Career Learning and Employment Center for Veterans, Inc.
Bridging life's transitional gaps for Veterans, service members, and military families.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs projects that by 2025 more than one-third of a million veterans will call Indiana home. Nearly 50,000 of them will be less than 40 years old, and another 125,000 veterans will be between the ages of 40-64. In total, approximately 175,000 individuals will leave the military while still of the age at which they would be expected to—and financially need to—remain in the workplace. The statistics are clear: There is a growing need for services geared toward transitioning veterans into the civilian workforce after their time of service. (Sources: National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, VA Veteran Population Projection Model, VA Geographic Distribution of Expenditures, VA Annual Benefits Report, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey from 2017)
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
VETERAN EMPLOYMENT TRANSITION SEMINAR (V.E.T.S.)
Transferring from military to civilian workforce can be challenging. The OJRV team of experts support and assist clients in discovering their career clusters, interests and transferable skills. We guide veterans in developing a cutting edge resume, strategies to successfully navigate the job market and train them to effectively utilize social media in your search.
Our one week comprehensive, developmental and empowering seminar prepares veterans to re-engage the job market. The seminar outline includes Assessments, Coping with Change, Advanced Resume, Research and Networking and Interview Preparation.
This seminar ends with Employer Meet and Greet.
First Impressions Workshop
In addition to our longstanding and impactful VETS program, we also hold First Impressions Workshops. This workshop is a three-hour event held multiple times per year. During each workshop, our highly skilled and experienced OJRV instructors will provide one-on-one and group interviewing demonstrations, healthy living techniques, and professional attire opportunities.
In a group setting, participants are able to observe experienced professionals being interviewed, learn their techniques, and hear helpful modifications and corrections provided by supportive and knowledgeable human resources professionals.
Following the interviewing sessions, a final but impactful portion of the workshop provides each individual the opportunity to establish a professional image in preparation for real-life interviews. All attendees are provided pre-interview haircuts and beard trimmings along with interview-appropriate attire at no cost to them. These services, which are made possible through community partnerships, instill personal confidence and provide a well-groomed professional appearance for attendees.
The goal of this workshop is to provide interviewing knowledge, skills, and techniques while building each individual’s confidence to sustain job search endeavors and achieve desired employment and career goals.
Three-Day Veteran Employment Transition Seminar (VETS)
We also have a three-day version of our longstanding and impactful VETS program. Our Three-Day VETS course will specifically focus on transition, resume writing, and mock interviewing.
The goal of this seminar is to minimize the time for clients who do not have significant transitional barriers to employment while also offering a reduced timeframe for those underemployed who are seeking a career change.
Federal Resume Workshop
In 2019, we received feedback per the “End-of-Course Evaluation” at our Veteran Employment Transition Seminar (VETS) that noted participants desired more in-depth knowledge in interviewing and applying for federal careers. To address the needs of our clients, we have also launched a specialized, three-hour workshop only addressing federal resume writing, performance-based interviewing, and USAJOBS profile development. Through our partnership with Indiana Veterans Affairs Regional Office of Human Resources, a federal resume expert will facilitate workshops focusing on federal resume and USAJOBS profile development.
This workshop is critical to those who want to maintain federal employment and who have transitioned out of the military with less than 20 years of service. By acquiring a federal position, attendees can continue their federal service time for retirement benefits.
OJRV One-On-One Supportive Services
We create self-sufficient veterans by removing barriers to employment and providing specialized one-on-one services to help them obtain sustainable careers.
Grant funding allows us to provide these key services and more:
• Transition plan development
• Career interest and work value assessments
• Career coaching
• Resume assistance
• Federal resume support
• Cover letter guidance
• Job search assistance
• Networking strategies and introductions to potential employers
• Interview preparation and coaching
• Strategies for successful onboarding
• Employment readiness training
• Placement and retention support
• Social media utilization
• Other assistance as needed to remove barriers to starting employment, such as providing uniforms, equipment, and transportation vouchers
We see and serve a wide variety of needs among the individuals we serve, and each person’s individual needs and barriers to employment are unique. We strive to make a difference in the communities we serve by removing those barriers and providing necessary support, one person at a time.
Virtual Veterans Employment Transition Seminar (VETS)
The Virtual Veterans Employment Transition Seminar (VETS) is a streamlined version of our in-person VETS course.
The four virtual course modules include
1. Value Proposition Statement
2. Transition Skills
3. Civilian Resume Development
4. Interviewing Skills
Each module is led virtually by our Employment Transition Managers in a two-hour time block. An hour and a half are dedicated to instruction, followed by thirty minutes for questions and answers.
Where we work
Awards
Employer Support Freedom Award Nominee 2014
Secretary of Defense
National Employment Service Award 2006
American Legion
HIRE Vets Medallion Gold Award 2020
U.S. Department of Labor
HIRE Vets Medallion Platinum Award 2021
U.S. Department of Labor
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Unemployed people, Families
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average hourly wage of clients who became employed after completing program
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Unemployed people, Families
Related Program
VETERAN EMPLOYMENT TRANSITION SEMINAR (V.E.T.S.)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of participants who gain employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Unemployed people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
Our goals are both to grow this program so that it serves and benefits more military-connected individuals and to strengthen our organization as a whole in the following service areas:
• Comprehensive, targeted employment transition seminars that include complete skills inventories, career interest, and work values assessments, individualized resume services, networking strategies, tools, and employer introductions as well as interview preparation and rehearsal sessions. Our veteran employment transition services are available and can be delivered on a regular, consistent basis statewide (and beyond).
• One-on-one life coaching that concentrates on identifying and resolving the transitional issues affecting all facets of veterans, service members, and military families’ lives. This coaching provides linkage to applicable resources and benefits for housing, health care, income support, and sustenance.
• Support for veterans with disabilities, ensuring that appropriate workplace accommodations are in place.
• One-on-one and group career coaching of veterans, service members, and military families, providing ongoing assistance with clarification of occupational, career, and educational goals; introduction to appropriate employment opportunities; follow-on customized job placement services.
• Direct support services and resources to assist program participants in overcoming barriers that prevent access to the training and employment opportunities otherwise available to them.
• Connection to government and commercial hiring managers, educators, mentors, and service providers via our networking connections on the federal, state, and local levels.
• Tracking qualified candidates to provide qualified job seekers to employers.
• Providing individualized job placement assistance via internal job boards as well as through partnerships with career placement providers.
• Guidance and assistance to employer management teams, college and university career counselors, and other stakeholders regarding the unique skills, abilities, experiences, and attributes that veterans, service members, and military families contribute to the employer and the workforce.
• Education of veterans regarding their veteran benefits, both federal and state.
• Preparation, presentation, and prosecution of clients’ disability claims to the Veterans Administration (VA).
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our growth strategy moving forward is one of diversification. While grants and endowments will continue to play an important role in our programs, we have learned the importance of having multiple streams of revenue to ensure long-term viability and sustainability.
We have implemented a strategic marketing plan that focuses on corporate engagement and provides companies with a whole spectrum of sponsorship opportunities. We have rolled out a social media plan that reaches both prospective participants to our programs and potential donors.
Standard operating procedures (SOP) have been implemented to allow for standardization of procedures among the Employment Transition Team. This is a significant implementation that will allow our organization to provide standardized services within all service areas. These SOPs have also provided an avenue for virtual management and oversight that will act as a tool to ensure our organization is staying on goals target.
We have also created guidelines for expectations of our Board of Directors in terms of participation and personal contributions. Moving forward, incoming board members will be aware from the onset that the role requires a personal investment of time and resources.
We know that a multipronged approach to fundraising is integral, and we are excited about the new revenue streams we are creating for OJRV. Those funds will mean a better quality of life for the military-connected individuals we serve.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We use our strategic plan to guide our organization, and we have highlighted several focuses for the years ahead.
Our Board of Directors has strong ties to the military-connected community and to our community at large. Our staff works with local businesses and corporations, community groups, and other service providers to connect employers with veterans, service members, and military family job seekers and to provide high-quality services and wraparound support to the individuals we serve as well as to their families. We see every introduction as an opportunity to educate, engage, and involve others in the work that we do.
OJRV has letters of support from the Indiana National Guard Relief Fund, the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue, the Indiana Chapter of AUSA, the Indiana Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Indiana, the Indianapolis Veterans Court, Grow Southwest Indiana Workforce, Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation of Indiana, and the State of Indiana House of Representatives District 92. We work with the American Legion of Indiana, which trains and financially assists our staff to become accredited Veteran Service Officers. We have established new relationships with Carvana, National Construction Workforce, and Regions Bank, and we have strengthened relationships with Indiana-based employers, such as Department of Defense, Entrepreneur, Walmart, Ecommerce, Lowe’s Home Improvement, and Sitel Group. During this same reporting period, we have continued to maintain relationships with Hines VAMC, Jesse Brown VAMC, Veterans Benefits Regional Office, St. Vincent Hospital, FedEx, UPS, and Amazon, among others, so that we can provide additional services and resources to all of our clients.
We are always seeking out and welcoming partnerships with individuals, community groups, and other organizations to broaden the reach and scope of our mission.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Grants Awarded
Renewed funding from the Call of Duty Endowment ($500,000) and the Lilly Endowment ($450,000) demonstrates that as funders see our program in action, they know that we deliver on what we promise and that military-connected lives are better as a result of our kept promises.
We are also honored to be grant recipients of the U.S. Venture/Schmidt Family Foundation ($15,000), The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation ($75,000), Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust ($50,000), CSX ($5,000), and Union Pacific Foundation ($12,500) in the 2021 round of funding.
Organizational Growth
OJRV retained Powerhouse Planning, LLC for a fourth year to help with grant writing. OJRV retained AIS for IT support and technical consulting and with Circle City Digital to develop a digital marketing strategy. Lastly, OJRV retained Purple Ink in support of human resources.
Significant Partnerships
OJRV has a strong partnership with the following organizations: WorkOne Job Centers (workforce development and certifications), American Legion and VFW (disability claims educational opportunities), Easterseals (military and veteran employment services), Vet Centers (employment mental health), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E), USAJobs.gov (educational opportunities for federal employment), and the Resume Place (federal resume writing training).
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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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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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.
Career Learning and Employment Center for Veterans, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 06/27/2022
John Spanogle
Wayne Black
Judge David Certo
Kimberly Bloodgood, M.Ed.
Dorothy Simpson-Taylor, PhD
Roger Peterman
Shawna Lake
Danny Portee, MBA, HCS
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
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
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data