Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) veterans organization founded by
Paul Rieckhoff
Paul (P.J.) Rieckhoff is an American writer, social entrepreneur, activist and veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He is the president oRighteous Media Incand the host of thIndependent Americans podcast Prior to that, he was the ...
, an American writer, social entrepreneur, advocate, activist and
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that has ...
of the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
and the Iraq War. He served as an Army First Lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. Rieckhoff was released from the Army National Guard in 2007.
Founding and purpose
IAVA was founded in 2004 by
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
veteran Paul Rieckhoff to provide resources to and community for post-9/11 veterans. The organization is headquartered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and maintains a policy office in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
. IAVA's mission is to unite, empower and connect post-9/11 veterans through education, advocacy, and community. Its programs include non-partisan advocacy on Capitol Hill, data-driven research on post-9/11 veteran issues, veterans transition assistance through its Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP), and community building through its VetTogether and online community events.
In 2012 ''
Stars and Stripes'' reported that "IAVA representatives are frequent cable news guests and regulars at hearings on Capitol Hill, where few if any veterans initiatives are passed without their blessing." ''The Washington Post'' has stated that "With its ability to talk intimately about both the horror of combat and the difficulty of coming home...
AVA..has emerged as a key player on veterans issues on the Hill." In regards to IAVA's CEO Paul Rieckhoff, Senator
Patty Murray
Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...
(D-WA) has been quoted as saying, "He's relentless. When
aul Rieckhoffbrings a new issue to me, I know that's what I should be fighting for."
In early 2019, Paul Rieckhoff stepped down as CEO and transitioned to the Board. His COO, Jeremy Butler, a Navy veteran, was elevated to the position. Butler continues to press on with an ambitious agenda, in the characteristic style of IAVA.
According to IAVA, the organization has over 425,000 members. IAVA membership is free and is available to "all veterans, families, and civilian allies."
Advocacy
IAVA has been involved in, and at times led, the passage of a number of pieces of legislation since its establishment. The organization publishes an annua
policy agendathat focuses on recommendations for Congress, the Executive Branch, Private Sector, State Nonprofits and other stakeholders.
The IAVA Policy Agenda lists various veterans issues that the organization is engaged in with its "Big Six" priorities:
# Combat Suicide Among Troops and Veterans
#Reform the VA for Today's Veterans
#Initiate Support for Injuries from Burn Pits
#Defend Veteran and Military Education Benefits
# Fully Recognize and Improve Services for Women Veterans
# Establish Support for Veterans Who Want to Utilize Medical Cannabis
Legislative accomplishments
116th Congress
9/11 First Responders(2019): IAVA joined again with 9/11 First Responders to pass the ''Never Forget the Heroes: James Zadroga, Ray Pfeifer, and Luis Alvarez Permanent Authorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act'' (S. 546/H.R. 1327). Signed into law on July 29, 2019 (Public Law No: 116-34).
* Combating Veteran Suicide (2019): IAVA helped develop and introduce the ''Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act'' (S. 785), to expand efforts aimed at ending veteran suicide.
* Burn Pits Accountability Act (2019): In 2019, IAVA continued its campaign to raise awareness of military exposure to burn pits and other airborne toxins while deployed with the reintroduction of the ''Burn Pits Accountability Act'' (H.R. 5671 / S. 3181).
* She Who Borne The Battle: In early 2019, IAVA continued its campaign to better recognize the service of women veterans and fill gaps in care for them at the VA. The centerpiece of the campaign is the ''Deborah Sampson Act'' (S. 514), revised from the 11th Congress and re-introduced. IAVA also worked to develop the ''Honoring All Veterans Act'' (H.R. 3010) to establish a gender neutral motto for the VA.
See
comprehensive listingof IAVA’s supported legislation and legislative victories for the 116th Congress.
115th Congress
She Who Borne The Battle(2017): IAVA launched this campaign to better recognize the service of women veterans and fill gaps in care for them at the VA. The centerpiece of the campaign was the ''Deborah Sampson Act'' (S. 681/H.R. 2452).
Burn Pits Accountability Act(2018): IAVA launched a campaign to raise awareness of military exposure to burn pits and other airborne toxins while deployed. The centerpiece of the campaign was the ''Burn Pits Accountability Act'' (H.R. 5671 / S. 3181) to improve Department of Defense accountability and VA research.
* Defend the GI Bill (2017–18): In 2017, IAVA wa
successful in advocatingfor the passage into law of the ''Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act'' (S. 1598/H.R. 3218) which expanded benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Signed into law on August 16, 2017 (Public Law No: 115-48). IAVA spent much of the year successfully turning back an attempt to pay for the new legislation through the establishment of a $2,400 fee levied on new servicemembers. IAVA launched
campaignto turn back a 2018 decision by the Department of Defense to limit the ability to transfer unused portions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill to family members to those servicemembers with less than 16 years of service. A petition with more than 50,000 signatures was sent to then-Defense Secretary James Mattis.
See
comprehensive listingof IAVA’s supported legislation and legislative victories for the 115th Congress.
114th Congress
* Defend The GI Bill (2016): In 2016, the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees introduced veterans omnibus bills that include significant cuts to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Through advocacy on Capitol Hill, in the media, and grassroots efforts by its members, IAVA has been successful in holding off passage of that legislation into law.
* Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act (2016): IAVA successfully advocated for legislation (S. 2487/H.R. 2915) that requires the VA to include metrics on women veterans in evaluation of mental health and suicide prevention programs, among other provisions. The bill was signed into law on June 12, 2016.
* James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act (2015): IAVA joined forces with the Feal Good Foundation and 9/11 first responders and survivors to secure a fully funded 75-year extension of the World Trade Center Health Program Fund and five-year, $4.6 billion Victim Compensation Fund extension, which helps provide care to 9/11 first responders.
* Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act (2015): IAVA developed and led the campaign to pass the Clay Hunt SAV Act and ensured that it was one of the first pieces of legislation passed by the 114th Congress. It was signed into law by the President on February 12, 2015. The SAV Act expands access to mental health care for military and veterans; strengthens oversight of military mental health care programs, among other provisions.
113th Congress
* Ending the VA Backlog (2013): IAVA advocated to end the backlog of veterans' disability claims at the VA. With the help of allied organizations, IAVA prompted the VA to implement reforms to its claims processing system. These efforts resulted in the number of veterans waiting over 125 days to receive compensation for service-connected disabilities to decrease by over 60 percent.
* Combating Military Sexual Assault (2013): IAVA has been an advocate for reforms to the military justice system that protect victims of military sexual assaults and prevent future assaults. In 2013, IAVA successfully advocated to include thirteen amendments in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014 (NDAA) that improve victims' rights, strengthen prevention efforts, and protect whistleblowers within the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act of 2014. The organization has continued with this advocacy in the current 114th Congress.
112th Congress
* VOW to Hire Heroes Act (2011): IAVA successfully advocated to pass this law, which addresses the career challenges veterans face in transitioning from combat to career. The legislation requires separating service members to take the Transition Assistance Program that provides job search resources like resume and career counseling. This law also establishes tax credits of up to $9,600 for every veteran hired and begins the work of translating military skills and training into their civilian equivalents.
111th Congress
* New GI Bill 2.0 (2010): In 2010, IAVA worked to pass the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act, also known as the New GI Bill 2.0. The legislation expanded the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include veterans studying at vocational schools, granted National Guardsmen and Reservists responding to national disasters full benefits, and simplified the Yellow Ribbon Program. These new provisions benefitted almost 400,000 veterans in their first year.
* Mandatory Mental Health Screening (2009): IAVA successfully advocated to pass this bill which mandates that every returning service member is screened for mental health injuries, helping remove the stigma of seeking help and catching mental health injuries early.
110th Congress
* Post-9/11 "New" GI Bill (2008): IAVA played the lead role in passing the
Post-9/11 GI Bill, considered by many to be the most important veterans' benefit for the generation of post-9/11 veterans. This landmark legislation has sent more than one million veterans to college.
* Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill (2007): This legislation has worked to address the veteran and service member suicide epidemic. It helped establish the Veterans' Crisis Line that has served more than half a million veterans in crisis, instituted better suicide prevention training for VA staff, and launched a campaign to reduce the stigma of seeking mental health care.
Research
IAVA regularly publishes data-driven research reports to educate on the issues pertaining to post-9/11 veterans. The purpose of these reports is to drive the development of solutions to benefit veterans and their families. These reports include:
* IAVA 2018 Annual Membe
Survey* IAVA 2015 Annual Membe
Survey* IAVA 2014 Annual Membe
Survey* IAVA 2013 Annual Membe
Survey* Unsung Heroes: Military Families After 10 Years o
War* New York's Newest Veterans: Key Findings and Policy Implications of the RAND Corporation's Needs Assessment of New York Stat
Veterans* Red Tape: Veterans Fight New Battles for Care an
Benefits* Women Warriors: Supporting She 'Who Has Borne th
Battle* Careers After Combat: Employment and Education Challenges for Iraq and Afghanista
Veterans* Coming Home: The Housing Crisis and Homelessness Threaten Ne
Veterans* Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation o
Veterans
Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP)
IAVA's Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP) provides support to service members, veterans, and their families who need resources and assistance. The RRRP program is staffed by a team of transition managers who connect veterans to resources that can support their needs on issues relating health, financial, housing, legal, employment, etc.
VetTogethers
IAVA'
VetTogethersare local events that are organized by its members through IAVA's social network websit
myIAVA These events are meant to connect veterans to their community and build awareness and friendships.
Board of directors
The IAV
Board of Directorsprovides leadership, assistance, and counsel to the organization. The current Board of Directors includes:
* David Angelo, Founder & Chairman, David & Goliath
*Barry Bloom, Chief Executive Officer, Tisch Financial Management (TFMG Associates, LLC)
*Adam Clampitt, President, The District Communications Group.
*Steve Costalas, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at
Vencore, Inc.
*Greg D'Alba, President of Global Sales and Marketing,
WME/IMG.
*Eli Elefant, CEO of PBC USA.
*Scott Feldmayer, Partner, Barbaricum
hairman of the Board*Kenneth Fisher, 2016 Civilian Leadership Honoree; Partner,
Fisher Brothers
Fisher Brothers is a real estate firm in New York City. It was formed by Martin Fisher in 1915, soon joined by his brothers Larry (born 1907), and Zachary (born 1910). The Fisher family has substantial real estate holdings in New York City and el ...
; Chairman and CEO,
Fisher House Foundation
Fisher House Foundation is a charity and foundation that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital. Fisher Houses are located at major military and VA medical centers n ...
.
*Jeff Marshall, Vice President, Global Head of Customer Support at FitBit
*Craig Newmark, Founder,
Craigslist
Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Craig Newmark ...
and CraigConnects.
*General (Ret.) David H. Petraeus, Member and Chairman, KKR Global Institute.
*Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and CEO of IAVA, President of Righteous Media Inc.
*Kristen Rouse, President & Founding Director, NYC Veterans Alliance
*Wayne Smith, Veterans Advocate
*Dan Streetman, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Strategic Sales and Operations,
BMC Software
BMC Software, Inc. is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting, and Enterprise Software company based in Houston, Texas.
Gartner has positioned BMC as a Leader for the eighth consecutive year in Gartner' ...
.
*Bharat Vasan, former CEO of Pax Labs
Former Members of the IAVA Board include:
*Joe Abruzzese, President of Advertising Sales, Discovery Networks.
*Peter Berg, Actor, Film Director, Producer, and Writer at Film 44.
*Ryan Manion Borek, President, Travis Manion Foundation.
*Bonnie Carroll, President and Founder,
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
Overview
TAPS is the national organization providing compassionate care for all those grieving the death of a military loved one.
Founded in 1994, the mission of TAPS is to provide peer-based emotional support to all those who are grieving th ...
.
*Les Gelb, Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree; Vice Chairman, IAVA Board; Chairman Emeritus,
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
.
* Rosanne Haggerty, Treasurer, IAVA Board; President,
Community Solutions.
* Jim Hirschmann, Chairman, IAVA Board; CEO,
Western Asset Management Company
Western Asset Management Company is a global fixed-income investment firm headquartered in Pasadena, California, with nine offices on five continents and $484.5 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2020. The firm offers insti ...
.
*Jamie Horowitz, President of FOX Sports National Networks.
* Patrick J. Kennedy, Co-Founder, One Mind; Founder, Kennedy Forum; Former
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
.
*Norman Lear, Film and Television Executive Producer, Writer and Director, and Social Activist.
* Michael Leven, Former President and COO,
Las Vegas Sands Corp
Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodatio ...
.
* Yannick Marchal, Exotic Derivatives Trader,
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...
.
* Jeff Marshall, Director of West Coast Community Operations,
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
.
* J.R. Martinez, Actor, Author, Motivational Speaker, and Army Veteran.
* Bruce E. Mosler, Chairman of Global Brokerage,
Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
*Command Sergeant Major (Ret.) D. Wayne Robinson, Education Advocate and Former CEO of
Student Veterans of America.
*Ed Vick, Chairman Emeritus, IAVA; Former CEO of
Young & Rubicam, Inc.
* James Wright, President Emeritus and Eleazar Wheelock Professor of History at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
.
2016 Commander-in-Chief Forum
On September 7, 2016, IAVA hosted a live televised Commander-in-Chief Forum with presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The first of its kind, it focused exclusively on issues pertaining to defense, foreign policy, and veterans. The Forum was presented by NBC News and MSNBC and was moderated by former
TODAY Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...
co-anchor
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...
from the
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
The ''Intrepid'' Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum in New York City with a collection of museum ships. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street, along the Hudson River, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhoo ...
in New York City. The audience were mostly veterans and active duty service members.
The forum generated controversy among some supporters of Libertarian candidate
Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
because he was not invited to the event.
">5/sup> ">6/sup> On September 1, 2016, IAVA invited Gov. Johnson and Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
candidate, to participate in an upcoming Commander-in-Chief forum of veterans issues. The Johnson campaign distanced themselves from any protests and considered the invitation. ">7/sup>
References
External links
Official homepage
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America programming on C-SPAN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Of America
American military personnel of the Iraq War
American military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
American veterans' organizations
Political advocacy groups in the United States
2004 establishments in New York City
Organizations established in 2004