Michael Spina

My Greatest Accomplishment:

Watching the veterans I’ve trained and mentored become successful. I help veterans translate their military experiences into civilian equivalent experience. Although I have been active in organizing veteran career development opportunities for the past 10 years, recently I have been active in the mentorship program at my workplace, Academy Securities, which is a service-disabled veteran-owned investment bank. It was founded with the social mission to hire, train and mentor veterans for careers in financial services. Through their mentorship program, I provide one-on-one mentorship and career opportunities to veterans, assist in the selection and hiring process of our intern pool, and cultivate interns through teaching finance-oriented training seminars. I am also still engaged with student life at the University, serving as the vice president of the Drexel Veterans Alumni Network.

How Drexel Helped Me:

Transitioning from nine years of Marine Corps active duty to civilian life is not easy, especially with a family. The entire Drexel team did an incredible job of guiding me through the admissions/veteran benefits process and helping me gain perspective on my post-collegiate aspirations. Being set up for success at the onset empowered me to focus on what was most important to my future. I’ve developed lifelong friends and mentors to whom much of my successes can be attributed.

Where I Hope to Be in Five Years:

I recently transitioned to a new role and I’m looking forward to advancing myself in this endeavor. Later, when the time is right, I aspire to find a board of director’s position that will allow me to continue expanding my network and supporting initiatives I love.

The Change I Would Most Like to See in the World:

I’d like to see more employers understand the value in hiring veterans, allowing those who have not taken a traditional career pathway to have the same or better access to high-quality careers as those that haven’t served. There is a long list of strong attributes a veteran possesses such as resiliency amidst change and adversity, the ability to seamlessly work in diverse environments and the mentality to always complete the mission. Most importantly, veterans are loyal and have the strongest sense of organizational commitment than any other hiring demographic, resulting in lower turnover and higher work quality for an employer.