Get to Work! Equity in Action for Military Veterans & Spouses
Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE) Veterans Incubator
with the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
Kelli Lester (McMiller)
Partner, DEI, Human Resources, Marketing, Trainer
Kelli has over 20 years of experience in DEI, talent management, coaching, training, entrepreneurship, Human Resources, marketing and public relations. Kelli has served a wide variety of clients across several industries. Some related projects and clients she has worked with within the last three years include Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County, DePaul University, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis to name a few. Kelli has a proven record of assisting organizations in defining their DEI vision, developing relevant strategies, and producing sustainable results. Established in 2016, Onyx Rising Financial Services provides financial coaching to individuals and families to empower them to improve their current financial situation through the use of proven strategies on debt reduction, elimination of credit card debt and student loan debt.
Irma J. Neal
Partner, Certified Financial Coach, Author, Trainer, Entrepreneur
Irma has over 35 years of experience in leadership development, executive project management, consulting, entrepreneurship, and negotiation. Before retiring in 2014, Irma was the Senior Vice President at the Center for the Support of Families (CSF). Prior experience includes Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis, Vice President at IBM Corporation and Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). She has successfully owned four businesses, the largest was 300 employees, located in 17 states that sold for millions. Since retirement, Irma has focused on financial coaching and training. She wrote a management book titled “Leading in Chaos: Insights to Lead through the Storms” that became an Amazon best-seller and recently received the Eric Hoffer Literary Award that recognizes freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit.
BACE Veteran Scholars Inaugural Cohort - Interest Form
Complete the form below to learn more about the upcoming Inaugural BACE Veterans Scholar cohort!
Programmatic and Advocacy Partners
Syracuse University
Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF)
To empower service members, veterans, and their families through actionable research, innovative programs, and insightful analytics.
Programs include:
V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship)
About V-WISE
Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) is a premier training program in entrepreneurship and small business management.
V-WISE helps women veterans and female military spouses/partners find their passion and learn the business savvy skills necessary to turn an idea or start-up into a growing venture.
V-WISE is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the generous philanthropic support of corporate and foundation partners nationwide.
What You Will Experience:
*Actionable strategies for new venture creation presented in a supportive and inspirational learning environment
*A robust team of speakers and instructors including successful entrepreneurs, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and leaders in government
*A community resource network designed to support small business creation and growth, including supportive services provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA), the IVMF and IVMF partners
*A community of established women veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs 2,375 strong and growing
*More than 20 distinct modules of training in opportunity recognition, business planning, financing, economics, marketing, access to capital, business law, social media and more!
Onward to Opportunity (O2O) is a free career training program that provides professional certification and employee support services to transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses. O2O combines industry-validated curricula, strong partnerships with leading veteran service organizations and private sector companies, and comprehensive career coaching services to prepare and match you with your next career.
Veterans Voices
Erasing the Distance performance 2016
What does the research show?
MVI Virtual Convening: Women Veterans of Color at Work and in Business
March 1, 2022
Check back soon for the video link, clips and research links!
The VetHER Women Veterans Convening gathered higher education, industry, and community leaders to address important questions in the study of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging impacted by the pandemic and racial justice.
Opening Remarks:
Walidah Bennett, Director, Multi-Faith Veterans Initiative (MVI) at DePaul University
Anthony Cosby, Director, AmericaServes at Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families
Scholars Across the Discipline:
Willie Reddic, PhD, Associate Professor, Syracuse University Whitman School of Management and The PhD Project
Rosalinda Vasquez Maury, Director of Applied Research and Analytics, Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families
Master Sergeant Tamesha Armstead, EdD, Dissertation, Baylor University: “When You Finally See Us: A Narrative Inquiry of The Rare Sighting of Black Females in Officer Ranks and Positions in the United States Air Force”
Corporate Panelists:
Karen Freeman-Wilson
President & CEO, Chicago Urban League
Former Mayor, Gary, Indiana
Philip T. Anderson, Ph.D., CDP
Director, Leadership Institute, Argonne National Laboratory
Training and Organizational Effectiveness Advisor for the Army Readiness
Group at Fort Sheridan, Illinois (Retired)
Stacey Dixon, Ed.D.
Director, Student Veteran Service Support, National Louis University
U.S. Marine Corps, CWO3 (Retired)
Moderated by:
Kelli Lester (McMiller)
Chief Strategy Officer, Engaging Solutions
Kelli Lester is the new Chief Strategist at Engaging Solutions, a management consulting firm headquartered in Indianapolis. She has spent nearly a decade as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant for The Kaleidoscope Group, and years working in corporate America creating the foundation for organizational success in the DEI area. Kelli has a proven record in defining vision, developing strategy and executing action plans that produce sustainable results.
Closing Remarks:
Shannon Stone-Winding
President & CEO, Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE)
The inaugural Women's History Month VetHER Convening was sponsored by the Multi-Faith Veterans Initiative (MVI) and Boeing supported by the Arthur Lockhart Resource Institute Sister to Sister Program, Christ Universal Temple “Women Veteran We Rise” with the Black Alliance of Colleges and Employers (BACE), Syracuse University Institute of Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), and the Coalition of Veterans Organizations (CVO).