DONOR SPOTLIGHT - JEFF COLE

Jeff Cole’s career in the military reserves ignited his deep connection to giving back. When starting his career in the reserves, he was introduced to Toys For Tots. Each year, it was a significant effort for everyone in the Marine Corps Reserves to give back to the community. When he transitioned to his next career, his passion for giving back continued by taking up an opportunity to mentor at-risk youth through his company. Now at AT&T, Jeff leads as President of the Veterans Employee Resource Group (ERG), leveraging his experience with the military to support their work in service of military veterans. The Veteran’s ERG recently completed a campaign where AT&T hired 20,000 veterans by 2020.

Catherine Pack, MVP Board Member, introduced Jeff to MVP's mission. She invited him out to an MVP session where Jeff states, “I could see the impact immediately. Two core values of military culture are camaraderie and supporting each other for life. This resonated throughout the two hour session between both veterans and players.” After the session, he became a champion of our mission.  Jeff engaged AT&T to donate and invited MVP’s co-founder Nate Boyer to a veteran suicide awareness panel in September 2019 to highlight MVP’s impact.

As he reflects on why people should donate to MVP’s mission, Jeff says, “The founders are extremely insightful and innovative on the links between athletes and veterans. Both understand deeply those challenges and why the solution is creating a team that has their back.” Jeff continues to support MVP’s work with a recent donation from the AT&T Foundation/Veteran’s ERG group this year to support the transition to virtual services during COVID19. When he donated, Jeff mentions, “This is how you lead in the nonprofit space. Despite all the challenges, like COVID, you find innovative ways to continue serving your community.” 

Sustainable contributions from individuals like Jeff with AT&T Veterans ensure we can continue to deliver and expand on those lifetime bonds our program creates between veterans and players.