FOUR BLOCK FOUNDATION INC

Our mission is to equip veterans and military spouses to successfully transition to meaningful civilian careers. Our vision is to build a national professional network where transitioning veterans and military spouses can connect locally and attain the skills, resources, and relationship-building opportunities necessary to reach their career potential.

FourBlock’s Career Readiness Program is designed to equip transitioning service members and veterans with the tools they need to develop professional knowledge and build the relationships necessary to successfully transition to meaningful civilian careers. At the core of our program is relationship building – bringing together a veteran with an employer so that they can learn from one another, begin to build a professional relationship, and discuss career opportunities. The purpose of each session is to facilitate this type of conversation for every participant and corporate representative in attendance. Our curriculum is designed to prepare each participant for this moment and subsequent relationship-building conversations.

In addition, our hope is for every veteran participant to receive the tools, resources, and relationship building opportunities they need to make more educated and informed post-military career decisions. Through pre- and post-assessment surveys, we measure the extent to which our veteran participants have increased confidence across the various career transition skills taught throughout our program. In 2021, 36% of veteran participants reported feeling extremely confident they will find a meaningful post-military career prior to completing the FourBlock Career Readiness Program. After completing the program, 80% of veteran participants reported feeling extremely confident they will find a meaningful post-military career -- a 122% increase.

The overarching goal of the FourBlock/PTLU military spouse career readiness program is to facilitate a personal and professional transformation for military spouses looking to gain (or regain) their career footing and workforce preparedness. Structured lessons, small groups with peer support, and virtual coaching (from instructors and program alumnae) provide a safe space for spouses to focus on themselves, improve their self-confidence, and identify strategies to overcome actual and perceived barriers as they focus on discovering who they are, navigating where they want to go, and defining what a meaningful career is for themselves.

Our strategy is to tap into the incredible network of young veteran professionals across the country who want to give back and assist today's returning veterans in a meaningful way.

Through our partnerships with colleges and top employers across the country, we plan on leveraging our collective assets to create the network needed to deliver our program.

We started with an inaugural class of 16 veterans in NY City and have grown into an incredible national network of professionals eager to continue to make a difference in our communities. To date, more than 3,000 veterans have completed our Career Readiness Program across the country and have joined our alumni community. These alumni are now working at companies like PwC, T-Mobile, Citi, Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing and Tesla. Our alumni are also beginning to “pay it forward” and come back to FourBlock to teach, mentor, and hire the next cohort of veterans in transition. Each academic year, we serve 600+ new veteran participants nationwide through our Career Readiness Program.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, weekly Career Readiness Program sessions across all locations were held in-person at the office spaces of our employer hosts. We are proud to share that FourBlock responded to this pandemic from a position of strength, and we are continuing to serve our nation’s transitioning veterans as they prepare to excel in their careers and life after the military. Since March 2020, we transitioned all programs to a virtual environment. Due to the success of the virtual sessions from the spring 2020 cohorts, we launched three new regional, time-zone based cohorts in fall 2020: Virtual East, Virtual West, and Virtual Central. The addition of the regional, time-zone based programs allows our team to serve more transitioning service members and veterans than ever, regardless of their location.