Joe's Fundraising Campain - 2018

Three years ago, Hector and Kate Perez approached me with an idea that would help veterans and their spouses get Salesforce training and help them transition into Salesforce careers.  Having seen the positive impact the military had on family and friends, I was also very aware of the struggles those that served have when leaving the military and joining corporate America. I was excited to help - and Merivis was born.

Starting out in our spare time, Hector led the recruiting and fundraising, Kate made all the logistics seem simple (which they are not), and I created a curriculum that would surround the Salesforce Admin training to help give our students an introduction to Salesforce and corporate CRM terminology.  All of us plugged into our network for sponsorships, coaches, volunteers, and potential hiring leads for our alumni. 

So how did we do?  In three years, we have had nearly 100 vets and spouses in our cohorts that include virtual training, trailhead homework, in-person training, resume assistance, mock interviews, personal branding,  1x1 coaching, networking 101, and social media strategy. 100!

100 #merivets alumni each with an amazing journey.  For example, I was humbled the first time I heard Sheldon tell how he worked the night-shift, slept in his car for an hour and then attended the Merivis cohort training all day for a week!  (Watch the video up-top for some of this story).  I encourage you to click up to the main fundraising page and down to the individual alumni who believe so much in the Merivis program that they are stepping out of their comfort zone to help raise money so we can offer more cohorts to reach more vets and spouses.  Their stories can hopefully light the path for those that will follow in their footsteps.

Merivis has received incredible support and recognition recently.  What we are doing works; I believe we have an incredible opportunity to scale what we do - expanding to more cities, offering a more diverse curriculum, all the while helping impact the lives of many more vets and spouses.  100 #merivets alumni in 3 years?  I believe we can enable 100 vets and spouses in 2019 alone!

How can you help? 

First, please donate to my campaign on this page, or click here to the main fundraising page and click into the campaign of any of the vets who are helping us raise funds - help them out!  Up until now our process was to raise enough funds to sponsor an individual cohort, then plan and execute that class.  This has worked when we were offering 2 cohorts a year in Austin - but running 6-8 cohorts next year in multiple cities means we need much more advanced planning to secure trainers, meeting space, etc. It also means we need raise funds now in order to focus on cohort execution next year. 

Second, help us get the word out.   Vets and spouses shouldn't have to struggle after leaving the military - while Sheldon’s story of persistence is inspiring, I want vets and their spouses to know there are amazing career opportunities waiting for them and not have to worry about how they will support their family. 

Third, if you are interested and willing, please volunteer to be a coach for an upcoming cohort.    We have had an incredible set of coaches that have stepped up time and time again to work individually with our students during cohorts - but with next year’s volume, we need much more help in the coaching ranks.

Finally, if you work at a vet-friendly organization, please let me know so I can explain sponsorship opportunities and how you can provide career opportunities for our alummi.

Thank you for your time and consideration in helping our #merivets family.

Merivis Foundation supports veterans preparing for their next missions through training, mentorship and job readiness for Salesforce cloud technology positions.  With a growing need for Salesforce certified professionals and an increasing number of underemployed veterans in the country, we bridge the gap to help veterans transition to civilian life and find great careers. Since we started in 2015, Merivis has impacted the lives of nearly 100 military veterans by supporting them in their transition to civilian careers. Through our Salesforce training programs, we've put them on the path to growing, in-demand technology roles and we couldn't have done it without every member of the Merivis community.
 

Thank you to KLRU for featuring Sheldon Simmons, our board member and graduate of the first Merivis cohort in their American Graduate series. To view more stories from the KLRU series "American Graduate: Getting America to Work" visit klru.org/americangraduate or search by #amgradtx