National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships
Salesforce Military Partnership
Army Veteran, now tech company leader, says Salesforce partnership with VHA brings job opportunities to Veterans
Jared Crain, a U.S. Army Veteran and director of workforce development for Salesforce Military, laughed when asked about his post-military employment experience.
“The last time I’d looked for a job I was a high school sophomore,” Crain explained. “For men and women finishing up their service or looking at transitioning, it’s a completely different world.”
“I questioned what I was going to do multiple times when I was getting out of the Army,” continued Crain. He wasn’t thinking, he said, of how to translate his skills into work in the civilian sector. Then, someone introduced him to the Salesforce Military program, of which he is a graduate.
“It’s like getting the blinders taken off, you realize, ‘I can go into this [tech] industry,’” he said.
Salesforce, Inc., a customer relationship management platform, partnered with the Veterans Health Administration in October 2020. Crain’s realization is what he said he hopes other Veterans and military spouses will gain from this partnership. Through the nonmonetary partnership, VHA and Salesforce will coordinate their efforts to help Veterans and military spouses access free training, education, and job opportunities.
Research has found that Salesforce and its partners will create 4.2 million jobs by 2024, and Crain said that Veterans and military spouses are ideal candidates because of the skills they cultivate during military service.
Military spouses, for example, might take responsibility for home repairs, child care, and family emergencies on their own. They are “masters at prioritizing and finding creative solutions to problems, at interpersonal interactions,” Crain said.
Veterans, similarly, have a keen understanding of logistics, detailed processes, working under stress, and having challenging conversations. Alumni of the Salesforce Military program have taken on positions within software companies as consultants, administrators or managers, or have started their own companies. Such employment changes lives for the better, Crain said.
“Having a meaningful, successful job, that’s a big part of who you are. The way VA has stepped in during this transition helps to alleviate some of the pressure.”
Part of VHA’s role in the partnership, managed by the Office of Community Engagement (OCE), is to expand access to information on suicide prevention. Not only will Salesforce Military help facilitate meaningful employment; a social determinant of health that can decrease suicide risk, its Trailhead Military platform will also include information about VHA benefits and suicide prevention resources such as the Veterans Crisis Line.
The Salesforce Military program is open to all Veterans and military spouses, Crain said, no matter their age or experience.
Christine Eickhoff, health systems specialist for OCE who oversees this partnership, said: “VHA’s partnership with Salesforce will help Veterans and their spouses thrive across social determinants of health, which are important factors in VHA’s whole health approach. Connecting with Veterans and military spouses about suicide prevention, especially through a partnership that may reach those who do not regularly engage with VHA, has great potential to help reduce the risk of Veteran suicide.”
To learn more about Salesforce Military, visit Salesforce.com/military.
To learn more about OCE’s partnership work, visit VA.gov/healthpartnerships.
External Link Disclaimer: This page contains links that will take you outside of the Department of Veterans Affairs website. VA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked websites.
Posted November 30, 2020
