Throughout his extensive military and civilian experiences, Duane France has found that one principle continues to stand true time and time again:
“Audacity is the key to victory in battle.”
Duane is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer. During his military service, he participated in five combat and operational deployments. Now, working as a Mental Health Therapist, Duane found that his unique blend of experiences and training have led him to be a successful mentor, advocate, and counselor to an underserved population in our country – our fellow Veterans.
Since his time working as a Mental Health Therapist and Advisor with the Colorado 4th Judicial District Veteran Trauma Court, Duane has established himself as a Veteran Mental Health Thought Leader. On a daily basis, in person and through his writing, he uses his experiences and expertise to bring awareness to Veteran mental health, and act as a voice on behalf of his fellow brothers and sisters in arms.
In Duane's words "I truly believe that the numerous difficulties that some Veterans experience, including unemployment, homelessness, and transitioning difficulties, are all related to their mental health in some form or fashion. It is my mission to ensure Veteran mental health does not go unnoticed in our country".
Patrick Coleman is the President of Fair Housing Advocates, Inc. Many of our US Military Veterans are being subjected to housing discrimination on the basis of their Disability when their Service Dog or Emotional Support Animal is either prohibited, or subjected to "pet rules."
Housing discrimination goes unnoticed every day and is usually misidentified as landlord & tenant law violations instead of the serious civil rights violations they really are. In fact, the Fair Housing Act provides any victim of housing discrimination a very aggressive process to establish and defend their housing civil rights.
Fair Housing Advocates has noticed housing discrimination is going unchecked within our veteran and active duty military, law enforcement, and first responder community- our “Patriots.”
5 Simple Signs of Housing Discrimination:
Diana Tsai is an entrepreneur solving social challenges since 2006 with creativity, tech, grit, and optimism. Diana is a branding, communication, and innovation strategist for emerging brands and Fortune 100 multinational corporations. Advisor to startups & nonprofits. Mentor for Veterans, Military Spouses, entrepreneurs, and good people.
Veterati is a digital platform for veterans & military spouses to access mentorship-on-demand from successful professionals across the nation. Since more than 80% of jobs are unpublished and exist solely within personal networks, Veterati focuses on mentorship as a primary means to discovering career options and securing real jobs. Our mission is to create mentorship conversations between 1.5 million transitioning veterans to the 100 million Americans currently employed across America to secure meaningful post-military careers for our veterans. The Global Head of Military Programs of the #1 Veteran Employer in the United States calls the proprietary mentorship-on-demand software we've developed for veterans “The Uber of Mentorship, a game-changer.”
John Lee Dumas is the Founder and Host of EOFire, an award winning Podcast where he interviews today's most inspiring Entrepreneurs 7-days a week. With almost 1600 episodes and 7-figures a year in revenue, JLD has shown the world the power of Podcasting.
If you've ever struggled with productivity, discipline and focus, the Mastery Journal is your step-by-step guide to mastering these three skills in 100 days!
JW Rone, is the director of veterans initiatives at the Institute for Integrative Health. With 30 years of experience in the arts, he has been a theater artist, director, and producer focusing on arts in education, and served as a board member, volunteer, and employee for nonprofit arts organizations.
A proud Vietnam veteran, JW worked in the Special Services Division of the United States Army while stationed in Korea, where he directed plays and ran the entertainment center on base. He produced and directed soldier shows, and performed USO style shows for active duty soldiers in the combat zone while touring in Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Prior to joining the Institute, JW was the executive director of the Beaufort Arts Council (BAC)–formerly referred to as Arts Council of Beaufort County (ACBC) – in Beaufort, South Carolina. During that time he created exciting opportunities for the community to participate in the arts. He's most proud of the concept, design, and execution of ARTworks: Community Art Center and Arts Incubator, which was dedicated to creating accessible art space for artists and the greater Beaufort County community.
Prior to that, JW served as the director of the Ice House for the Morgan Arts Council (MAC) in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. In that position, he managed all arts and educational programs and oversaw the grant writing and implementation process. J.W. also worked extensively with the West Virginia Commission for the Arts, organizing state-wide art assemblies and serving as a peer assistance specialist.
JW has toured nationally and internationally, performing, directing, and producing theater works with community youth and adults. He spent many years as a street performer, presenting his special brand of New Vaudeville from London to Paris and Munich to Amsterdam.
JW is an excellent blues harp player; when he’s not connecting our nation’s veterans with exceptional art resources in the region, you can find him teaching and playing his unique style of music for anyone who will listen.