Happy Joe, a 501 c3 non-profit organization that helps U.S. veterans with entrepreneurship and employment opportunities using WordPress, has announced a new round of sponsorships and dates to upcoming boot camps.
When I talked to James Dalman, founder of Happy Joe in late 2014, he emphasized how important financial assistance is to the organization, “We need people to help fund the training and mentoring of our veterans. We have a lot of people who are sharing the story and mission of Happy Joe and we are VERY appreciative of that. However, we need sponsorships and donations to make a true difference.”
New Sponsors
WebDevStudios is partnering with Happy Joe as a Hero Partner which is the highest financial contributing level available. Considering the number of military veterans that work at WebDevStudios, the organizations are a perfect match. The agency will also volunteer their time and expertise at upcoming WP BootCamps across the United States.
I asked Brad Williams, founder of WebDevStudios and a military veteran, what it means to be able to help veterans through Happy Joe.
I’m very excited to officially support Happy Joe and their efforts to help Veterans find jobs. As a Veteran myself, I know the struggles trying to find work after leaving the Service, so knowing we are doing something to help ease that process makes me extremely proud.
SiteGround, a webhosting company based in Bulgaria, is also partnering with Happy Joe and will provide business mentoring, career development, training resources, and work opportunities to military veterans and their families.
The company is also providing free hosting for three months to all WP BootCamp attendees. Dalman hints that the partnership may one day lead to the first WP BootCamp in Europe.
Upcoming WP BootCamps
WP BootCamps are events tailored to the military community and help veterans of the Armed Forces to set up resume style websites on WordPress so that they can be seen as technology relevant. Veterans are also shown how to launch or build a very successful business or career in the WordPress marketplace.
Dalman has released a schedule of upcoming camps with the first taking place on July 11th and 12th on GoDaddy’s Sunnyvale, CA campus.
- Sunnyvale, CA : July 11 & 12
- Las Vegas, NV : July 25-26
- Seattle, WA : Aug 15 & 16
- San Diego, CA : September 12 & 13
- Austin, TX (WordCamp Austin) : Oct 16
- Fayetteville, North Carolina : Dates TBA
- Norfolk, Virginia : Dates TBA
- Tampa, FL : Dates TBA
Presentations will include, Discovering Opportunities in WordPress, Starting Off Right with WordPress, Finding the Perfect (and Paying) Clients, Winning An Agency Interview, Skills Companies Pay MORE For and more by the following presenters:
- Tony Perez, CEO and Founder of Sucuri Security, USMC Veteran
- Dre Armeda, VP of Operations at WebDevStudios , US Navy Veteran
- Lisa Sabin Wilson, COO at WebDevStudios, Author of WordPress for Dummies
- Carrie Dils, CEO at Carrie Dils and Office Hours , Veteran Spouse
- Bob Dunn, CEO and Founder of BobWP
- James Dalman, CEO and Founder at Happy Joe, US Army Veteran
There are a limited amount of tickets available but only those who meet the following criteria are able to attend.
- All Active Duty Service Members
- Military Veterans from any branch of service, regardless of era served
- Military Spouse or Military Caregiver
- Service Dogs
- Non-Military People wanting to work with veterans (limited seating)
You’ll need to show proof of military service via an Active Duty Card, Retirement Card, DD Form 214 from you, your spouse, or family member. Tickets have yet to go on sale but Dalman expects this information to be available in the next few weeks.
As we approach Memorial Day in the US, take some time to remember and thank those who honorably serve or served in the military. Consider supporting an organization like Happy Joe that works year round to give back to veterans.
Source: WP Tavern
