Wall Street Warfighters

The mission of the Wall Street Warfighters Foundation (WSWF) is to provide vocational assessment, training support and job placement services for disabled veterans seeking new professional skills. Its flagship program will help service-disabled veterans start new careers in the financial services industry.

Disabled veterans face special challenges adapting to the civilian working world. While many transition resources exist, most are bureaucratized and generic. Shared cultural affinities make Wall Street a welcoming environment for military vets. Employers want to reach out and hire veterans, so WSWF will present fully-prepared candidates to corporate partners which reserve jobs for program graduates.

The initial emphasis will be on securities trading. This builds on Drexel Hamilton’s identity as a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and expertise in the industry to funnel exceptional disabled veterans into good financial jobs. The program’s goals:

• Provide assessment and career guidance.
• Coordinate industry specific training and internship programs.
• Facilitate job placement with corporate partners.
• Assemble corporate participants who can earmark jobs for graduates and help provide training.

Military hospital liaisons will help discreetly identify program candidates. Outreach to prospective candidates will be conducted by staff and volunteers who will personally visit them wherever they may be. Then the program will bring accepted candidates to Pennsylvania and New York for training and networking.

The broker-dealer Drexel Hamilton, LLC, will serve as lab school. Drexel Hamilton has commitments from several initial training partners, including Goldman Sachs, the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ OMX Group, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Training will be tailored to individual trainee’s needs through a menu of services. Graduates will then receive outplacement services to help them get jobs with corporate partners