— What We Do —
About Giving focuses on the educational needs of disabled Veterans and other persons with disabilities, including women, minorities, and individuals facing homelessness. We believe education is the most powerful tool that people can use to change their lives—and the world. To better share this valuable resource, we developed the Center for Business Acceleration (CBA), which delivers professional career development training, educational opportunities, and high-quality resources to those in need of assistance.
The CBA houses the VA Accelerator program, an innovation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program, created for the sole purpose of providing education in the areas of entrepreneurship and business to disabled Veterans. Veterans who participate in the VA Accelerator program are offered all the tools they need to successfully plan, launch, or expand their businesses. Through an intensive national marketing campaign, the CBA is reaching out to Veterans individually as well as through the VA’s Veteran Rehabilitation and Employment centers.
In collaboration with the U.S. AbilityOne Commission, the CBA also provides apprenticeship programs, which increase employment opportunities for disabled Veterans and other persons with disabilities in the manufacture and delivery of products and services. Employers benefit by receiving online training provided to their employees in exchange for hiring a Veteran or person with disabilities in their workforce.
Additionally, About Giving is seeking to expand its charitable efforts by providing educational opportunities and needed skills to the countless Veterans facing homelessness, many of whom also have disabilities or addictions.
Our mission is to unlock the full potential of disabled Veterans and other persons with disabilities as they pursue entrepreneurial or professional careers.
About Giving is here to help disabled Veterans and other persons with disabilities accelerate their businesses, accelerate their careers, and accelerate their achievement of life aspirations.
Desma Brooks, Entrepreneur, 3rd Time’s a Farm
“They helped me really understand what it took to put a business plan together, which I needed in order to seek outside funding for my business. All of the resources and assignments through the Accelerator program are pieced together into something pretty amazing. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I think it was a blessing.”
Wayne Waddington, Entrepreneur, WrapGrafix
“The VA Accelerator Program is great. It does take a lot of dedication. You’re going to get out of it what you put into it. I would recommend it to any veteran looking to start a business.”
Jeremy McCool, Entrepreneur, HEVO POWER
HEVO POWER benefited from the VA Accelerator courses, jokingly calling the program a “crash MBA course.” HEVO was “very impressed with the breadth of the program.” The accounting section, in particular, being “incredibly impressed that it covered all of the essential information and it was a great refresher.”
Marlon James, Entrepreneur, Marand Business Solutions
“The advantage these classes have for ex-military is that they take the knowledge you already have in military lingo and translate it into common, everyday language. It makes it easier to have a conversation with people who aren’t necessarily veterans. These basics are important- you can assume a lot, but it’s important not to think that you know it all. You may think that you have expertise, but when you take these classes, you may be surprised.”