LNVB Impact

Leave No Veteran Behind Investing in Veterans To Build Better and More Resilient Communities

Leave No Veteran Behind (LNVB) is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization that invests in Veterans to build better communities through employment training, transitional jobs, and our veteran educational debt relief scholarship. Leave No Veteran Behind invests in heroes who have served their country honorably and who seek to continue their service as assets in communities across America.

This unique non-profit model is on the leading edge of social innovation, redefining the non-profit paradigm to make a measurable impact in multiple societal areas.

Transitional Jobs

$10 Million+ Wages Paid to Veterans, Families, and Youth Participants

Triple Bottom Line

Solve Tough Issues in Community

2000+ Transitional Jobs Created

Strengthening PoliceCommunity Relationships Through Safety

Programs

Employment

The LNVB transitional jobs program provides jobs and training opportunities to Veterans, youth, and community members in Chicagoland that contribute to economic stabilization and long-term employment for program participants.

Education

LNVB addresses Veteran student debt head-on with its Retroactive Scholarship Program. Like most scholarships, this Leave No Veteran Behind Program is highly sought. Hundreds of qualified Veterans apply annually, but only a handful are awarded annually based on need and available funds. Unlike most scholarships, this award is given after higher education has been completed and because the Veteran was not covered under existing educational programs.

Community

Leave No Veteran Behind believes that this ethos of service is a critical and final component for a Veteran’s successful integration into society. We understand that Veterans do not come home to programs; they come home to communities. With this understanding, engaging the community is integrated into our transitional jobs program and Veterans that are helped through other services are required to perform community service.

Outcomes

Programmatic

• Created a transitional jobs program that provided 2000+ transitional jobs and training opportunities to Veterans, youth, and community members in the city of Chicago with over $10 million in wages paid to support economic stabilization and long-term employment for program participants.

• Created the Safe Passage program in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. Safe Passage is currently one of the nation’s largest community-based anti-violence programs, which partners with over 20 community organizations and serves over 100,000 children daily while reducing violence and increasing daily attendance.

• Worked with the City of Chicago’s Department of Family Services to improve and implement the summer jobs program for over 400 youth and Veteran mentors.

• Currently partnered with Cook County to establish Peer Support Groups and Psychological First Aid Training to reduce violence on the South East Side of Chicago. This program will provide transitional jobs to 10 Veterans receiving over $2k a month to conduct outreach, training, peer support groups and food security for over 400 families.

Advocacy

• Worked with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the DuSable Museum of African American History to create a Veterans Advisory Committee to increase Veteran and minority recruitment of police cadets.

• Worked with Chicago Police Department (CPD) to create training that addresses moral injury and PTSD for officers and create Veteran community liaisons for community policing outreach.

• Worked with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to amend the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) to require employers doing business with the federal government to take affirmative action to recruit, hire, and promote categories of Veterans covered by the law, including disabled Veterans and recently separated Veterans.

eli H. williamson

LNVB Founders

Eli Williamson is a nonprofit and philanthropy executive with over a decade of experience working to solve complex problems in distressed communities. His goal as a writer and photo essayist is to use street photography and written exposition to contribute to positive narratives about the Afro-American Diaspora. Eli is also the co-founder of Leave No Veteran Behind, an Illinois-based non-profit that invests in veterans to build more resilient communities. He was the former Director of Veterans Programs for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Eli served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a non-commissioned officer in the US Army, as a member of Psychological Operations (PSYOP), and as an Arabic linguist supporting special operations forces. Eli is a dedicated father who enjoys summer wilderness adventures in his camper with his standard poodle Starla.

Roy B. Sartin

Roy B. Sartin is a food security/sourcing executive and the Co-Founder and Vice President of Leave No Veteran Behind. Sartin, a native of Chicago, Illlinois, completed his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at Luther College. He completed eight years in the US Army Reserve as a heavy diesel machine operator and mechanic in the 389th Heavy Engineering Company, where he became a noncommissioned officer. He completed a year-and-a-half-long combat tour in Iraq in 2003. He has worked as District Manager for Aldi Corporation in the Baltimore area. He was the Assistant to the Director of Budget Management for the Baltimore Department of Juvenile Services and has clerked for the law firm Smith Stag, LLC. He served as the Director of Community Development for AgroTrade America. Currently, he consults with multinational organizations on international talent development and trade. He enjoys world traveling with his children to teach them the value of multiculturalism.

Eli Williamson

Eli Williamson, is the co-founder of Leave No Veteran Behind, a non-profit focused on employment opportunities for veterans. As the Executive Director of Leave No Veteran Behind, Eli implemented debt relief and transitional employment programs, skills training, and community service opportunities for veterans transitioning from military to civilian life. He was also the former Director of Veterans Programs for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation where he led the foundation's placed based grantmaking in support of Illinois Veterans. As the Director he led efforts to improve veteran outcomes in the areas of employment, behavioral health, and navigation of services through philanthropic investment.

Prior to 2009, Eli served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a non-commissioned officer in the US Army, a member of Psychological Operations (PSYOP), and as an Arabic linguist working on outreach to foreign civilian communities supporting special operations forces. Before leaving the Army, Eli served as a retention officer, providing career counseling and transition support to soldiers leaving the military. Eli received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Linguistics from Luther College in Iowa and is presently completing a Master’s Degree in Non-Profit Management from DePaul University. Eli also worked as a wildland firefigher in Missoula MT. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the Truman National Security Project, the Veterans Advisory Committee at the DuSable Museum, and the Equity and Inclusion Council for the Barack Obama Presidential Library.