Details
You’re invited to the launch of Boston's inaugural WeWork Veterans in Residence Powered by Bunker Labs. Join us in welcoming keynote, David Gowel, CEO of RallyPoint Network and U.S. Army Veteran, and hear remarks from Representative Jon Santiago, U.S. Army Reserve. The newest cohort of ten Veteran owned small businesses and startups will be exhibiting and presenting to the audience.
“Boston is an exceptional place to start and grow a business given the talent, capital and entrepreneurial culture found throughout the city,” says Dave Gowel, CEO of RallyPoint. “This Veterans in Residence collaboration between WeWork and Bunker Labs will accelerate the flow of those local natural resources into the military community that chooses to make Boston home during their transition to entrepreneurial life as a civilian.”
On Veterans Day 2017, WeWork and Bunker Labs formed a national partnership to launch Veterans in Residence, an initiative to support veteran and military family member entrepreneurs with fully sponsored workspace, services, business mentorship, and community to help veteran entrepreneurs find their tribe and create their life’s work. Boston is the 15th Veterans in Residence city.
Veterans and military family members interested in future cohorts should apply to their nearest city here. WeWork is also proud to announce its commitment to hiring 1500 veterans over the next five years and will support member companies in hiring veterans as well.
Additionally, any US military veteran or US military veteran-owned company with fewer than 10 employees will be eligible for a partially sponsored space or private office (up to 25% off) for their first 12 months as a WeWork member. (Offer available for new members only, some restrictions apply.)
For more information, visit we.co/veterans.KEYNOTE: DAVID GOWEL, CEO, RALLYPOINT NETWORKS, U.S. ARMY
Dave began his military career as a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and of the US Army Ranger School. He then served two tours in Europe during which he was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as an armor platoon leader. Dave's last active duty Army position was as an Assistant Professor of Military Leadership at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It was while he was at MIT that he found the value of social media, leading to his cofounding of a consulting firm to help people leverage social media tools more professionally. He authored The Power in a Link: Open Doors, Close Deals, and Change the Way You do Business Using LinkedIn (Wiley 2011) and cofounded a software company to help people use business software better at scale. Dave joined RallyPoint as President & COO in the summer of 2016 and became CEO and a board director in September of the same year. He also currently serves as a board advisor to Vets in Tech.
SPEAKER: JON SANTIAGO, MASSACHUSETTS STATE REPRESENTATIVE, CAPTAIN, U.S. ARMY RESERVE
Jon Santiago is an American physician and politician serving as the Democratic Massachusetts state representative for the 9th Suffolk district since 2019. His district mostly comprises mostly of the South End neighborhood of Boston, though it also includes parts of Boston's Roxbury, Back Bay and Fenway neighborhoods. His 2018 victory in the Democratic primary unseated the chamber's assistant majority leader Byron Rushing, who had represented the district for 35 years, starting in 1983. Santiago had been a State House intern for Rushing before challenging him to his seat. Upon taking office, Santiago continued to serve as a resident physician in emergency medicine for the Boston Medical Center, arguing that such a job informs his legislation, especially when it comes to matters of public health like the opioid epidemic. Since 2013, Santiago is a captain in the US Army Reserve. He previously served as a volunteer community health specialist to the Peace Corps.