Ep 61: The American Dream Campaign: Connecting Veterans with Opportunities feat. Paul Lawrence

There are many types of organizations looking to assist veterans as they transition out of service. The federal government and state agencies play a role, but so do nonprofits and corporations. Ironically, the trouble faced by most veterans is not a shortage of information, but an overabundance of resources to go through.

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Paul Lawrence. Paul was a participant in the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator program with Kelly earlier this year. He is a ‘veteran helping other veterans,’ an advocate that advises nonprofits and businesses about Veteran issues. As a former senior leader at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, he has a unique perspective on the challenges organizations face working with and for Veterans, and uses that insight to help organizations serve Veterans successfully, efficiently, and cost effectively.

In this conversation, Paul talks about some of the challenges veterans face and what he has learned about how individuals and corporations can support them:

• What he learned by interviewing people working to help veterans during the 11 weeks of his Accelerator-based American Dream Campaign
• A surprising insight about service and giving back that he heard from veteran-owned business still in startup mode
• The kind of approach procurement professionals need to take if they want to be seen as enablers rather than roadblocks