Mark Graham
This week’s WorkingNation #WeeklyChangemaker is Retired Major General Mark Graham who is the director of Vets4Warriors and advocates for improving support systems for returning veterans in need of social, emotional, and physical assistance.
Vets4Warriors is an important peer-to-peer support network that connects people, information, ideas, and resources to generate powerful solutions for members of the military and veteran communities. Since inception, Vets4Warriors has had over 325,000 connections with members of the veteran and military community who are dealing with life challenges before they turn into crises.
Graham joined Vets4Warriors in 2013 to lead a 24/7 peer-support network that serves all veterans as well as the entire military community, from those who just put on a uniform to the caregiver and families of a veteran who has long since stopped wearing a uniform. The program’s peers are veterans from every branch and every era, dating back to Vietnam, and 70 percent of the peers are combat veterans. For Mark and Vets4Warriors, the best way to help veterans is to connect them with other veterans who can share their experiences, provide advice, and lend a listening ear.
“We believe that there is no physical, mental, or social challenge that we can’t help find a solution for. Regardless of the complexity of the issue, or how long it takes, we will continue to follow up, seek out possible avenues, and pursue different options until an answer is found. We go the extra mile.”
In our interview with Mark at America’s Warrior Partnership Symposium, he explained how employing a veteran for Vets4Warriors is a win-win, especially when veterans can train other veterans. This makes work to raise money and grow the veteran workforce very rewarding, he said.
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