Today Blackstone hosts its inaugural Veterans Hiring Summit to support the hiring of American veterans across its portfolio companies. In support of the White House’s “Joining Forces” initiative, in April Blackstone committed to hire 50,000 American veterans across its portfolio of 78 companies over the next five years.
Today’s summit was designed to help hiring executives within corporations learn how to attract and hire veterans and to help the U.S. military and veterans organizations learn how they can facilitate this recruitment initiative.
“Veterans are reliable, motivated, and trustworthy employees--the type of people that will help Blackstone’s portfolio companies succeed and grow,” said Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone’s Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder who spoke at the event. “Blackstone is proud to support this important initiative and to do our part to help the men and women who have served our country build successful careers following their service to our country.”
In addition to human resources executives from Blackstone’s 78 portfolio companies, the summit featured Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary for Economic Opportunity at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Terry Gerton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) at the Department of Labor, Col. Rich Morales, Executive Director of Joining Forces at the Office of the First Lady, and Col. Robert Yost, Director of the U.S. Army’s Transition Strategic Outreach Office.
The summit will cover a wide range of topics related to the veteran hiring initiative, including the strengths of the veteran applicant pool, coordination with local VA offices, and the role of mentorship in ensuring a positive transition to civilian life for those who have served our nation.
Blackstone also announced a $50,000 gift to American Corporate Partners (www.acp-usa.org), a nonprofit organization that provides mentorship for veterans entering the business community.
