Calendar of Events

Presented by Michael Horton, EdD (USAF)

Panelist include: Debbie Drain (USAF vet), Dr. Stephanie Jones (ARMY vet) and Mike Travelletti (Army vet) 

Veterans represent a significant percentage of the American workforce. Thousands of active duty service members and National Guard transition out of the military annually and are looking for meaningful employment. Employers are always looking for labor sources like veterans. This seems like an easy match up but everyone knows it is not. The process of recruiting, hiring, on boarding, training, and retaining veterans is filled with challenges for both the employers and the veterans. The Coffee Bunker is a resource to both. To employers the Bunker serves as a source to connect with veterans and as a source for consultancy in resume interpretation, interviewing, and on boarding. To veterans the Bunker connects them to employers, prepares them for civilian work, and provides ongoing peer support to ensure their success.

At this lab participants will: 

• Learn the history of the Bunker and its role in collaboration with employers.
• Actively engage in reflection of their experiences in hiring veterans, then receiving feedback and instruction related to those experiences.
• Reflectively and actively engage in strategy development for their improvement of the hiring process for veterans and/or their spouses.
• Engage in assessment of how they can benefit from the Coffee Bunker as a resource for their process of hiring veterans and/or their spouses.

Dr. Michael Horton serves as Executive Director for the Coffee Bunker in Tulsa. The Coffee Bunker is a 501c3 whose mission it is to support veterans and their families through personal and professional development as they transition to civilian life. He has Masters' degrees in Guidance & Counseling and Adult Education. His doctorate is in Educational Psychology. He is a member of ATD, the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and Toastmasters. He and his wife, Laurie, enjoy visiting new restaurants, coffee shops, jazz and blues venues, and ballroom dancing. Dr. Horton is a veteran of the US Air Force and a strong advocate for veterans in transition particularly into the employment market.