Announcing the Relaunch of SIOP’s Military and Veterans Initiative Task Force

Marisa Bossen and Kristin Saboe

As was announced during SIOP’s inaugural #SIOPServingMilitary social media campaign during Veterans Day week last November, SIOP is doubling down on its commitment to veterans, current military personnel, and military family members by relaunching the Military and Veterans Initiative (MVI) as an official SIOP task force. The effort was originally founded in 2011 by Nathan Ainspan to leverage the unique skills of I-Os for the betterment of the veteran community. Soon after its start, Kristin Saboe joined as volunteer coordinator and eventually codirector of a collaborative effort of SIOP members offering career coaching to wounded and transitioning service members, as well as corporate consulting on the topic of veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce. As of this month, with support from President Talya Bauer and the Executive Board, SIOP is recognizing the group as a formal task force.                                        

Task Force members include Kristin Saboe (Task Force Chair), Nathan Ainspan (U.S. Department of Defense Liaison), Patricia Engelhardt (U.S. DoD Liaison), Adam Kabins, Peter Reiley, and Josh Cotton.

The MVI will draw upon the unique qualifications and expertise of SIOP members and their understanding of psychological science and best practices to educate and inform civilian employers about the military community so that these companies can leverage and improve their efforts to hire, engage, and retain veterans, service members, and their families. Goals for the task force's first year include formalizing relationships within APA and across similar professional organizations with efforts serving military, veterans, and their families as they relate to employment and well-being relevant topics.

The Task Force will conduct outreach and establish collaborations to obtain information that will help civilian employers improve their interactions with the military community and leverage the unique competencies and skills of our military community members. SIOP volunteers will then translate this information into materials (e.g., information sheets, articles, web postings) that will be disseminated to SIOP members, business and human resource leaders, and to SIOP’s collaborative partners. SIOP will also develop materials (e.g., training products) to disseminate to civilian business leaders and hiring managers. The MVI Task Force will also encourage SIOP’s members to conduct research on military members, veterans, and military spouses to better understand the employment, health, and work–life needs of these groups.

If you are interested in volunteering with the MVI Task Force in any of the following capacities, you can sign up on the website or contact Kristin Saboe at kristin.saboe@gmail.com:

• Write white papers and/or build infographics on relevant topics (e.g., ROI of veteran employees and military spouses)
• Develop training classes/e-learning programs
• Develop written materials for dissemination to SIOP members, business and HR leaders
• Outreach with HR managers, VPs, and recruiters
• Outreach with employers on the benefits of hiring veterans

Marisa Bossen is chair of the Prosocial Subcommittee (Visibility Committee) and Kristin Saboe  is the chair of the Military and Veterans Initiative Task Force.