American Corporate Partners

American Corporate Partners (ACP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to assisting United States veterans in their transition from the military to the civilian world. The organization was founded in 2008 to connect post 9/11 veterans to business professionals for mentoring, career counseling and networking.

History

Founder Sidney E. Goodfriend launched American Corporate Partners on Labor Day 2008 with the help of six founding corporate partners who provided funding to ACP and volunteer Mentors. By the end of 2009, ACP had paired 500 returning veterans with Mentors. Currently, ACP has more than 2,700 veterans paired one-on-one with mentors from more than 65 of America’s top companies, universities and hospitals. Since 2010, over 9,700 veterans have completed the mentoring program.

Since its founding, ACP has focused on expanding its number of corporate partners, reaching out to a larger number of returning military and designing several new programs and initiatives to help an increasing number of returning veterans.

On Veterans Day 2011, American Corporate Partners launched ACP AdvisorNet,^[1] an online business Q&A forum which has enabled veterans and civilian professionals to connect with one another and discuss topics related to career development. ACP AdvisorNet is open to all American veterans and their immediate family members. The site has attracted business leaders from across the country who act as virtual Advisors to veterans in transition.

ACP's bipartisan Advisory Council includes diverse members such as: Jesse Angelo, David Axelrod, Jack D. Bergen, Howard B. Bromberg, Alvin H. Brown, Devon Cross, Ann Dunwoody, Christy Ferer, John Hamre, John Havens, Karen Hughes, Jack H. Jacobs, John M. Keane, William Kristol, Robert J. Kueppers, Joe Lieberman, Joseph E. Martz, Mary Jo Myers, Richard B. Myers, Robert Norsworthy, Raymond T. Odierno, Peter Pace, David Petraeus, David Rogers, Karl Rove, Jon Stewart, Lawrence Summers, and Paul Wolfowitz.

Mission

American Corporate Partners (ACP) is a national nonprofit organization focused on helping returning veterans find their next careers through one-on-one mentoring, networking and online career advice.

More than 1 million veterans are expected to transition from the armed forces to civilian life over the next five years. ACP engages the American people in a unique volunteer opportunity to provide career guidance to returning military as they transition back into civilian life.^[2]

ACP believes that the biggest issue facing returning service members is not unemployment – it’s underemployment. ACP focuses on helping veterans find meaningful employment opportunities and develop long-term careers.

Mentoring Program

ACP’s Mentoring Program connects post-9/11 veterans (Protégés) with corporate professionals (Mentors) for yearlong mentorships. ACP assists veterans on their path towards fulfilling, long-term careers, whether the veteran is job searching or newly employed.

ACP now also connects veterans with business leaders in a variety of ways beyond its original corporate mentoring program.

• ACP’s Citizens Mentoring Program encourages individuals not affiliated with one of ACP's Partner Companies to become ACP Mentors.
• ACP’s Women’s Veteran Mentoring Program launched in 2016 and connects female veterans with female entrepreneurs and business leaders for yearlong mentorships. Women veterans have access to exclusive networking events and career development workshops.^[3]
• ACP AdvisorNet is an online career Q&A community designed to assist an increasing number of veterans and current service members with networking and career advice.

More than 20,000 veterans have participated in ACP’s programs.

References