Celebrating Our Veteran Alumni for Their Service and Community Impact
Today, on Veteran’s Day, we honor the millions of veterans who have served our country. Veterans, thank you for your service, your sacrifices, your leadership and our freedom.
We want to recognize our veteran alumni for their service and their continued dedication to make a difference in our community. Today, I’d like to introduce you to alums Hark Herold, Michael Mitchel and Dawanta Parks.
Hark Herold, an alum of Access Denver and Colorado Experience, served in the U.S. Air Force for 28 years. As CEO and founder of Design Thinking Denver, he helps teams and organization delight customers with a human-centered approach. He is also chief operating officer for Bunker Labs, which provides veterans with access to entrepreneur services. Twenty-five percent of transitioning service members want to start a business. Bunker Labs provides the network, resources and support to help them succeed. Through the organization’s Veterans in Residence Program, a partnership with WeWork, Bunker Labs provides veteran and military family member entrepreneurs the resources to launch and grow their businesses. “There’s a sense of a common shared mission … we’re creating a space where [veterans] can be open and get honest feedback to advance their business,” Hark said.
Michael Mitchel, an alum of Leadership Denver 2017 and a 2016 9NEWS Leader of the Year finalist, served in the U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1991. Through his role as the executive director of the VFW Post 1 Foundation, Michael connects veterans to services to help them transition to civilian life. VFW Post 1 offers veterans an array of services from health and wellness programs to career services and the Veterans Art Gallery. He notes that it’s important for the business community to be engaged with the veteran community. “Give, be engaged, and the best way to support veterans is to take their call,” Michael said.
Dawanta Parks, an alum of Impact Denver 2016, Leadership Denver 2020 and a Networker of the Quarter, served in the U.S. Army from 1997 to 2008. Dawanta is an advocate for the veteran community, helping veterans find stable employment, housing resources, mental health resources and more, because he knows navigating the transition to civilian life can be difficult. “Some [veterans] have been able to transition from the military mindset. It’s important to mentor others and help them overcome barriers,” Dawanta, director of Bayaud Works, said. Dawanta helped launch Taskforce Denver Homeless to create a community of connected resources. He also serves on the Colorado City and County Management Association Board and is the chair of the Colorado Veterans Leading Government and the Veterans Advisory Board Representative for the International City and County Management.
As we honor our veterans today, it’s important to think about how we can serve them every day. Whether that’s hiring a vet or connecting them to resources like the Veterans Crisis Line, The Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program or Homeless Veteran Resources, we all can collaborate with our veteran community.
Thank you again to Hark, Michael, Dawanta and all our veterans for their service.