Based in New York City, ACP helps veterans transition from the armed services to private enterprise through career counseling with professionals from dozens of well-known corporations and universities. In 2010, Liberty Mutual became a corporate sponsor of ACP, joining organizations like AT&T, Goldman Sachs and Harvard, which contribute financially to ACP and provide employees who serve as mentors.
The employee volunteers mentor “protégés,” or veterans who have served on active duty since 2001, including former enlisted members, as well as officers and current Reservists and National Guard members. Spouses of service members who were severely wounded or died while serving are also eligible to participate.
Last year, 43 Liberty Mutual employees from all over the country volunteered for the program, which asks that they have 12 conversations—in-person, over the phone or online—with their matched protégés over 12 months. They discuss various industries and jobs, update resumes and conduct mock interviews.
The program is meant to provide personalized career development for the protégés—not to find them a job at Liberty Mutual. That said, many protégés become familiar with Liberty Mutual simply by listening to their mentor’s experiences.
“The main objective is to help the protégés acclimate to the non-military working world,” said Ann Nowak, director, Recruiting, Professional Programs, who oversees Liberty Mutual’s involvement in the program. “As part of that, many employees talk to their protégés about their experiences in the military, and how their skills might fit in here or the insurance industry in general.”
That’s been the case for Timothy Kullman, assistant vice president for underwriting for Golden Eagle, a Liberty Mutual Agency Corporation regional company, who mentors Army veteran Ernesto Lozano Jr. At their first meeting last July, the pair discussed job opportunities that Lozano was interested in pursuing. They then polished Lozano’s resume, practiced his interview skills and brainstormed businesses to contact about job opportunities. Kullman also invited Lozano to his office in Walnut Creek, Calif., to meet with the management team and expand his network base.
The meetings and networking paid off late last year when Lozano was offered a job as a commercial lines salesperson. “I wasn’t trying to steer him to an insurance job, but I told him about the many benefits involved simply by discussing my own career,” said Kullman, who still meets with Lozano and considers him a friend. “There’s a great deal of trust involved in the mentoring process, and over time, our business relationship became a friendship.”
Kullman recommends the ACP program to anyone who is interested in participating. “In addition to the friendship, you feel part of something bigger that you can’t really explain. You know you’re doing something right, not just for the individual, but for all returning veterans.”
The experience has been just as rewarding for ACP. “It took real leadership at Liberty Mutual to decide that this was an important program that they wanted to do and do well,” said ACP Chairman Sid Goodfriend. “It’s been a marvelous partnership.”
More Liberty Mutual employees will have the chance to volunteer for ACP now that the company will continue its partnership for a second year. For more information about how you can become involved, please contact Ann Nowak.
