Give Vets a Chance: Mike Haynie Advocates for the Inclusion of Veterans

Today Haynie interrupts bias against veterans by piloting new ways of delivering education and economic opportunities to this vital and at times invisible community His activism saves livesOn January 8 at CES MediaVillage will induct Haynie into the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors along with seven others who have moved from advocacy to activism Each inductee has shared their story and inspiration in this podcast seriesIn this conversation Haynie speaks with Ginger Conlon editorinchief and EB Moss head of content strategy for MediaVillage about how in contrast to some public perceptions our military community is wellequipped to enter the workforce amp8212 they are trained to be entrepreneurial diverse and resilient He encourages us all to get to know this generation of military veterans and to invest in their futuresThe following has been edited for clarity and length Listen here to the full interview and please subscribe to and share all the Advancing Diversity Podcasts available on Apple Podcasts Stitcher and YouTubeMoss You39ve made a difference in the lives of so many veterans and their families through the Institute for Veterans and Military Families IVMF Would you explain what IVMF does and how it came aboutHaynie While serving I was fortunate that the Air Force helped me to pursue a PhD in Entrepreneurship and Innovation I taught at the Air Force Academy for a few years and really fell in love with teaching and being around students so decided to leave the Air Force in 2006 and come to Syracuse University as a professorThat context is important because what really struck me the more I became acclimated in civilian higher education was the opportunity to leverage what higher education does well to teach train inspire and make a difference in the lives of the community that I came from That opportunity was the basis for proposing that Syracuse University create what is still today the nation39s only interdisciplinary academic institute in higher education focused on the socialeconomic wellness concerns of veterans and their familiesInterestingly Syracuse University as people know it today exists largely because of veterans Until World War II we were a regional university with an enrollment that never exceeded about 4000 students amp8212 until it opened its doors to returning veterans and within two years had an enrollment of about 17000 studentsWhat we39re finding today is that one of the biggest challenges facing those leaving military service and entering civilian society is social and cultural isolation They don39t feel part of the community amp8212 the society that they went to war to defend amp8212 because they can39t look to their left or their right whether it39s in a classroom or workplace and really find people like them that have that same shared experience of military service and it can be isolatingSo a lot of what we39re focused on is how to bridge that chasm between the small minority of Americans who have served in the military over the course of the last 15plus years and the majority of Americans who have benefited from that serviceamp8230And I knew that post911 about 30 percent of those who left the military had serviceconnected disabilities which was unprecedented That insight motivated me to develop and launch our first IVMF program the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities for those traumatically wounded by war Universities from around the country reached out and asked to join usConlon How is the educational community embracing your approach to veteransHaynie Veterans are by definition nontraditional students They39re older than our traditional student they have years of unique work experience they are much more likely to be married when they39re pursuing a degree Many of them because of that have to hold down a job while they39re going to school That39s important because across higher education as an industry the nontraditional student is more and more becoming who we are servingStudies indicate that within the next five to seven years almost 50 percent of all of those in the United States pursuing their first degree out of high school will be adult learners And many institutions are not set up to serve them at scale Other universities are learning from usMoss Jack Myers our founder and a wellknown alum of Syracuse University was talking about how our industry embraces and supports nontraditional students and other nontraditional demographicsHaynie I learned from our Newhouse School of Communications here at Syracuse that the media industry has been disrupted in ways that no one could have predicted The same is true of higher education As we look to the future we both need to embrace nontraditional stakeholdersMoss How and why should employers have a focused veteran and militaryconnected recruitment and retention strategyHaynie The business case is compelling as so few in leadership and society understand the military service experience One of the things that military service confers is an entrepreneurial mindset I might be biased because I am a professor of entrepreneurship but the classic definition of entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity in the face of inherently constrained resources That39s one of the things that service members learn how to do And whether it39s in a work environment or an educational environment the idea of being able to set goals build a strategy to achieve those goals and then take action says something about what a veteran a military family member as well could bring to the work environmentResilience is another dimension that the military fuels Next is diversity The military is a highly diverse population on every metric Veterans are adept at working across cultures They will make your environment richer more dynamic more diverse and ultimately betterConlon What39s your advice for hiring managers who are working to bring diverse candidates into their organization and talent development pipelineHaynie Become culturally competent the majority of hiring managers don39t know how to read a military resume and many veterans are not culturally competent in translating militarylearned skills and abilities into a traditional resumeThe other piece of advice is to create a community that provides veterans with a sense of understanding value and belonging There39s a troubling statistic 50 percent of military members who take their first civilian job leave within a year What39s interesting is that they39re not being fired instead they are leaving in pursuit of a better cultural fitConlon This group has an entrepreneurial mindset resilience diversity of background and thought and they value community They sound like a great fit for the media marketing and advertising industry Are you seeing interest from either side of the hiring equationHaynie A good number of veterans are drawn to these industries You could argue that there39s a natural transition for those who worked in public relations public affairs and marketing while serving There39s also interest and an ability to become content creators and small business ownersOn the corporate side CVS Comcast and Disney are doing good things around hiring and recruiting veterans and related service membersMoss What more can media do to support IVMF initiativesHaynie I wish the news industry would report more on military issues so Americans know the facts Storytelling in media is problematic as it contributes to some of the isolation that veterans feel There are so many myths and destructive stereotypes about who this population is and who they are notIt39s very easy to tell a dramatic story about a veteran and ascribe mental health issues we see this on some popular TV shows where a veteran will be depicted as a character with PTSD and a host of related issues That does a disservice to the community as it perpetuates negative imbalanced stereotypesMoss What makes you hopeful about the progress you39ve madeHaynie The potential of higher education to change the trajectory of the social and economic lives of individuals who went from high school to national service is profound I certainly hope that every person with a title like mine will give veterans or members of a related community the tools to thrive at their institution and within their communityWeaving diversity and inclusion into the fabric of your company is good for business And we have proof In this podcast series our Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors 2020 inductees each discuss the many ways their organizations champion diversity equality and inclusion as well as examine the benefits to their company constituents and community Each episode features one inductee39s strategies and best practices that others can adapt to help their organizations accelerate the move from advocacy to activismThe 2020 Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors inductees include Jill Baskin chief marketing officer The Hershey Company J Michael Haynie PhD vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation Institute for Veteran and Military Families at Syracuse University Tim Jones chief executive officer Publicis Media Americas Tim McNeal talent development Walt Disney Television Sue Obeidi director Muslim Public Affairs Council The Hollywood Bureauamp160Tony Rogers chief member officer Sam39s Clubamp160Tiffany R Warren founder and president ADCOLOR and senior vice president chief diversity officer Omnicom and Shelley Zalis chief executive officer The Female QuotientClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Give Vets a Chance: Mike Haynie Advocates for the Inclusion of Veterans

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