ALUMNI
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: William Negley, Class of 1998 an idea that I believed would help,” he says. After William developed the original concept for Sound Off, he initiated the incorporation process while sitting in Afghanistan in 2013.
The lacrosse field, drill, polishing shoes, five-paragraph essay formats, 8th grade and the lunch room are some of the memories that William Negley ’98 remembers when reflecting on the ten years that he spent attending grades Pre-K through eighth at San Antonio Academy. With a foundation based upon love of God, country and service, William graduated from The Academy in 1998. “The Academy was instrumental in convincing me of the ‘requirement’ that I strive to do great things. The combination of being told repeatedly that you as an individual have strength and talent, an ethic tied to country and God, and the nurturing that comes from The Academy have been a defining component of my life,” says William. Over the last decade, William has spent his career serving his country and helping others as a Directorate of Operations in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Founder & President of Sound Off, an ITbased non-profit that is reforming the way U.S. military veterans seek mental health support. The mission of Sound Off, an organization he has been developing since 2013, is to help military veterans access the mental health services and support they need, with anonymity, consistency, and quality. Sound Off connects veterans with certified mental health specialists anonymously by phone, online or via a mobile app. “My inspiration came from a combination of working with veterans, with colleagues who themselves struggled, the constant news coverage, and ultimately just having
68
San Antonio Academy of Texas
With eight years of executive and legislative government experience supporting US national security interests, William is a former Intelligence Officer with the National Clandestine Service of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). His work at the CIA included significant time in Afghanistan and managing a wide range of counterterrorism, counterintelligence, foreign intelligence and covert action efforts worldwide with a particular focus on South Asia. He was awarded the CIA Exceptional Performance Award & the Meritorious Unit Citation. From 2008-2009, William worked in Washington, D.C. as a Legislative Aide to U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on national security issues drafting legislation that provided benefits to civilian federal employees serving in war zones. Selected as one of 20 emerging leaders from a wide array of backgrounds, including the executive branch, Capitol Hill, the military, think tanks and the private sector, William participated in the 2015 Next Generation National Security Leaders program through the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). During the CNAS Next Gen fellowship, he traveled to Taiwan and met with national security leaders. In April 2016, William left the CIA to focus on Sound Off and serve as its Chief Executive Officer. “I know that I can best continue to serve my country by supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces, and the Intelligence Community, returning home. I will value the experience at the Agency for the rest of my life,” says William. William was a speaker earlier this year at The South by Southwest® (SXSW®), a conference and festival in Austin that celebrates the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. He
was invited to speak about Sound Off and presented a session entitled, “Support on their terms—using tech to help vets.” After 15 years living out of state, William and his wife, Kelly, now reside in Austin. “While my desire to serve kept me away far longer than I ever anticipated, it is wonderful to come home and return to a community and way of life that I missed greatly.” When William is not working, he enjoys rowing—a sport in which he excelled during college where he was a four-year Varsity rower and Assistant Coach for the Men’s Rowing Program. He also enjoys hunting and real estate investing. William holds a MA in International Relations and a BA in Political Science and History, both from the University of San Diego. He has been accepted to, and will be pursuing the University of Texas’s MBA program beginning this fall. “After spending the last decade or so in national security and foreign policy, I am looking forward to developing some hard financial skills—and bringing those to bear with Sound Off and elsewhere,” he says. Playing on the lacrosse team and polishing his shoes for Friday’s inspections may be a part of his former school days at SAA, but today, William remains involved at The Academy as an active SAA alumnus and donor. “The first and final organization I will continue to support, beyond my own, is San Antonio Academy. As The Academy continues to instill the ideals, beliefs and ethics it did in me, and do so in a caring, nurturing, and supportive way—I will do what I can.” In the 1998 Bluebonnet yearbook, the words: “To be happy and successful” revealed William’s young ambitions. Eighteen years later, it’s evident that he has accomplished those goals through all that he has done, and is continuing to do, both in his personal and professional life. William’s advice to current Academy students, he says, is to “Believe that you can do anything in the world, and you will.”