Working Group I

BY BOB SEAL, CHAIR

Working Group I (WG I) was very pleased with the attendance and participation of members at the 2018 Leadership & Education Conference. The presentation itself took up the entire allotted hour and a half, and there was no time for questions and answers. However, the Q&A session on Saturday allowed members from both working groups to respond to a wide range of questions.

At the presentation, I described the group’s mission, goals, and approach. Attorney Kerwin Stone presented information regarding the general corporation, which included the corporate structure, the VVA Constitution, committee activities, government affairs, dissolution of the VVA Corporation, and distribution of assets.

Financial professional Jake Barsottini presented information relating to current and future VVA Corporation budgets, income revenue, expenses, and contracts and memoranda of agreement.

Service officer program members Nick DeLeo and John Margowski discussed the future of the VVA VSO program, including the long-term financial liabilities associated with maintaining the program.

Bill Norton addressed the future of state councils and chapters. State councils and chapters are independently incorporated organizations and can remain incorporated after the VVA Corporation dissolves, but certain actions will be required.

I presented information relating to the members, such as membership status, continuing communication with the membership, VVA’s lasting reputation and legacy, and membership support of AVVA. If a new veterans organization is not formed, WG I needs to offer alternatives that will ensure that the legacy of VVA is carried on by one or more organizations that share our values and vision.

Working Group II

BY FRANCISCO MUÑIZ III, CHAIR

Thanks to all those VVA and AVVA members who made the effort to attend the Leadership & Education Conference in Palm Springs. Working Group II had a great presentation thanks to our committee members’ dedication and teamwork.

Our mandate from VVA’s Board of Directors is to determine the feasibility of forming, chartering, funding, and/or empowering a new veterans organization to perpetuate our legacy and assure the tomorrow of all veterans.

Working Group II committee members presented a PowerPoint and expanded on the Action Items.

We conducted a survey and got input from twenty-three veterans service organizations in Oklahoma. The survey yielded the following talking points: Modernize, Inform, Include, Listen, Be Tolerant. Our working group has outlined the qualifications that leadership ought to have in order to lead to a new veterans organization: Assess complex issues, Clearly communicate to members and the public, Demonstrate honesty and high integrity, Be results driven, and Inspire and motivate others.

Working Group II took on the task of assuring the tomorrow for all veterans from all conflicts based on VVA’s more than forty years of service to Vietnam veterans, their families, and the newer generations of veterans by keeping to our Founding Principle: “Never Again Will One Generation of Veterans Abandon Another.”  

We need the commitment of our membership to seek out a network of organizations and leaders to come forward to take this challenge. The National Office is equipped to train, mentor, and fund young, diverse veteran leaders to assume the task that we started.

Contact Working Group I at VVA_Transition@vva.org and
Working Group II at VVA_Forward@vva.org

Videos and supporting material will be posted on www.vva.org