Editor's Note: This article by MOAA's staff is part of the MOAA Charities 2020 Impact Report, a version of which first appeared in the November 2020 issue of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members. Learn more about the magazine here; learn more about joining MOAA here.

Through The MOAA Foundation Career Transition track, MOAA delivers “best-in-class” career development programs. Due to funding provided by The MOAA Foundation, these services are free and open to the broader military and veteran communities.

[LEARN MORE: MOAA's Transition and Career Center]

In 2017, MOAA commenced an effort with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes (HOH) program to provide career-transition education at HOH’s Transition Summit events. Working with HOH guarantees access to large numbers of currently serving military and their families. In 2019, MOAA facilitated 135 career transition, financial education, and military benefits-related presentations at various military installations.

We host nearly 500 currently serving, veterans, and military spouses, and 80-plus veteran-friendly employers, at the annual MOAA Military and Veteran Networking Forum in Washington, D.C. To help defray the costs and fund the event, The MOAA Foundation received more than $120,000 in donations in 2018, a 40% increase from the previous year’s event.

MOAA’s webinar initiative expands our program’s reach outside of the mid-Atlantic region at minimal cost. From the inception of the foundation, we have significantly increased webinar offerings to provide valuable advice on career building and transition, in-depth analysis on finance and benefits, and information on earned-veteran benefits. This program has grown consistently with the execution of 30 successful webinar events and nearly 10,000 participants, year-to-date.

We continue to host a series of virtual networking and hiring events to connect currently serving, veterans, and military spouses worldwide with key resource specialists and talent-acquisition professionals. We have incorporated a live audio and video functionality for our virtual career fair events. In 2020, virtual career fair participants increased six-fold compared to 2019.

[RELATED: MOAA's Webinar Schedule and Archive]

Through a partnership with Indeed.com, MOAA’s Job Board offers members of the military community a portal to connect with veteran-ready employers. When accessing the tool from MOAA’s website, job seekers have targeted search options and features to apply for positions posted by employers looking to hire veterans. Since initial launch in late July, the site has experienced nearly 1,300 visits per month.

Program Milestones

• Received the prestigious HIRE Vets Platinum Medallion Award from the Department of Labor forexemplary efforts in recruiting, employing, and retaining our nation’s veterans in November.
• Enhanced outreach to the broader military and veteran community, as opposed to member-only engagement.
• Transformation from one-on-one personalized services to a large presence through virtual webinars.
• Technology enhancements, including a robust virtual career fair platform.
• MOAA’s Job Board, powered by Indeed.com, which transformed from a member-only program to a resource available to the broader military community.