WYAKIN WARRIOR FOUNDATION
Battle Tested. Business Ready.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Veteran transition presents challenges. Cultural and emotional forces can collide to make the process of transition into the educational and professional settings seem at times overwhelming. Physical and emotional wounds serve to further complicate matters. Consequently, reintegrating into civil society is often a frustrating and fruitless experience for many former service members, who are struggling to find their place and a new purpose outside of the military. A Student Veterans of America study shows that nearly 50% of veterans returning to college fail to earn their degree, and unemployment among young veterans is on the rise. More tragic still, 20 U.S. military veterans take their own life each day, often as a result of their difficulty in transitioning to civilian life.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Wyakin Foundation
The Wyakin Foundation provides help to wounded and injured veterans through the following six tenets:
Networking:
We create and encourage opportunities for Warriors to foster active and mutually beneficial relationships throughout the community as individuals and ambassadors of the Wyakin program.
Professional Development:
We collaborate to develop individualized plans to address each Warrior’s goals and developmental needs.
We provide professional and personal development content that is both substantive and motivational in a format that engages Warriors in thought and action.
Mentorship:
We provide community mentors that engage, challenge, and support the Warriors, and reinforce the concepts, obligations, and benefits associated with the Wyakin program.
We provide professional mentors with the capacity and desire to have a direct impact on the fulfillment of each Warrior’s career potential.
Educational Stipend:
We afford Warriors the opportunity to earn a stable and equitable stipend towards alleviating personal financial challenges as an obstacle to success.
Community Impact:
We avail Warriors to the full benefits associated with conceptualizing and executing a robust community service project through well-defined parameters governing the timing, scope and impact of the project.
Wyakin For Life:
We maintain an ongoing annual dialogue with Wyakin alumni; monitor progress and engage them in the Wyakin mission.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'Overall, my experience as a Wyakin Warrior helped me better navigate my transition from the military to civilian life.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'I have a better sense of direction as a result of my experience as a Wyakin Warrior.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'The structure of the Wyakin program played an important role inkeeping me accountable and moving forward in my transition.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'Feeling connected to others within Wyakin (Warriors, staff, mentors) was a valuable part of the Wyakin experience for me.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'I believe the Wyakin staff genuinely cares about me as a person.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'I am comfortable coming to Wyakin for support/guidance.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of Wyakin alumni surveyed who agreed with the statement 'I feel confident about my future.'
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
At the Wyakin Foundation (Wyakin), the focus is on strength rather than struggle. Wyakin emphasizes the process of applying the cultural strengths of the veteran experience – discipline, loyalty, selflessness – to create success in the academic setting as a precedent for success beyond. Wyakin serves the men and women who have served us by engaging enrolled veterans in a six-tenet program that guides its Warriors on their road to success. This support allows veterans to develop and build on critical skills and achieve a renewed sense of purpose and self-identity.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our program supports community engagement and academic success as a precedent for professional success, giving each veteran the tools to complete their education and prepare for success in a civilian career, through delivery of six foundational tenets:
• A Multi-Faceted Mentoring Program: Community leaders engage, challenge, and support Warriors while reinforcing the concepts and skills that will impact the fulfillment of each his/her career potential.
• Professional Skill Development: Warriors attend a monthly professional development series that focuses on topics related to Warrior interest, personal growth, career planning, and financial stability.
• Educational/Financial Assistance: We provide Warriors access to performance-based financial support, in order to help alleviate personal financial challenges that are obstructing their progress on their path towards success.
• Community Impact: We avail Warriors to the benefits of conceptualizing and executing a meaningful project that reawakens their service ethos and impacts their community in a positive way, while providing project management experiences designed to fully prepare Warriors for fulfilling post-military careers.
• Robust Networking: The greater-Wyakin community creates opportunities for Warriors to foster active and mutually beneficial relationships throughout the community as individuals and ambassadors of the Wyakin program.
• Wyakin for Life: We maintain an ongoing dialogue with Wyakin alumni; monitor progress and engage graduates in the Wyakin mission.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Wyakin Foundation is led by a group of highly dedicated professionals with robust lived experience in both the military and civilian sectors. We pride ourselves on being exceptional stewards of the support we receive, and we aspire always to the highest levels of fiscal and fiduciary responsibility.
At Wyakin we are proud to have a highly skilled staff with diverse backgrounds, education, and areas of expertise. We meet the Warrior where they are at in their transition- physically, emotionally, financially. We know that every Warrior’s journey is unique and our services and support are tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual. It is our high-touch approach that allows us to build meaningful and lasting relationships with each veteran in our program, and it is because of these relationships that we are able to help them transition into a healthy and successful civilian life.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In human terms, what we have accomplished is in many ways incalculable. The meaningful change we’ve helped create for the veterans we’ve served has, in turn, created change for their families, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow veterans. Our belief is that there are no small changes; meaningful change always resonates.
Continuous improvement in the effectiveness of our programs has allowed significant growth in the number of veterans served and the quality of outcomes realized.
The success of the Wyakin program ultimately lends itself to a reach that is both broader and more personalized. Expanding the program to additional communities throughout the country remains a high priority, as does developing programs for transitioning veterans in areas of special interest (such as those seeking STEM degrees or vocational certifications) and those at higher risk (such as those veterans recently released from incarceration). With 200,000 veterans separating from the military each year, the opportunity (and need) for comprehensive transition programs like Wyakin is great.
Social Impact Statistics:
• Warrior Engagement opportunities
In 2019, we will create over 4,000 opportunities to engage with our active Warriors on an individualized basis. This includes:
-Over 400 individual mentoring sessions
-Over 400 individual counseling sessions with our social worker
-Over 1,300 person/hours of professional development curriculum
-Over 2,500 networking opportunities
-Additionally, we will have over 600 engagement opportunities with Wyakin alumni.
• Depth of Engagement
-On average, we serve each Warrior for 2.9 years (not counting ongoing service to our alums, which is in perpetuity). Cumulatively, we have provided over 140 years of service to active Warriors since our founding.
• Community Engagement
-In 2019, nearly 100 active volunteers will contribute over 1,300 hours of time to serving our Warriors.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
WYAKIN WARRIOR FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 02/11/2022
Jeffrey L. Bacon
Jeff Bacon
No Affiliation
J. Phillip Reberger
James D. Hovren
Jennifer Neil
Former Gov. Butch Otter
Sen. Chuck Winder
Alexander Crown