Veteran Resource Podcast

Veteran Resource Podcast was created to introduce veterans to Veteran Service Organizations. There are literally thousands of VSO’s out there, each with a different mission. The one thing that they have in common is that they want to help veterans in their own way. Some might help financially, some might help emotionally, some might help with homelessness, and others might help by providing the opportunity for veterans to serve their community and help others in need. Each week Jeremy will interview a different VSO to find out what their mission is, what projects they have going on, what challenges they face, and the type of veteran that is in their wheelhouse. With thousands of VSO’s there has to be something out there for every veteran.

Miles Migliara is a recent Communications graduate from Missouri Southern State University. The son of a retired U.S. Army soldier, Miles grew up on several military bases along the East coast and Midwest. During his medical evaluation for Marine Officer Candidate School, Miles discovered he was genetically induced as a Type 1 Diabetic, therefore ended his pursuit of military service. He is currently the Social Media Director and Head Editor at AMVETS (American Veterans), a leading veteran service organization with over 250,000 active members and numerous posts across the nation. Providing many services to veterans and advocating veteran-related legislation, AMVETS is headquartered in Lanham, MD.

AMVETS, which is also known as American Veterans, is the largest and oldest veterans service organization that is open to and fights for all veterans and their families.

AMVETS Mission Statement: To enhance and safeguard the entitlements for all American Veterans who have served honorably and to improve the quality of life for them, their families, and the communities where they live through leadership, advocacy and services.

JW Rone, is the director of veterans initiatives at the Institute for Integrative Health. With 30 years of experience in the arts, he has been a theater artist, director, and producer focusing on arts in education, and served as a board member, volunteer, and employee for nonprofit arts organizations.

A proud Vietnam veteran, JW worked in the Special Services Division of the United States Army while stationed in Korea, where he directed plays and ran the entertainment center on base. He produced and directed soldier shows, and performed USO style shows for active duty soldiers in the combat zone while touring in Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Prior to joining the Institute, JW was the executive director of the Beaufort Arts Council (BAC)–formerly referred to as Arts Council of Beaufort County (ACBC) – in Beaufort, South Carolina. During that time he created exciting opportunities for the community to participate in the arts. He's most proud of the concept, design, and execution of ARTworks: Community Art Center and Arts Incubator, which was dedicated to creating accessible art space for artists and the greater Beaufort County community.

Prior to that, JW served as the director of the Ice House for the Morgan Arts Council (MAC) in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. In that position, he managed all arts and educational programs and oversaw the grant writing and implementation process. J.W. also worked extensively with the West Virginia Commission for the Arts, organizing state-wide art assemblies and serving as a peer assistance specialist.

JW has toured nationally and internationally, performing, directing, and producing theater works with community youth and adults. He spent many years as a street performer, presenting his special brand of New Vaudeville from London to Paris and Munich to Amsterdam.

JW is an excellent blues harp player; when he’s not connecting our nation’s veterans with exceptional art resources in the region, you can find him teaching and playing his unique style of music for anyone who will listen.

Diana Tsai is an entrepreneur solving social challenges since 2006 with creativity, tech, grit, and optimism. Diana is a branding, communication, and innovation strategist for emerging brands and Fortune 100 multinational corporations. Advisor to startups & nonprofits. Mentor for Veterans, Military Spouses, entrepreneurs, and good people.

Veterati is a digital platform for veterans & military spouses to access mentorship-on-demand from successful professionals across the nation. Since more than 80% of jobs are unpublished and exist solely within personal networks, Veterati focuses on mentorship as a primary means to discovering career options and securing real jobs. Our mission is to create mentorship conversations between 1.5 million transitioning veterans to the 100 million Americans currently employed across America to secure meaningful post-military careers for our veterans. The Global Head of Military Programs of the #1 Veteran Employer in the United States calls the proprietary mentorship-on-demand software we've developed for veterans “The Uber of Mentorship, a game-changer.”

Vanessa Daley is the Project Manager of TAPS Youth Programs. She is the surviving daughter of SFC Dan H Gabrielson, an Army Reservist with more than 20 years of service, who was KIA 9 July 03 in Baqubah, Iraq. At the time, Vanessa was a student at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, studying Elementary Education with an emphasis on Early Childhood. In 2005, Vanessa volunteered as a mentor at the TAPS Good Grief Camp in Washington DC. It was during those 5 days that she fell in love with the mission of TAPS & realized just how much she missed that military connection. For the next three years, Vanessa would continue to volunteer, even after taking a 2nd grade teaching position - in the same town that her father worked in for 20 years. Vanessa joined TAPS full time in 2008, moving to Fort Hood to work more closely with military families. In 2009, Vanessa helped the Army to launch it's Survivor Outreach Services (SOS) program & set up the first Regional TAPS office on a military installation, which just happened to be across from the 4ID Memorial - a wall on which her father is memorialized. Vanessa moved to Fort Bliss in 2011 with her husband, David - a soldier whom she met at Fort Hood, & began providing support to survivors there, setting up another regional TAPS office and working closely with the Fort Bliss SOS. Originally from Northwestern Wisconsin, Vanessa and her husband just bought their first home Up North & plan to raise their girls close to family.

About TAPS

The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) offers compassionate care to all those grieving the death of a loved one serving in our Armed Forces. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

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