American Corporate Partners Launches ACP AdvisorNet, a Veteran Focused "Quick Question Community" this Veterans' Day

NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Corporate Partners (ACP), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping veterans transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce, today launched ACP AdvisorNet, the only online business related "Quick Question Community" for veterans that provides advice related to career development, employment, and small business directly from business professionals. And in partnership with Tribal DDB and AOL, American Corporate Partners have launched a PSA campaign to build awareness of, and drive participation in the online community.

ACP AdvisorNet is a non-profit venture comprised of Advisors (any individual with business experience) and Veterans (those who served in the armed services, as well as their immediate family members) that aims to help veterans achieve their career goals through advice and expertise from business leaders across the U.S. Advisors are asked to connect through Q&A threads and private messaging and to give an hour a month to answering the business questions of Veterans. All users can ask or answer questions whenever they want, wherever they are, and are able to see the professional and/or military backgrounds of other users, promoting an environment of accountability and trust. Three corporations are supporting the launch of ACP AdvisorNet this month: Alcoa, Goldman Sachs, and IBM. ACP AdvisorNet is funded in part by grants from Alcoa Foundation and Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund. Through Goldman Sachs Gives, the firm and its managing directors have announced support for veterans' initiatives, through a five-year, $20 million commitment.

"I think it's a really great program, and it's really given me a lot of confidence," said Joseph Colangelo a veteran who has been part of the ACP mentoring program this year. "You leave the military with the sense that 'I've had all this experience, but just don't know how to apply it in the civilian world.' Having a mentor for guidance who really has that experience and would want to help me as well was really a big confidence builder."

"As a veteran, I understand the challenges that our service members face in making the transition back to the civilian workplace," said Jack Bergen, Vice President Human Resources, Alcoa. "The military provides excellent training and skills that can be applied to a wide variety of jobs. Alcoa employees are proud to mentor and support veterans with advice on how to leverage those skills to achieve their career aspirations. It has been an honor to support ACP and its mission."

As part of Tribal DDB and AOL's pro-bono effort for ACP, the companies have created a marketing strategy and online media traffic drivers to explain, promote and encourage participation in ACP AdvisorNet. The site was designed by Headspinners/TimDev. Banner advertising that will appear on the AOL.com network of sites highlights the new and unique Q&A opportunity that ACP AdvisorNet offers, in addition to providing action steps to get involved. Banners endorse the importance of giving back to the veteran community, underscoring ACP AdvisorNet's unique ability to connect with both business leaders and veterans.

"ACP AdvisorNet is the first online community of its kind to directly assist veterans with their career- and business-related questions," said ACP's Founder Sid Goodfriend. "This is a non-profit venture whose sole purpose is helping America's veterans. We will not be selling ad space or data. ACP AdvisorNet aims to provide an opportunity for business leaders to share their expertise with the men and women who have served our country. ACP AdvisorNet will also allow companies to post employment opportunities for veterans at no charge."

IBM is promoting ACP AdvisorNet by inviting U.S.-based employees to volunteer as Advisors. Robin Willner, Vice President of Global Community Initiatives, spoke about IBM's support of ACP: "IBM is pleased to continue our partnership with American Corporate Partners' Mentor Program and deepen our commitment by supporting the ACP AdvisorNet platform. We believe IBM employees will value working with veterans as they seek guidance on transitioning into the business world, and we look forward to supporting ACP as they build their online community."

"ACP AdvisorNet's platform affords everyday Americans the opportunity to connect with veterans and give back in very practical ways such as sharing resume writing skills, providing career change guidance, or giving advice on how to start a small business," said Paul Gunning, CEO of Tribal DDB Worldwide. "We're extremely excited and honored to work with ACP as its strategic partner to help drive awareness of, and participation in this program."

PSA advertising starting this month aims to generate awareness and encourage vets and members of the community to sign up for the program. Advertising will continue until the end of the month with targeted messaging aimed toward veterans and the business community. Interested veterans and immediate family of service members as well as members of the business community are encouraged to register at http://acp-advisornet.org. Friends of ACP are also invited to follow American Corporate Partners on Facebook and @acpusa on Twitter.

About Tribal DDB Worldwide

Tribal DDB Worldwide (www.tribalddb.com), an Advertising Age A-List Agency, is headquartered in New York with 60 offices spanning 42 countries around the globe.  Since it was founded in 2000, Tribal DDB has expanded and been recognized well beyond its digital roots.  By 2005, Tribal DDB was named Interactive Agency of the Year by Adweek and at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, where it took home the most Lions and the Cyber Grand Prix. This was followed in 2007 by Tribal DDB being the first "digital" agency to win Global Agency Network of the Year from Advertising Age, and then, in 2009, being the first to win the Grand Prix in Film at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes.  Tribal DDB continues to draw on its expertise in digital innovation and its heritage of creativity and insights to bring clients the most effective and differentiating marketing solutions for today's world.  Tribal DDB Worldwide is part of Omnicom Group's DDB Worldwide.

About AOL

AOL Inc. is a leading global Web services company with an extensive suite of brands and offerings and a substantial worldwide audience. AOL's business spans online content, products and services that the company offers to consumers, publishers and advertisers. AOL is focused on attracting and engaging consumers and providing valuable online advertising services on both AOL's owned and operated properties and third-party websites. In addition, AOL operates one of the largest internet subscription access services in the United States, which serves as a valuable distribution channel for AOL's consumer offerings.

About The Alcoa Foundation

Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S., with assets of approximately $436 million.  Founded more than 50 years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than $530 million since 1952. In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed nearly $20 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the world, focusing on promoting environmental stewardship, enabling economic and social sustainability, and preparing tomorrow's leaders through education and learning.  The work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa's thousands of employee volunteers, who in 2010 gave more than 720,000 service hours. Through the company's signature Month of Service (October) program, Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make a difference in our communities. In 2010, a record 49 percent of Alcoans took part in nearly 1,000 Month of Service events across 24 countries, reaching 59,000 children, serving 17,000 meals, planting 16,000 trees and supporting 3,000 nonprofit organizations. For more information about Alcoa Foundation, please access www.alcoa.com/foundation.

About Goldman Sachs Gives

Goldman Sachs Gives is a donor-advised fund -- a public charity that maintains individual accounts for donors who recommend grants to qualified non-profit organizations from their accounts. Established in 2007, Goldman Sachs Gives enables Goldman Sachs and its people to leverage their donations to charities in the communities where they live and work, or elsewhere around the globe. The focus of this organization is on those areas that have been proven to be fundamental to creating jobs and economic growth, building and stabilizing communities, honoring service and veterans and increasing educational opportunities.

About IBM

To obtain more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com.

About American Corporate Partners (ACP)

American Corporate Partners (ACP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping veterans transition from the armed services to the civilian workforce through mentoring, career counseling, and networking with professionals from some of America's finest corporations and select universities. Through two free programs, our national Mentoring Program and ACP AdvisorNet, a "Quick Question Community," ACP offers veterans tools for networking and long-term career development and hopes to simultaneously strengthen the connection between corporate America and those who have served in the military.

SOURCE Tribal DDB Worldwide