The Honor Foundation: Helping Veterans Transition in the Nashville Area
Middle Tennessee native Josh Burch served in the U.S. Army for 26 years, including 20 as a Green Beret. When his military career ended, he decided to help make a difference in soldiers’ lives as they transitioned into civilian life.
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From Green Beret to Career Transition Advocate
Today, Burch serves as Military Liaison to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and he hosts a military transition program called The Honor Foundation in Clarksville near Fort Campbell.
“I began with the Nashville Area Chamber in June 2022 to help raise awareness of the talent pool at Fort Campbell and share best practices with local businesses to enable them to attract veteran and spouse talent,” Burch says. “Then in the spring of 2023, after attending The Honor Foundation as a Fellow, I had an opportunity to help stand up a local campus servicing Special Operations units at Fort Campbell.”
The Honor Foundation: Empowering Veterans for Success
The Honor Foundation is a non-profit career transition program for U.S. Special Operations Forces designed to help military members effectively translate their military service to the private sector and help promote the next generation of corporate and community leaders. The Honor Foundation, celebrating its 10th year, holds classes at 10 campuses throughout the U.S. The Tennessee classroom sessions take place at Clarksville Regional Airport.
Burch serves the local campus alongside teammates Shane Minnick and Jacque Edwards. “We hold spring and fall cohorts, and have more than doubled our class size in our first two graduating cohorts,” he says. “We’ll have about 40 in our third graduating class in fall of 2024.”
A Comprehensive Curriculum for Career Transition
Burch says The Honor Foundation helps attendees plan what’s next through a curriculum that helps identify an individual’s strengths, find careers that align, prepare resumes, interview, research companies, and connect with a network of mentors. There are also visits to local employers who volunteer their time, such as HCA, Oracle, Tractor Supply, Lipman Brothers, and the State of Tennessee.
“We rely on volunteers to help our fellows succeed. There are various ways to get involved: review resumes, serve as a coach, serve as faculty, or participate in mock interviews held at the Nashville Area Chamber,” he says. “The interaction with volunteers is also designed to help our fellows develop relationships within our local business community.”
Connecting Veterans with the Nashville Business Community
If any companies are interested in learning how to get involved with The Honor Foundation, contact Josh at josh@honor.org.
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