The Tristate Veterans Community Alliance (TVCA) Board of Directors has appointed Dan Knowles as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2016. Dan is an Army veteran and a West Point graduate who served 7 years on active duty before accepting a brand management position with Procter & Gamble in 1986. He left P&G in 2000 to become chief marketing officer of Reynolds & Reynolds in Dayton. In October 2002, he started his own business consulting firm and has since worked with multi-national and regional companies in pharmaceuticals, healthcare delivery, information technology, construction, and banking as well as serving on several non-profit boards. This appointment is an acceleration of plans previously agreed to formalize the TVCA organizational structure in July 2016. The decision was made in recognition of faster progress than anticipated toward achieving the non-profits’ goals. Board Chairman Maj Gen (ret) Leonard Randolph, Jr. MD said, “Recent feedback from key stakeholders indicated that this was the right time to make this move. As a co-founder, Dan has been instrumental in creating the vision, building the organization, and helping us recruit and align key donors and partners to better serve veterans and their families in the tristate. The progress achieved to date has been extraordinary and has exceeded our very high expectations.†As one of three co-founders, Dan has helped lead development of the TVCA since mid- 2014. Knowles is looking forward to the challenge: “I’m honored to be able to lead such a committed and talented group of people who work so hard to serve those who have sacrificed for our country. Working together with our local partners and supporters, we can make this region a destination for the disciplined, highly skilled, military leaders and families needed to continue growing our community in the coming decade.†The TVCA has been recognized as one of the more promising community-impact organizations for veterans in the country. It helps coordinate access to, and improves the effectiveness of, services provided to veterans of all eras by over 85 tristate organizations in the sectors of Employment, Education, Health/Wellness and Family Services. Key partners include the USO, the local VA, United Way, the Red Cross, Interact for Change, and most of the universities and large employers in the community. With the help of the Cincinnati Reds and Major League Baseball, the TVCA built and opened its unique Veteran InProcessing (VIP) & Welcome Center in mid-July at CityLink in the West End. This facility, and its web-based Veteran & Family Resource Portal (www.tristatevca.org/access), allow the TVCA to connect veterans and their families with other veteran peer mentors and partners proven to provide exceptional services. In the past 5 months, over 130 veterans have received help through the staff at the VIP Center and over 3,000 have visited the website. For more information, visit www.tristatevca.org or call 513 357-2008.
