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Melissa A. Washington, a Navy Veteran is the President and Founder of Women Veterans Alliance. She is a disabled veteran small business owner, speaker, author, and award winner who is connecting women veterans across the nation. Melissa proudly served in the Navy and rather than shoulder the burden of a dual-service family, she decided to leave the military early to pursue a career while her husband spent 21 years on active duty in the United State Marine Corps. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management and transitioned into a successful career in recruiting and human resources for more than 10 years working for both boutique agencies and global Fortune 500 companies. Melissa was laid off from her job in 2009 due to a failing economy, marking the beginning of a nearly two-year journey and career reinvention that allowed her to use her experience to help others. It all started with holding LinkedIn workshops for job seekers at her dining room table then speaking at venues across the nation. In 2011, she started Melissa Washington, Inc. which offers consulting services to businesses and individuals using LinkedIn for researching, recruiting, job seeking and collaborating. Her journey, took a little detour for 4 years as she worked at LinkedIn, planning Global Corporate Meeting & Events. 2014 authored Get Back to Work: Smart & Savvy Real-World Strategies to Make Your Next Career Move. In 2015 she got women veterans together to meet at a local Mexican restaurant where Women Veterans Alliance started! Not long after, partnered with James R. Morrison Photography for the "What Does a Woman Veteran Look Like?" Portrait Project. In 2018 Melissa founded Women Veterans Giving, Inc. She has been featured in newspaper articles, TV, and Radio. Sought out speaker as well. Melissa is a go to person for media when it comes to women veterans.
Topics
LinkedIn, Networking, Reinvention, Tools for looking for work, Veterans, Women Veterans,Women Leaders
Speeches
I’m on LinkedIn Now What? Sharing tips on how to effectively use LinkedIn Want to attract more people to your exhibit or booth? Hire me to do LinkedIn consultations! This is available for large-scale trade shows and conferences as well as smaller events.
Offering insight in her own journey of reinventing herself after an extended job search, Melissa will share tools for building online and offline relationships and reconnecting with your passion.
Creating community engagement and best practices for you and your organization to connect with the women veteran population.
Military Charities
Women Veterans Giving, Inc. (WVG) is committed to narrowing the gap between civilian and military relations, empowering women of all leadership positions, assisting in the reintegration to civilian life, finding fulfillment in the professional world, encouraging a sense of belonging, encouraging entrepreneurs and small business owners, and building a supportive educated community. WVG is women veterans lifting each other up, for all to succeed and create a better community. WVG is committed to raising funds to provide women veterans scholarships for the Unconference and small business funding as well as other professional development opportunities.
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Other Value:Large social media footprint
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