This episode of Work in Progress podcast looks at the role a Syracuse University-based initiative has played in bridging the gap between military service and civilian work for tens of thousands of men and women for almost a decade.

Since 2011, the IVMF has been helping service members, former service members, and their spouses find their path to a successful civilian career through entrepreneurship boot camps and other initiatives, on and off-campus. Michael Haynie is the founder and executive director of IVMF and vice-chancellor of Strategic Initiatives & Innovation at Syracuse. He’s also a veteran, having spent 11 years in the U.S. Air Force before getting a Ph.D. in entrepreneurship and business strategy and joining the faculty at the university.

“I came here to be an entrepreneurship professor, but shortly after I arrived I recognized in a way I hadn’t before the unique opportunity to leverage the intellectual capacity of higher education to address some pressing issues and concerns facing veterans and military families,” Haynie explains in this episode of the Work in Progress podcast. He goes on to explain how IVMF’s programs like EBV and O2O support the military-connected.

Listen to the full podcast above to hear the entire discussion on how the IVMF has supported the military-connected by utilizing the powerful pillar of higher education with Syracuse University.