IVMF 10-Year

In 2011, thanks to transformational support from founding partner JPMorgan Chase & Co., that single program grew into what is 10 years later Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. To date and with philanthropic support from companies, government agencies and private funding, we have enhanced the post-service lives of over 220,000 veterans, transitioning service members, military spouses, and families.

Ellie Komanecky is a graphic artist that has been working for the IVMF before it technically existed. Komanecky was the very first employee dating back to 2007 when Dr. Mike Haynie created the first Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities program.

Read the interview with Komanecky discussing her personal connection with the program and how she watched the institute grow to what it is today.

Mirza Tihic was a member of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families from the beginning. However, his path to Central New York began in 1992 after leaving Bosnia for Croatia and later Germany. He said he was fortunate to escape when he did, because many were killed in the subsequent Bosnian war. “We lost literally everything in the war,” he says. Tihic finished his high school education in Germany and immigrated to the United States in October, 1999. After picking up enough English to enroll in college, he started his first semester at Onondaga Community College in January of 2000. The following year he transferred to Syracuse University.

The first program started in 2007, which was four years before IVMF was officially founded. View our timeline to see an abridged history of the IVMF.