"Excellent event. Best place to network. Very well organized and run. AWP is a great success! I'll be with you next year - likely my last." 
- Dr. Lynda Davis, Chief Veterans Experience Officer
Every September, our team at  America’s Warrior Partnership  hosts the annual Warrior Community Integration Symposium to discuss key issues affecting military veterans, their families and caregivers. Our goal each year is to provide attendees with the knowledge and partnerships they need to empower the veterans they serve within their local communities.

New program proactively seeks input from veterans on key issues affecting their communities and delivers these insights to national and community leaders.

Symposium Video Playlist WorkingNation
#WorkingNationOverheard was at the 2019 Warrior Symposium. Check out some of the best insights from panels, interviews, and other takeaways from the event.

"Our most unique contribution is we're looking upstream at veterans and their communities," said Dr. Karl Hamner, director of the Office of Evaluation at the UA College of Education. "Social networking and community prior to when they take their own life. We want to know where they were in the community, how could we have connected them, where did we miss them, where could we have engaged them?"

“Leo channeled his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam into the inspirational leadership that stood as a guiding principle of our team’s mission to empower veterans,” said Jim Lorraine, President and CEO of America’s Warrior Partnership. “Similarly, Bonnie’s own personal experience facing a traumatic loss was the crucible through which she forged her own leadership in serving bereaved military families. She has clearly earned her place among those who embody Leo’s spirit.”

The study will identify differences between communities with high rates of veteran suicides, like Atlanta, and those with lower rates, like Houston, Hamner said.

Cheree Tham, co-founder and vice president of America’s Warrior Partnership, says common challenges veterans face include transitioning from the unified culture of the military to finding their own individual path in the civilian sector.