Mentors needed to help veterans find and build new careers

American Corporate Partners is looking for volunteer mentors to help post-9/11 veterans, active duty spouses and eligible military spouses build their next careers. The national nonprofit organization is helping military workers transition to the private sector through its one-on-one mentoring program, which offers networking opportunities and online career advice. ACP's yearlong mentoring program is free. Topics covered in the program include resume review, interview preparation, small business development, leadership and professional communication.

“It’s very difficult transitioning, when you have spent most of your adult life in the service then all of sudden you have to transition into basically a whole new world,” said Richard Comitz, ACP Senior Vice President on WKYC Studios’ community show, We The People. “What’s great about ACP is that we try to pair our protégés with mentors in the field that they are interested in.”

Those interested in mentoring veterans ideally are 35 years old or older with 8 or more years of professional experience. Mentors are expected to communicate with their mentee once a month. Individuals interested in mentoring must submit an online application. Mentor applicants can expect for an ACP representative to contact them via email within 1-3 business days of submitting an application.

“Veterans have provided such an honorable and fantastic service to the country. This is a way for us to give back,” said Ashley Edwards, a volunteer mentor on We The People. “We can really help them translate that skillset and those fantastic ideas that they already have, transition them from the military world into the civilian world and just help make our companies even greater like they already helped with our country”

In addition to helping veterans, ACP is helping their spouses too. The organization is currently accepting a limited number of applications from active duty military spouses. Spouses can apply online. After submitting an application, an ACP staff member will reach out to them to schedule a phone call to learn more about your career goals.

For more information, click the links below:

ACP Website - https://www.acp-usa.org/

Application for Veterans - https://www.acp-usa.org/mentoring-program/veteran-application

Application for Spouses - https://www.acp-usa.org/spouseapp

Application for those interested in mentoring - https://www.acp-usa.org/mentor