Mr. Kevin Schmiegel, of Arlington, VA, retired from the Marine Corps in 2009 and since then has relentlessly pursued his passion of strengthening communities and bridging the civilian-service divide. He founded Hiring Our Heroes, which has helped more than 600,000 veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment and was a major factor in reducing veteran unemployment from over 10% [and over 20% for veterans under 25] to today’s figure of less than 4%. After the success of Hiring Our Heroes, Kevin continued his passion for service, leading two other national nonprofits and subsequently founding ZeroMils where he is focuses on creating military thriving cultures and communities.

“During the very first hiring event we did in Chicago on March 24, 2011, a young Marine sergeant who had been unemployed since leaving the Marine Corps in 2010 came up to me and said ‘Sir, you changed my life today. I got a job.’ What that Marine veteran didn’t realize is he changed my life that day.”