Military Thriving® Regional Change Forum Dallas / ZeroMils

Military Thriving® Regional Change Forum Dallas

April 27

8:00 am

- 3:30 pm

CT

Wells Fargo Las Colinas Campus

On October 23, 2024, at the Inaugural Military Thriving® Change Forum at Georgetown University ZeroMils joined forces with 160 national leaders and developed a Military Thriving® community blueprint to improve public-private sector collaboration to help Veterans and their families thrive after leaving the military.

In 2025, ZeroMils engaged 15 regions of the country poised for economic growth but hindered by skills gaps in industries that are vital to national security, in order to target and prioritize future engagements alongside our Military Thriving® Action Coalition and other key partners.

Through a series of roundtable discussions, stakeholder meetings, and community wide events, we selected 6 regions to host local Change Forums in 2026. We are thrilled to host the first Military Thriving® Change Forum in Dallas with our steadfast partner Wells Fargo.

Agenda

Agenda

8:00 am to 9:00 am – Registration and Networking Reception

9:00 am to 9:15 am: Welcoming Remarks

Sean Passmore, Wells Fargo and Kevin Schmiegel, ZeroMils

9:15 am to 9:45 am: Fireside Chat – A Thriving Dallas and A Thriving Nation

David Kramer, Executive Director, Bush Institute

9:45 am to 10:30 am: Empowerment in Transition – Leveraging Military Talent to Meet Workforce Gaps

Greg Summers, Orion Talent
Rob Holmes, ForgeNow
Joe Patterson, National University
David Reyes, Southwest Airlines
Gene Cortez, McLane Co

10:30 am to 10:45 am: Networking Break

10:45 am to 11:30 am: Education Pathways to Meaningful Careers

Meg O’Grady, National University
Clay Huber, Texas A&M University
Gary Guzman, FourBlock
Coby Dillard, The University of Texas at Tyler
Doug Heckman, ZeroMils

11:30 am to 11:50 am: Fireside Chat — Investing in Thriving Communities with Tanya Sanders, Chief Admin Officer, Wells Fargo

11:50 am to 12:00 pm: Transition / Grab Boxed Lunches

12:00 pm to 12:45 pm: Entrepreneurship Pathways – Veteran and Military Spouse Small Business Owners as Catalysts

Brad Stevenson, Neighborly
Amy Bradshaw Bentzen, Goldman Sachs
Alice Garcia, Real Property Management, San Antonio
Jim Cook, The Grounds Guy, Pflugerville
Veronica Sites, Mosquito Joe, Garland

1:00 pm to 2:45 pm: Workshop – MT Community Blueprint – DFW Region

4 groups in separate breakout rooms

3:00 pm to 4:00 pm: Service Project in support of Deployed Troops — Opening Remarks by Johnny Mojica, H-E-B and MOH Recipient

4:00 pm to 5:00 pm: Networking Event – Thriving on TAP

A reception celebrating Veteran Entrepreneurs and Employee Resource Groups in the DFW – Remarks by Harrison Bernstein, Founder of Soldiers to Sidelines

Our Speakers

Rob Holmes

Co-Founder & President

ForgeNow

Meg O’Grady

Senior Vice President for Military and Government Programs

National University System

Clay Huber

Director of Workforce Development

Texas A&M Semiconductor Institute

Veronica Sites

Trauma Recovery Specialist Speaker / Author

ConflictResolutionSpeaker.com

Coby Dillard

Director of Military & Veterans Affairs

University of Texas at Tyler

Greg Summers

CEO

Orion Talent

Joe Patterson

Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and National Outreach

National University

David Reyes

Manager of Talent Development

Southwest Airlines

Gene Cortez

Senior Manager, Learning and Organizational Development

McLane Company

Brad Stevenson

Chief Development Officer

Neighborly

James “Jim” Cook

Co-Owner & Operator

The Grounds Guys of Pflugerville & Cedar Park

Alice Garcia

Owner

Real Property Management First Class

Harrison Bernstein

Founder and CEO

Soldiers to Sidelines

Doug Heckman

Director of Higher Education

ZeroMils

Tanya Sanders

Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Consumer Banking and Lending

Wells Fargo

Gary Guzman

Chief of Engagement

FourBlock

Amy Betzen

Vice President, Office of Government Affairs

Goldman Sachs

Our Partners

About Us

ZeroMils is a term of both science and art, used in the military to describe a state of perfection that accounts for accuracy and effectiveness. Once attained, ZeroMils allows you to achieve maximum impact on a target.

Our mission as social impact consultants to corporations and nonprofit organizations is to create Military Thriving cultures and communities. Our vision is to use our experiences to make our history every Veteran’s and Military Spouse’s future—with a focus on small business owners like us.

We are intentional in our efforts to serve alongside organizations and leaders who focus on what we know to be true: that although Veterans and their families face unique challenges, the vast majority of us overcome them and thrive as a result of our service and not in spite of it.

Our Founders

Kevin Schmiegel
CEO

Kevin Schmiegel is CEO at ZeroMils. A retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, Kevin is a mission-focused leader with a proven track record for rapidly scaling nonprofits and a reputation for delivering significant results. Kevin founded Hiring Our Heroes at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and was CEO of two other national nonprofits. Raising $100 million for these causes over a decade, Kevin and his teams have impacted millions of Americans, in and out of uniform. He is a proud husband to Laura and a father of five.

Paul Cucinotta
President & COO

Paul Cucinotta is a retired Marine Corps colonel who after serving on active duty for almost three decades followed his passion for service to the non-profit space to help individuals thrive, while strengthening communities and bridging the civilian service divide. This ultimately led him to founding ZeroMils with fellow Marine Veteran and long-time friend, Kevin Schmiegel where they are creating Military Thriving® cultures and communities with their clients and partners in the places where they live, work and serve. Paul and his wife Beth have four children and three grandchildren, and when not serving their community can be found enjoying the beach on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina.