is to create a movement across America in hundreds of local communities where veterans and military families return every day.

As of March 21, 2013, Hiring Our Heroes has hosted more than 440 hiring fairs in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia; more than 18,400 veterans and military spouses have obtained jobs.

The Chamber of Commerce has significantly expanded its efforts in 2012 with a goal of hosting hiring fairs in 400 communities, the establishment of a stand-alone program for military spouses, and a sustained campaign to enlist the commitments from the small business community to hire veterans and military spouses over the next three years.

Working with the best

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation and has a strong reach in both Washington and across America with 1,600 affiliated state and local chambers. This gives the Chamber the opportunity to engage businesses of all types and size in order to connect jobs to talented veterans and military spouses.

Hiring Our Heroes collaborates with organizations across the country to hold job fairs and promote the hiring of veterans. Through a partnership with Goodwill Industries International, Goodwill serves as a source of qualified veterans prepared to enter the workforce in many communities across the country.

Collaboration

Since 2011 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program has worked with dozens of different organizations to put on hiring fairs across the country. In July 2011, Hiring Our Heroes partnered with ServiceNation for a “mega hiring” fair in Los Angeles that featured Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. For Veterans Day 2011, First Lady Michelle Obama joined a hiring fair in Honolulu as part of a partnership with the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative. Additional partners have included Capital One, Got Your 6, the Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, Employer Support Guard and Reserve in various states, the American Legion, Points of Light’s Community Blueprint, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and countless state and local entities brought on by local Chambers of Commerce.

In pursuit of their Got Your 6 commitment, Hiring Our Heroes will also reach out to the businesses large and small across the country that are pledging to make veterans a more significant part of their workforce.

Got Your 6 Commitment

Working to make it a reality

The cornerstone of the Hiring Our Heroes campaign is the hiring fairs. In 2012 and beyond, the Chamber is hosting 400 hiring fairs in communities large and small across the nation. This includes marquee hiring fairs in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and Indianapolis, as well as hiring fairs in partnership with The American Legion held at legion posts throughout the nation. Additionally, the Chamber is partnering with the Department of Defense and each service branch to provide employers with direct access to military bases and service members who are transitioning to civilian life.

To enhance the hiring fairs and extend their reach, the Hiring Our Heroes campaign is leveraging the Chamber’s network of 1,600 local chambers and, 3-million-member Small Business Federation, as well as forming strategic partnerships within the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

In addition to hosting hundreds of hiring fairs, the Hiring Our Heroes campaign includes special initiatives that improve and expand its programs and create better rates of success.

• Hiring 500,000 Strong:The Chamber and Capital One teamed up to launch Hiring 500,000 Heroes, a multi-year initiative to engage the business community in committing to hire 500,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014. The initiative will focus on connecting veterans and military spouses with the small business community through job fairs and workforce training programs across the nation. Employers can visit Hiring Our Heroes and pledge to hire America’s veterans and military spouses.
• Military Spouse Business Alliance:The Chamber and Capital One are also partnering on the Military Spouse Business Alliance (MSBA). The Hiring Our Heroes campaign is committed to serving working military spouses. On January 13, 2012, the Chamber hosted the nation’s largest-ever Military Spouse Career Forum and Hiring Fair in Washington, DC. To sustain this effort they launched the MSBA, which brings together 10 of the top non-profits in the country dedicated to improving the lives of working military spouses by lifting them out of unemployment and underemployment.

Working with Got Your 6 to amplify the effort

Hiring Our Heroes will work with Got Your 6 to increase awareness for the hiring fairs across the country. They will specifically focus on ways to integrate Got Your 6 into hiring fairs in the Los Angeles area by utilizing the entertainment industry for potential venues, guest appearances at upcoming events, as well as engaging them as employers. Got Your 6 will also leverage its network of contacts to engage the business community to participate in the campaign to hire 500,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014.