GRATITUDE INITIATIVE
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There is no greater way to honor the service and sacrifice of our nation's military and veterans than to help provide for their children’s education. Since 9/11, we’ve been fighting the longest war in our nation’s history with the smallest group of people. Almost half of them are parents, which has created an unprecedented burden on our military and veteran families, particularly the children. At Gratitude Initiative, we serve our nation by working side by side with our military and veteran families to help their children successfully prepare for college, pay for college, and graduate with a degree that is right for them.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
College Success Academy
The GI College Success Academy is a full-service college and career preparatory program that covers all aspects of the high school-to-college transition process. This service is provided free of charge to support military and veteran children anywhere in the world. Our online program is staffed by a team of degreed, college planning experts that students and parents interact with via phone, email, or chat and is the only program of its type serving military and veteran families. The program is open to qualifying families with a child in 8th grade to the first semester of their senior year, with support for the student and parents through college graduation.
GI's Focus:
• GI College Success Academy – GI’s results-driven career and college prep for military and veteran children in grades 8th-12th.
• Awareness Programs – Programs designed to increase college attainment among military and veteran families, raise awareness about military family challenges, and much more.
• Scholarships – Awarding scholarships to students participating in the GI College Success Academy to attend college or technical school.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Percent of participants who would recommend the program to others
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents, Parents
Related Program
College Success Academy
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percent of customers reporting satisfaction with the program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents, Parents
Related Program
College Success Academy
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
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?
GI wants to honor a parent's service to our great nation by providing our program free of charge to their children. Too many service members return from service with injuries both seen and unseen that need immediate, and sometimes permanent, attention. Our program takes the stress out of planning for college so that they have time to address other pressing concerns.
As for their children, this program was designed to significantly increase college access and degree attainment for a population known to struggle academically in the face of frequent moves and deployment stressors. Our goal for each student in the program is that they are college ready by the time they start applying for college admission, accepted by colleges that fit the student on multiple levels to help ensure degree attainment and do not get burdened by excessive college debt. We also encourage our students to complete our career planning steps so that they can graduate on time and get started on a successful career path.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
GI’s full-service career and college preparatory program, the GI College Success Academy provides the most comprehensive career and college counseling available today, free of charge the military and veteran families we serve. Children may enroll in the program beginning as early as the 8th grade receiving support through college graduation. The program provides a customized action plan for each student that takes the student and parents through career counseling, college selection counseling, college admissions counseling, and financial aid counseling. The program also includes unlimited test prep for the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. The program is delivered online to support a military family anywhere in the world and is backed up by a team of degreed counselors who work with the student and parents one on one via email, phone, and chat.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The program was created by a team of experts with over 190 combined years of experience in college and career counseling, education technology development, distance learning, licensed professional counseling, and curriculum development. The advisors who work with the students and parents are fully trained and degreed experts.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Gratitude Initiative is serving families in over twenty-two states and as far away as Europe, Japan, and Korea. Students successfully completely the GI College Success Academy have achieved incredible results including 100% being accepted into their number one choice college and receiving an average financial aid award from their schools of over $22,000 dollars per year.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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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.
GRATITUDE INITIATIVE
Board of directorsas of 02/23/2022
Mr. Lee Sechrist
Jason Loveless
JCL Solutions Group
Jill Sharp
Halliburton
Mark Driscoll
John Vitacca
Colonel, USAF (Ret)
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
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Gender identity
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Sexual orientation
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Disability
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