Inside Hearst’s American Corporate Partners Program

Providing Career Development Mentorship & Support to Veterans

On Veterans Day, we salute those who have served, and those who continue to serve, and thank them for their sacrifices and bravery. At Hearst, we are committed to supporting veterans — not just today but every day — through the American Corporate Partners (ACP) program. ACP is a national nonprofit organization that aims to help veterans transition to their next career after active duty, pairing them with mentors from more than 70 of the country’s top companies, universities and hospitals. Hearst has been an ACP partner since 2017 and is proud to provide career guidance to veterans and their spouses through mentorship. We caught up with some of Hearst’s ACP mentor/protégé teams to share their experiences this Veterans Day, read on for their stories:

Jessica C., a United States Navy Lieutenant who served for six years, is pursuing a career in software engineering. Jessica was paired with Seirra Dawson, a compensation specialist for Hearst Television in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a veteran herself. 

“I understand the difficulties of transitioning out of the military and wanted to use my prior experiences to help veterans,” said Seirra.

“Seirra is amazing at reframing situations with a positive perspective,” said Jessica. “She often reminds me that this transition is a marathon, not a sprint. She was so helpful throughout the time I was in a coding course and provided sanity checks while I was going through my job search and interviewing process.” 

During their monthly meetups, mentors and protégés discuss everything from resume building to the importance of company culture, exploring different career paths and opportunities in each field. Raymond Garskovas, a junior associate of corporate development for Hearst Health, said when they are not discussing job search strategies, he and his protégé Eric Skininski often talk geopolitics and compare news articles they’re reading.

“The ACP program did a great job of finding a partner with similar interests and making sure I was set up to succeed,” said Raymond. “I recommend it to anyone at Hearst.”

Eric is an E-4 Petty Officer 3rd Class (IS3) in the U.S. Navy. For the next ten months of his mentorship program, Eric hopes to learn more about consulting. He is currently working on his Bachelor of Science in economics and feels his military background will help him succeed in the field.

“The last half of my time in the military was at an agency where I presented daily briefs to executive level decision makers in the Department of Defense,” said Eric. “I was learning on a steep curve, and it helped me hone my skills of public speaking, data analysis and report writing. I feel this falls in line with the corporate world and is something I really loved.”

Raul Torres, a Marine Corps sergeant, will have served for five years when he exits the military in February 2021. After being inspired by his cousin, a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps, Raul joined the military to gain “an opportunity to grow personally while serving my country.” He plans to use what he’s learned through the Marine Corps to build a career in sports marketing. 

“The importance of mission accomplishment is something that the Marine Corps has ingrained in me,” said Raul. “That has taught me to take extreme ownership of all projects assigned to me. I believe that the communication, teamwork, flexibility and problem-solving skills I’ve developed will help me succeed in a corporate environment. I was also fortunate enough to gain marketing experience being stationed at a recruiting command.”

Raul’s mentor Lauren Roberts, assistant director of marketing communications at Hearst, stresses the importance of networking when seeking a new career opportunity.

“It can be difficult for anyone entering a new industry or field, so networking and learning about opportunities are very important,” said Lauren. “We’ve been setting up virtual coffees for Raul every week with different people in his desired field of sports marketing.”

“I initially started the program thinking I wanted to work for a sports team, but after many conversations with Lauren and her network, I am now aware of the many opportunities available,” said Raul.

On both sides of the program, the veterans and Hearst colleagues emphasized the importance of ACP and how much they enjoy working with their partners. 

Seirra, who already has her next protégé lined up, knows the struggle of transitioning to life outside of the military firsthand. “The ACP program is important and needed to help transitioning veterans. Too many times veterans fall through the societal cracks and get lost trying to reinsert themselves into society.”

“I have not found a program more valuable to my military transition than ACP,” said Raul. “Thanks to Lauren, I have been able to connect with well-established professionals in the communications and marketing fields. I wish I would have found out about it sooner and highly recommend that all transitioning military members sign up and connect with a mentor.”