More than 50 percent of separating Veterans face a period of unemployment—and in Illinois, veteran unemployment rates are higher than the national average. To meet this need, The Walt Disney Company, Easter Seals Dixon Center and USAA are joining forces to encourage the hiring of our veterans, military spouses and caregivers. We are proud to share details about a seminar to be held in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, November 3 at Venue SIX10, part of Disney’s Heroes Work Here initiative.
“Since our Heroes Work Here initiative launched in 2012, more than 6,000 former servicemen and women have become part of the Disney family,” said Paul Richardson, Chief Diversity Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “Veterans are a huge asset to companies across the nation and giving employers the tools they need to hire and retain them is something we are very proud of.”
The daylong seminar is designed to educate and inspire business leaders from Midwest-based companies of all sizes to build or expand their own veteran- and military family-hiring programs. In addition to special employer and veteran panels, workshops and presentations, the conference will feature an elite group of speakers. The Honorable Robert A. McDonald, United States Secretary of Veteran Affairs, and Staff Sergeant Travis Mills, one of only five surviving quadruple amputees from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, will keynote the event, which will also feature remarks from U.S. Army Veteran and best-selling author J.R. Martinez. The Disney Veterans Institute, in partnership with Heroes Work Here, will present a special session to share knowledge on how companies can build their own veteran-hiring programs.
Easter Seals Dixon Center will host panels that focus on veteran hiring and retention, personal accounts from veterans and military spouses about their transitions into the civilian workforce, along with information about state and federal resources available to veterans and the organizations that intend to employ them.
The Chicago Heroes Work Here event builds on the success of Disney and USAA’s regional Veterans Institute seminar in Detroit last June, which attracted more than 300 participants who were trained by experts from Disney’s Heroes Work Here initiative on best practices for helping veterans make a successful transition from the military to the civilian workforce.
Employers that are interested in launching—or expanding—a veteran-hiring program, can learn more about the upcoming seminar here. And visit Disney’s Heroes Work Here to learn more about The Walt Disney Company’s ongoing commitment to our nation’s military veterans.